=Exercise 134--Miscellaneous Blunders=

=To, Too, Two=

_To_ is a preposition; _too_ is an adverb, and means _excessively_ or _also_; _two_ is a numeral adjective. Insert the correct form in each of the following sentences:

1. The ---- sisters discovered that it was ---- late for the 4:15 train.

2. It is ---- dark in that corner; come ---- the light.

3. He spends ---- much time in dreaming, ---- little in working.

4. He would have done better if he had not given ---- little heed ---- the advice of his ---- older brothers.

5. ---- more hours were pa.s.sed in the all ---- weary task of waiting.

6. It was ---- cold ---- stay out more than ---- hours.

7. You may go ----, but don't stay ---- long.

8. ---- stay there for ---- weeks would be ---- tiresome.

9. The doctor said that the ---- men were ---- sick ---- go home alone, and I thought so ----.

10. About ---- hours ago I met Mary who said that she was going ---- the country ----.

=There, Their=

11. ---- are seven brothers in ---- family.

12. ---- books are ---- on the table.

13. ---- is no doubt that ---- knowledge of mathematics is greater than ---- knowledge of English.

=Were, Where=

14. ---- have you been?

15. ---- you ever on a farm ---- alfalfa is grown?

16. ---- ---- you when the report was read?

17. I was just ---- you ----.

=Of, Have=

18. You should ---- read more distinctly.

19. I could ---- done the work if I had had more ---- the necessary tools.

20. If I had tried harder, I might ---- done the work better.

PART II--COMPOSITION: ORAL AND WRITTEN

CHAPTER X

ORAL ENGLISH

=Exercise 135=

RETELL a story that you know or one that the instructor has read to you.

See if you can tell the whole story in fairly long sentences without using a single _and_. You will be allowed to use three _and's_. As soon as you say the third, you must take your seat. Let the cla.s.s keep count.

The story may be an anecdote, a fable, or any other short incident that can easily be told in one or two minutes. You probably have read many such or have heard your father and your mother tell them. A joke that can be told in two or three sentences will not be long enough.

The excessive use of _and_ spoils the telling of many stories. It is a mistake to think that the gap between the end of one sentence and the beginning of the next appears as great to the listener as it does to us as we are deliberating what to say next. To avoid the gap we bridge the two sentences with _and_. Its use in this way is hardly ever necessary if we think out a sentence to the end before we begin to speak it. When we have finished the thought, we should finish the sentence without trying to bind it artificially to the next one. The sentences will be bound together if the thought of one grows out of the thought of the preceding one.

If the unfolding of the idea does not seem sufficient to tie the parts, there are better expressions to use than _and_. There are short expressions like _in this way_, _likewise_, _moreover_, _thus_, _therefore_, _besides_, _as might be expected_, and _too_. Another way to avoid _and_ is to change the form of the sentence: (1) better than the form, "I opened the window _and saw_," is, "_Opening_ the window, I saw;" (2) better than "I am going to the store _and buy_ some sugar,"

is, "I am going to the store _to buy_ some sugar;" (3) better than "There was a boy _and his name_ was John," is, "There was a boy _whose_ name was John;" (4) better than "I reached home _and found_ that my cousin had arrived," is, "_When_ I reached home, I found that my cousin had arrived." In place of _and_, therefore, we may use (1) participles, (2) infinitives, (3) relative p.r.o.nouns, and (4) subordinate conjunctions.

Above all, avoid _and everything_, as in, "I washed the dishes and swept the floor and everything." To try thus to complete an idea that is already complete shows childishness.

=Exercise 136=

Very likely in telling the story as suggested above you found yourself frequently using the word _so_ to connect two sentences. Perhaps, too, you used _why_ to begin sentences.

Now tell one of your own experiences, being careful not to use _and_, _so_, or _why_. Introduce as much conversation as possible. What, if any, is the advantage of telling a story in the first person? Why is it good to introduce conversation?

In your conversation make use of several of the following words:

replied whispered spoke inquired answered agreed cried explained asked exclaimed shouted remarked questioned repeated continued suggested promised maintained objected rejoined interrupted quoted returned added

=Exercise 137=

Far too many boys and girls pay but little regard to the matter of choosing the word that will give the exact meaning that they wish to convey. In order to lend force to their words they have formed the habit of speaking in superlatives; like the girl who said, "We had a perfectly grand time, but I'm so beastly tired now that I'm nearly dead," and yet she showed no evidence of suffering.

Isn't it a pity that our beautiful English language should be so degraded in common usage that it loses all its force and meaning?

Instead of convincing people that she really was tired, the girl quoted above made herself ridiculous by her exaggeration. Yet isn't the quotation a fair example of the speech of many boys and girls? Surely everything about us is not either grand or beastly. The habit thus formed is difficult to break, but it must be broken if we wish to speak our language correctly.