Murray Sherk

Publishing English - Spring Semester 2019

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Classroom location:



Each class will run from 9:00AM to 12:15PM, with a couple of breaks during that period.
Roughly the last 1/3 of each lesson will be workshop-type activities at the end.
Lessons will be on the following days:




Final Exam: Monday, May 6, 9:00-11:00 in our usual seminar room.

Section 1 [30 marks] Fix or improve these text passages
Each of the following passages has multiple weaknesses and/or errors that make it poor English. Based on what you understand the sentence to mean, rewrite the text in perfect, stylish English. You should use wording that expresses the worthwhile ideas of the text accurately and concisely. Your rewritten text may be more than one sentence.
You do not have to explain what is wrong with the passage; just fix it!
A few minutes after the exam begins, these sentences will be on the course website so you can electronically copy the originals from there if you want to avoid some typing.

1.1    [10 marks] Hint: Use clauses and at least one modifier (resumptive, summative, or free).
John is a man. John is tall. John is British. John is a manager at a factory. The factory belongs to ABC Incorporated. John’s factory manufactures toys. Those toys are expensive.

1.2    [10 marks]
Internet-based communication innovations that force international communication to connect some people, in several different countries with those in some other international countries using a lot of internet communication is one of a number of ways to increase, expand, and augment profit.

1.3    [10 marks]
The computers and the smartphone have great and strong in-fluences on market today. And it is a continuing development. So anybody who ignores it is an idiot that will crash and burn. But wise managers make investigations of influences like this to keep in competition with competitors.

Section 2 [30 marks] Explain why these text passages need improvement
Each of the following passages has weaknesses and/or errors that make it poor English.  Describe each weakness and error in the passage. You must describe the problems in words and make sure your wording convinces me you know what each problem is.
•    Use point form, but make sure that your meaning is clear. E.g. “circular argument”, “main verb too far from main subject”, “weasel word: quite”
•    You must name or describe the problem but for clarity, you may also link your description to one of the “Principles for Good Writing” (e.g. SSW7, BCG6, PE13).
You do not have to fix the passage; just say what is wrong with it. Each passage has more than one weakness or error. List 3 to 5 problems for each passage.

2.1 [10 marks]
Nowadays, lots of employees take his Holidays not in the summer which means and has the following effect hereafter: during the summer there are plenty of Workers to keep the factory going and operating as usual in those summer months. Unlike in earlier decades before now.

2.2 [10 marks]
Not believing that no company that never breaks its agreements is rarely going to work, Jill will have been establishing it as a principle of her new firm years ago and, can’t turn over a new leaf, now. But, to make a long story short, I believe it is possible that maybe a newer company or firm can not do any gooder.

2.3 [10 marks]
New regulatory rules from our government that, since last year, have caused some domestic firms, among others, to spend more, or at least a little bit more, in some cases, on some safety meazures, don’t make it easy, particularly for new firms, to expand.

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