Reducing Sentences Exercises

I. Schenker, in her article “Smart House”, houses will be networked making people’s life easier and more comfortable. The electronic devices will be connected to internet and will have special chips to control housework, communications, shopping, bills or people social life. The disadvantages of having a networked  home do not seem to be significant. People will just have to pay some extra dollars for the chips, the connection to internet and the security to protect the system against pirating. The maintenance will not have to be afforded because the service will repair themselves. In short, the money that people will not mean much considering all the benefits of having a smart house. (110)

II.   This study went through 1,600 marginal and end comments written on 110 drafts of essays by 47 universities ESL advanced students, considering the pragmatic goals and the linguistic features of each comment. (2) Then, drafts of each individual essay were examined to observe the influence of the first draft commentary on the students’ revisions and assess the changes that were made in response to the teacher’s feedback improved the essays. (3) A significant proportion of the comments led to substantive student revision, and there were particular types of commentary that were more helpful than others. (4) The final results are suggestive of several important implications for L2 writing instruction and future studies on a vital neglected topic. (115)

  

Wordy Sentences - Guided practice

Adam Smith, founder of modern economics, proposed a theory that made controversial. This economist educated in England, wrote the first study of political economy. The Wealth of Nations published in the same year that Americans declared their independence from England in 1776. Smith’s book pointed out and directed attention to the interdependence of freedom, order, economic processes and free trade laws. His influence during his lifetime did not affect economic, but it was considerable in the next century. “The invisible hand” and “laissez-faire” are synonymous with Smith’s names. Some people will say “He was a good man- he really understood how business works!” and others “He was an evil man- really sold the average citizen down the river”. Both reactions are extreme, but indicate controversy aroused by Smith’s ideas is still alive.