The Complete Guide To The TOEFL Guide PBT Edition

Structure 1

Lesson 17: Incomplete Independent Clauses

A) Clauses: All sentences consist of one or more clauses. A simple sentence consist of one clase. * People need vitamins. * The man took a vitamin pill. * Judy lives in northern California.

A compound sentence consists of two independent clauses joined by a coordinating conjunction (such as and and but).
* The man took a vitamin pill, and he drank a glass of orange juice.

* Judy lives in northern California now, but she was raised in Ohio

A complex sentence consists of an independent clause (called the main clause) and a dependent (subordinate) clause. Subordinate clauses may be adverb clauses, noun clauses, or adjective clauses. In the sentence below, the independent clauses is italized. * The man took a vitamin pill because he had a cold.
(independent clause + adverb clause.)

B) Missing Subjects, Verbs, Objects, and Complements.

All clauses have a subject and a verb. Clauses with an action verb often take a direct object as well.
Subejct People Verb need Object vitamins

The verb missing from an independent clause may be a single-word verb (need, was, took, had, walked) or a verb phrase consisting of one or more auxiliary verbs and a main verb (will need, has been, should take, would have had, had walked). The verbs may be active (need, take) or passive (was needed, is taken).

The missing subject and direct object may be a noun (people, vitamins, Tom), a noun phrase (some famous people, a vitamin pill) or a pronoun (he, she, it).
After the verb to be and certain other nonaction verbs, a subject complement is used rather than a direct object (subject complents are also known as predicate nominatives and predicate adjectives).

Subject She

Verb is

Complement an architect.

C) Clauses with There and It.

Some clauses begin with the introductory words there and it rather than with the subject of the sentence. These introductory words are sometimes called expletives.

The expletive there shows that someone or something exists, usually at a particular time or place. These sentences generally follow the pattern there + verb to be + subject.
* There are many skycrapers in New York city.

* There was a good movie on television last night.

The expletive it is used in a number of different situations and patterns: * It is important to be punctual for appointments.
(with the verb to be + adjective + infinitive)

* It was in 1959 that Alaska became a state.

(with the verb to be + adverbal + noun clause)

* It takes a long time to learn a language.

(with the verb to take + tiem phrase + infinitive)

* It was David who did most of the work.

(with the verb to be + noun + relative clause)

It and there, along with the verb and other sentence elements, may be missing from the stem.

Exercise 17: Choose the one option (A), (B), (C), or (D)- that correctly completes the sentences, and then mark the appropriate blank. 1. In the United States, _____ is generally the responsability of municipal governments. _______ (A) for water treatment. _______ (B) water treatment. _______ (C) where water treatment. _______ (D) in which water treatment.

2. Crop rotation ______ of preserving soil fertility. ______ (A) it is one method ______ (B) one method ______ (C) a method is one ______ (D) is one method

3. _____ the dollar as its monetary unit in 1878. ______ (A) Canada adopted ______ (B) Adopted by Canada ______ (C) It was adopted by Canada ______ (D) The Canadian adoption of

4. ______ almost impossible to capture the beauty of the aurora borealis in photographs. ______ (A) Being ______ (B) It is ______ (C) There is ______ (D) Is 5. Usually, political cartoons ______ on the editorial page of a newspaper. ______ (A) appear ______ (B) whose appearance ______ (C) by appearing ______ (D) when they appearg

6. ______ two major art museums, the Frogg and the Sadler. ______ (A) Harvard University has ______ (B) At Harvard University ______ (C) Harvard University, with its ______ (D) There at Harvard University 7. American actress and director Margaret Webster _____ for her production of Shakespearean plays ______ (A) who became famous ______ (B) famous as she became ______ (C) becoming famous ______ (D) became famous

8. ______ gas tanks connected to welding equipment, one full of oxygen and the other full of acetylene. ______ (A) It is two ______ (B) Of the two ______ (C) There are two ______ (D) Two 9. _____ is more interested in rhythm than in melody is apparent from his compositions. ______ (A) That Philip Glass ______ (B) Philip Glass, who ______ (C) Philip Glass ______ (D) Because Philip Glass

10. Compressed air ______ the power to drive pneumatic tools. ______ (A) by providing ______ (B) provides ______ (C) that provides ______ (D) the provision of

11. _____ by cosmics rays. ______ (A) The earth is constantly bombared ______ (B) Bombared constantly, the earth ______ (C) Bombarding the earth constantly ______ (D) The earths constant bombardment

12. ______ primary colors are red, blue, and yellow. ______ (A) There are three ______ (B) The three ______ (C) Three of them ______ (D) That the three 13. _____ who was elected the first woman major of Chicago in 1979. ______ (A) It was Jane Byrne ______ (B) Jane Byrne ______ (C) That Jane Byrne ______ (D) When Jane Byrne

14. On the Moon, ______ air because the Moons gravitational fiedl is too weak to retain an atmosphere. ______ (A) there is no ______ (B) where no ______ (C) no ______ (D) is no 15. The Glass Mountain of northwestern Oklahoma _____ with fleck of gysum, which shine in the sunlight. ______ (A) they are covered ______ (B) covered them ______ (C) that are covered ______ (D) are covered

16. Every computer consist of a number of systems ______ togheter. ______ (A) by working ______ (B) work ______ (C) they work ______ (D) that work 17. In some cases, ______ to decide if an organism is a plant or an animal. ______ (A) difficult if ______ (B) it is difficult ______ (C) the difficulty ______ (D) is difficult

18. The first American novelist to have a major impact on the world literature ______. ______ (A) who was James Fenimore Cooper. ______ (B) James Fenimore Cooper was. ______ (C) it was James Fenimore Cooper. ______ (D) was James Fenimore Cooper. 19. _____ important railroad tunel in the United States was cut through the Hoosac Mountains in Massachusetts. ______ (A) At first ______ (B) It was the first ______ (C) The first ______ (D) As the first of

20. Generally, ______ in the valleys and foothills of the Pacific Coast ranges. ______ (A) the California poppy grown ______ (B) the growth of the California poppy ______ (C) the California poppy grows ______ (D) growing the California poppy 21. When bats are at rest, _____ hang upside-down. ______ (A) they ______ (B) and ______ (C) to ______ (D) as

22. ______ that the capital of South Carolina was moved from Charleston to Columbia. ______ (A) In 1790 was ______ (B) There was in 1790 ______ (C) In 1790 ______ (D) It was in 1790 23. Although not as important as they once were, _____ a major form of transportation in North America. ______ (A) there are still railroads ______ (B) railroads, which are still ______ (C) railroads are still ______ (D) railroads still being

24. ______ amino acids that serve as the basic building blocks of all proteins. ______ (A) About twenty ______ (B) For about twenty of ______ (C) About twenty are ______ (D) There are about twenty 25. The Loop, which is the commercial heart of Chicago, _____ within a rectangular loop of elevated train tracks. ______ (A) that is enclosed ______ (B) enclosing it ______ (C) is enclosed ______ (D) enclosed