The forest ranger, an expert in forest fire control, talked to
the campers about safety in the woods. – An expert in forest fire
control, the forest ranger talked to the campers about safety in the
woods. (appositive phrase)
Note that the part of the sentence placed first acquires a
special stress. The appositive phrase in this case seems to have
acquired a casual meaning, rather like: Being an expert in forest fire
control, the forest ranger …
3) A subordinate clause. When writing in complex sentences,
variety can be achieved by putting the subordinate clause before the
main clause. One should remember, however, that in this case the
idea expressed by the subordinate clause takes on a greater emphasis,
and one should therefore use this inversion with discrimination:
e.g. The gardener had to plant roses when they ran out of
carnations. - When they ran out of carnations, the gardener had to
plant roses.

Exercise 1. Rewrite the following sentences, beginning them with the part
of the sentence mentioned in parentheses.

1. Mr. Boyd was angry and began to defend his reputation
with strong argument. (single-word modifier) 2. The pioneer was
strong and healthy and lived to be 112 years old. (single-word
modifiers) 3. Many philosophy students read Plato, the author of
Socratic dialogues. (appositive phrase) 4. Shepherds are brilliant
climbers, hard-working and tireless. (single-word modifiers) 5.
Cousteau, a tireless researcher, began experimenting with skin-
diving in 1936. (appositive phrase) 6. The mosaics at the University
of Mexico, made by outstanding artists, are one of the most beautiful
things to see in Mexico City. (participial phrase) 7. Their going was
fairly easy at first. (a prepositional phrase) 8. The soft and crumbling

phrase) 16. …, the boy pleaded innocence with his mom. (gerundial
phrase) 17. …, the swimmer struggled to the shore as waves crashed
into him. (participial phrase) 18. …, we were tired and hungry when
we arrived. (a subordinate clause) Section 3. Writing Practice.
Reproduction Writing

Reproduction is a traditional method of teaching foreign
languages, particularly their written form. Learning a language
depends largely upon our ability to imitate; it is through imitation,
through repeated copying of ready-made patterns of grammatical and
lexical usage that we achieve success in mastering a language.

However, language is in its very essence creative; thus at this
stage, reproductions should form a balanced synthesis between
imitation and creation. They are not confined to re-telling, though the
student is required to render the story in a version which remains on
the whole faithful to the original. In addition, the student may be

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asked to give his opinion of the story, to comment upon some
episode, etc.

Exercise. Read the passage and do the assignments given below.

Miss Robinson had been taking driving lessons and trying to
pass her driving test for several years, but she had failed every time
because she always became too excited and did silly things when she


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Assignment 1. Answer the following questions.

1. Why did Miss Robinson think that she would fail her test
again? 2. What had Miss Robinson had to do before she passed her
test, which she did not have to do after she passed it? 3. Why did the
old lady speak to Miss Robinson? 4. Why was the old lady very
surprised when Miss Robinson said she could not drive? 5. Why did
Miss Robinson say that she couldn’t drive?

Assignment 2. (a) Reproduce the story, including a detailed answer to
questions 4 and 5.
(b) Compose a story for the old lady to tell her friends in the evening after
the incident. Begin it in the following way: “I had a very strange experience
this afternoon. I was going to town and wanted a lift because … .” Let the
old lady also explain why she went up to Miss Robinson’s car, how the girl
at the wheel looked, and what she thought of her behaviour.
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Lesson 2

Section 1. Spelling: Consonant Doubling

A. 1. Words are spelled with –ll-, -ff-, -ss-, -zz-:
a) In the final position in monosyllables after short vowels
represented by a single letter:
-ll-: cell, fill, pull.


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