Page 31, Activity 3: Fragments

(Remember that ** = not correct)

1. Since the day I knew that I was going back to China, I prayed for the

time to go faster.(This was already

corrected in your book.)

2. ** Flying on the airplane. I looked out the window in

anticipation.(“Flying” is a gerund or,

noun. “Flying on the airplane is not a complete sentence

because it has no verb.)

2. Flying on the airplane, I looked out

the window in anticipation,

OR

2. While I was flying on the airplane, I looked out the window in anticipation.

(Note the comma; “while” is an adverbial expression at

the beginning of the sentence.)

3. **The images along the highway from the airport

to my hometown.(This is a noun phrase.

There is no verb.)

3. The images along the highway from the airport to my hometown

reminded me of my childhood.

(The subject of the correct sentence is in bold face; it is a long noun phrase

that includes two prepositional phrases. The verb of the correct

sentence is underlined.)

4. **The home of my grandparents, a place

familiar to me.(This is a noun phrase.

There is no verb.)

4. The home of my grandparents was a place that was familiar to me.

(In this case, the sentence is correct if you just put in

a verb.)

5. **A place where I used to play with my friends and spent most of my

childhood.(This is a noun phrase.

There is no verb.)

5. It was a place where I used to play with my friends and spent

most of my childhood.This is correct if I put in a subject

and a verb and use the long noun phrase as the complement

of the verb.

6. **My grandmother who I hadn’t seen for

a long time. She called me by my Chinese

name.

6. My grandmother, who I hadn’t seen for a long time, called me by my

Chinese name.(The best way to fix this

sentence is with an adjective clause.)

Run-on Sentences

7. **I was surprised to hear that name, my friends all use my American name.

7. I was surprised to hear that name because friends all use my

American name.This repairs the comma splice with the adverbial expression “because.” You can also use

“since” or “as.”

8. **Some things in my grandmother’s

apartment were still the same some looked

different.

8. Some things in my grandmother’s apartment

were still the same, but some looked different.

(Use the conjunction “but” to combine the two

sentences.

9. **I looked around, I saw my cousin

looking at me, she had grown a lot.

9. I looked around, and I saw my cousin looking at me. She

had grown a lot.(The first two sentences

should be connected. The last one needs to be a separate

sentence.) OR

9. When I looked around, I saw my cousin looking at me. She had grown a lot. Here, the first two sentences are

combined using an adverbial expression.

10. **At the time I left, she was just seven, I

could see that now we were the same height.

10. At the time I left, she was just seven, but I

could see that now we were the same height.

(Repair this comma splice with the conjunction

“but.”)

11. **We used to be very close to each other, but at

that moment, she was quiet, she just looked at me.(This sentence has two

correct commas and one comma splice.)

11. We used to be very close to each other, but at that moment, she was quiet and just looked at

me.(The comma splice has been

repaired with “and.” No comma is needed because the subject

was not repeated.)

12. **Maybe she was shy, or there was a gap

between us, I wasn’t sure.(This sentence has one

correct comma and one comma splice.)

12. Maybe she was shy, or there was a gap between

us; I wasn’t sure.(The comma splice has

been repaired with a semi-colon.)

Page 35, Activity 7:

Subject-Verb Agreement Problems

1) Everything that Arnett see in Vietnam is related to her limited memory

and her imagination about Vietnam.

2) **She compares what she thought before and what

she see in reality; for example, she see exactly the same exotic fruits, hear the same language in her home

country.

2) She compares what she thought before and what

she sees in reality; for example, she sees exactly

the same exotic fruits, hear the same language in her

home country.

3) **She feel very happy and comfortable about that; however, later she feels

disappointed about the fact that the tofu custard in

Vietnam is not as good as before and even worse than the tofu custard in the U.S.

4) **At the end of the article, she realize that

Vietnam is not her home anymore.

4) At the end of the article, she realizes that Vietnam is

not her home anymore.

5) **It is not a place for her to live because she has

already been Americanized for a long time and the U.S. have replaced Vietnam to

become her home.

5) It is not a place for her to live because she has already

been Americanized for a long time and the U.S. has

replaced Vietnam to become her home.