PART II FOCUS
The teacher is expected to help students appreciate the effects of using participles and absolutes in their writings
Participles
Getting to know participles
Reference for the excises
Reference for the Classroom Activities
1. Sentence b: handing (describing she)
Sentence c: wandering, picking (both describing friends) ;
Sentence d: made (used with had to indicate the past perfect tense)
Sentence e: surprised (describing Tigger) ;
Sentence f. filled (used with were to indicate the passive voice)
Sentence g. staring (describing Tigger)
Sentence h: left (describing nothing) ; checking (describing Roo)
Sentence i: looking (describing Pooh)
Sentence j. looking (describing Roo);
Sentence k. gone (used with have to indicate the present perfect tense)
Sentence l: picking (describing friends), fallen (describing raspberries)
Sentence m. waiting (used with was to indicate the present continuous tense)
2. a. smiling b. Reading
c. Swimming
d. competing
e. mentioned
f. Jumping, thrown, broken
g. published, informing h. Having, exhausted, relieved
Complex participle phrases
A. Present participles in different modes and aspects
*In this passive form, being is usually omitted, and then it becomes the past participle. Reference for the Classroom Activities
1. Refer to the above table for the meanings of the present participles.
2. a. The computer bought last week brings happiness to everyone in my family.
b. Being back in my hometown, I didn't know that my professor had assigned another 5,000-word paper.
c. Standing in front of the picture painted by a post-impressionist, many people pretended that they could understand it. / Many people stood in front of the picture painted by a post-impressionist, pretending that they could understand it.
d. Looking out of the window of the train, the boy was amused by the power lines dancing up and down in the air.
Extra Activities
Combine each of the following groups of sentences into one sentence using participles
a. She was born in a common family.
She was educated in an average college.
She is satisfied with her present life.
b. The students have finished their exams.
They feel greatly relieved.
As a result, they plan to play cards the whole night
c. Jimmy set his feet into the starting blocks.
He stared ahead intently.
d. Larry was sitting in a corner of the pub.
Larry held his head in his hands.
Larry was so depressed that even the best joke in the world couldn't cheer him up.
Suggested answers to the Extra Activities
a. Born in a common family and educated in an average college, she is satisfied with her present life.
b. Having finished their exams and feeling greatly relieved, the students plan to play cards the whole night.
c. Jimmy set his feet into the starting blocks, staring ahead intently.
d. Holding his head in his hands, Larry was sitting in a corner of the pub, so depressed that even the best joke in the world couldn't cheer him up.
B. Participles with conjunctions
Suggested answers to the question
Structure: They are all composed of a conjunction and a participle, and the noun in the main clause is the logical subject or object.
Meaning: Sentence a: time; Sentence b: concession; Sentence c: condition.
Reference for the Classroom Activities
1. a. Kate fell asleep when/while reading Bob's letter.
b. She started to chat with her friend after finishing / having finished her work.
c. Although having seen it a thousand and one times, the old man still watches the video from time to time.
d. Although closely watched by the guards, the prisoner plans to escap
e.
e. It is believed that if read many times, an article will naturally be understood.
f. If buying more, you can pay less.
2. Ask students to work on their own and write two sentences for each of the types.
Getting to know participles' functions
A. Creating concise sentences
Suggested answers to the questions
1. Yes.
2. There are two complete ideas in each sentence.
3. The relationship between the two complete ideas becomes closer from Sentence a through Sentence d. Sentence d has the closest relationship between the two ideas
4. Sentence d is the most efficient.
B. Producing more detailed sentences
Suggested answers to the question
In Group a, Sentence 2 is the best, in which the present participles describe live animated actions. In Group b, the best sentence is also Sentence 2, in which the
actions are simultaneous. In Group c, Sentence 3 is the best sentence in which the present participle and the past participle are combined most efficiently.
C. Establishing clearer logic
Reference for the Classroom Activities
1. a. Thinking about her kid at home, Judy made several mistakes in her work.
b. The car raced along the street, sending passers-by to run for shelter. / Racing along the street, the car sent passers-by to run for shelter.
c. Born in Guangzhou and educated in Nanjing, she is now working as a manager in Beijing.
d. Having been shocked and chased by a ferocious dog, the thief hid behind a dustbin, holding his breath for fear of being found.
e. The bomb blew up in the distance, shaking the ground slightly and making bursts of light on the dark horizon.
2. a. Hearing the news, I thought the world had ended for me.
b. I sat happily in my chair, reading a newspaper.
c. (correct)
d. Shocked at the sight of his teacher, the boy stood there dumbfounded.
e. Having lived there for twenty years, I know this place like the back of my hand.
3. Ask students to go over their writings, and pay attention to their use of the participles.
Absolutes
Getting to know absolutes
Suggested answers to the exercise
1. An absolute construction is a participle phrase whose logical subject is different from
the sentence subject.
2. A. determiner + n. + participle verb + other parts of the participle phrase
B. n. + participle verb+ other parts of the participle phrase
C. n. + other parts of the participle phrase
Reference for the Classroom Activities
Ask students to work on their own and write three sentences using different forms of absolute constructions.
Using absolutes with purpose
A. Adding descriptive details
Suggested answers to the exercise
You can get the following sentences:
a + b: The manager sat quietly in his office, his eyes closed, a cigarette burning his hand.
c + d: Sam walke
d slowly off th
e playground, his face streaked with tears, his leg bleeding.
What's more, participles and absolutes, although somewhat different, can be used together to create vivid descriptions. For example:
The girl sat nervously in her office, eyes closed, waiting for the telephone to ring.
The middle-aged man stood in the street corner, hands put in his pockets, eyeing every passer-by.
B. Indicating cause-effect relationships
In most cases, when the absolute is used for description, it is put at the end of the sentence; when it is used to suggest a cause-effect relationship, it is put at the beginning of the sentence.
Reference for the Classroom Activities
1. a. The boy leaned against a tree, hands in pockets.
b. He glared at his boss, his mouth shut, and his hands clenched.
c. The interviewee entered the office, her eyes fixed on her feet.
d. The rabbit stared at the approaching wolf, his four feet fixed to the ground, to frightened to mov
e.
e. The girl was enjoying her favorite song, her eyes shut, her head moving from side to side.
2. a. Two of my new bikes having got stolen here, I will never come to this place again.
b. Several flecks coming upon her face again, she doesn't want to meet her boyfriend today.
c. Its bottom torn open by a bomb, the ship sank slowly into the sea.
d. Its overseas advertisements being rather successful, the school has attracted many
foreign students.
e. The accountant being careless, I was given $1,000 more last month.
3. Ask students to look at their written work again, and see if they can combine some sentences by using absolutes. This can be done either as individual or group/pair work.
PART III GRAMMAR
Comma-Split Sentences
Suggested answers to the questions
1. There are two ideas in each sentence. The two ideas are connected by a comma.
2. No, the relationship is not clear. We can try to use some compound or subordinate conjunctions to clarify the relationship.
3. See the rules in the summary.
Reference for the Classroom Activities
a. I had no idea what I was getting into, and I did not really care.
b. You can't go home now since it is raining so heavily.
c. Seeing the escaping thief, the cop stopped his car, got off, and started to chase him
d. If you study hard, you will succeed.
e. When she said "Yes," he felt he was in heaven.
Now, ask students to summarize the rules against comma-split sentences Summary
1.When we use a comma to connect two separate ideas, or two independent
sentences, we commit a comma-split;
ma-split sentences are not acceptable because a comma is not strong enough
to indicate the relationship between two ideas;
ma-split sentences can be improved by clarifying the relationship between the
two ideas. Commonly used methods are:
1)using a comma and a conjunction like and, but, yet, etc.
2)turning one idea into a subordinate clause with if, when, although, because,
etc.
3)using participles and absolutes;
4)using punctuation marks that are strong enough, like colon(:) and semicolon
(:).
Fused Sentence
Suggested answers to the questions
1. Each sentence contains two ideas.
2. Yes, because the sentences are not clearly divided.
3. Strategies suggested to improve comma-split sentences can also be used to
improve fused sentences.
Reference for the Classroom Activities
a. In some part of China marriages are still arranged by parents. Consequently
money becomes more important than love.
b. Vegetables are good to your health. However, overeating them will also be harmful.
c. People watch TV for different reasons, so their judgement naturally differs.
d. These houses sell very well, because they enjoy first of all a very desirable location.
e. Nobody will completely love this kind of mass-produced food, but nobody will be unbearably put off, either.
Now, ask students to summarize the rules against fused sentences。
