Sentence Writing Exercise Answers

Exercise 2:

• 1. The cat sounds ready to come back inside.

• Verbs: sounds (linking verb), come (action verb)

• 2. We have not eaten dinner yet.

• Verbs: have (helping verb), eaten (action verb)

• 3. It took four people to move the broken-down car.

• Verbs: took (action verb), move (action verb)

• 4. The book was filled with notes from class.

• Verbs: was (linking verb), filled (action verb)

• 5. We walked from room to room, inspecting for damages.

• Verbs: walked (action verb), inspecting (participle)

• 6. Harold was expecting a package in the mail.

• Verbs: was (linking verb), expecting (action verb)

• 7. The clothes still felt damp even though they had been through the dryer twice.

• Verbs: felt (linking verb), had been (helping verb)

• 8. The teacher who runs the studio is often praised for his restoration work on old masterpieces.

• Verbs: runs (action verb), is (linking verb), praised (action verb)

Exercise 4

• 1. Working without taking a break, we try to get as much work done as we can in an hour.

• 2. I needed to bring work home in order to meet the deadline.

• 3. Unless the ground thaws before spring break, we won't be planting any tulips this year.

• 4. Turning the lights off after he was done in the kitchen, Robert tries to conserve energy whenever possible.

• 5. You'll find what you need if you look on the shelf next to the potted plant.

• 6. To find the perfect apartment, Deidre scoured the classifieds each day.

Exercise 5

• 1. The report is due on Wednesday, but we're flying back from Miami that morning. I told the project manager that we would be able to get the report to her later that day. She suggested that we come back a day early to get the report done, and I told her we had meetings until our flight took off. We e-mailed our contact, who said that they would check with his boss. She said that the project could afford a delay as long as they wouldn't have to make any edits or changes to the file. Our new deadline is next Friday.

• 2. Anna tried getting a reservation at the restaurant, but when she called, they said that there was a waiting list. So she put our names down on the list. When the day of our reservation arrived, we only had to wait thirty minutes because a table opened up unexpectedly. This was good because we were able to catch a movie after dinner in the time we'd expected to wait to be seated.

• 3. Without a doubt, my favorite artist is Leonardo da Vinci. Not because of his paintings, but because of his fascinating designs, models, and sketches. These include plans for scuba gear, a flying machine, and a life-size mechanical lion that actually walked and moved its head. His paintings are beautiful too, especially when you see the computer-enhanced versions researchers use. They employ a variety of methods to discover and enhance the paintings' original colors. The result of this effort is stunningly vibrant and yet delicate displays of the man's genius.

Exercise 6 

My favorite book is Brave New World by Aldous Huxley. He was born in 1894 and died in 1963. (run on)

Written in 1931, it portrays a futuristic society where humans are born out of test tubes and kept in rigid social classes. (fragment)

This may not seem like a humorous premise for a novel, but Huxley uses satire, a type of humor used to make a serious point. (no error)

In Brave New World, the humans learn through sleep teaching, which Huxley calls "hypnopedia." (fragment)

Everyone is kept "happy" in the Brave New World by taking a pill called soma. There is one character named John the Savage who does not take soma because he comes from a different part of the  world where there is no technology, and he believes in natural ways of living. (run on)

It turns out that John has a big problem with the Brave New World and how people live there. (No error)

Will he be able to survive living there? Well, you will have to read the novel to find out. (run on)

Brave New World is considered a classic in English literature, and it is one of the best novels I have ever read. (run on)