A Quiz About Parallel Structure

A Quiz About Parallel Structure A Quiz About Parallel Structure A Quiz About Parallel Structure By Mark Nichol Many writers are thwarted by unsuccessful efforts to express equivalent ideas in phrases that clearly identify the hierarchy and relationships of those ideas. Here are five sentences in which syntactical structure fails to communicate these concepts. Try your hand at resolving the confusion, and then compare your results to my solutions at the bottom of the page: 1. â€Å"Learn to use this art form not only for performance but also to collaborate, exercise, and respect the differences of others.† 2. â€Å"Children enrolled in high-quality preschool programs are more likely to graduate from high school, hold down jobs, and less likely to be on welfare or end up in jail.† 3. â€Å"She will be returned to the same, or a substantially similar, position to the one held prior to the leave of absence, as required by law.† 4. â€Å"They pulled him from his vehicle, beat him, robbed him of his money and equipment.† 5. â€Å"Dedication, hard work, flexibility, a sense of humor, and the interest and ability to learn and improve professionally are some of the positive qualities the company seeks in all employees.† Answers 1. This sentence isn’t strictly incorrect, but it would be clearer if it didn’t lead the reader to infer that the additional benefits of the art form are that participants can collaborate the differences of others, exercise the differences of others, and respect the differences of others. That implication is eliminated if the preposition to is inserted before the second and third items in the list: â€Å"Learn to use this art form not only for performance but also to collaborate, to exercise, and to respect the differences of others.† 2. This sentence has contrasting â€Å"more likely† and â€Å"less likely† phrases, but includes two of one and one of the other, and the second â€Å"more likely phrase† is confusingly cordoned off by commas, leaving it bereft of context. To make the sentence correct, the brace of commas must be omitted and a conjunction added: â€Å"Children enrolled in high-quality preschool programs are more likely to graduate from high school and hold down jobs and are less likely to end up on welfare or in jail.† 3. This type of error is distressingly frequent, considering that it seems obvious that if the parenthetical phrase is removed, the sentence is awkward, therefore the original sentence is awkward. One of several possible fixes is to get the trailing phrase out of the way immediately by moving it to the head of the sentence, then presenting the fully expressed basic statement followed by the alternative: â€Å"As required by law, she will be returned to the same position held prior to the leave of absence, or a substantially similar one.† 4. Here’s another common error the omission of a conjunction before a concluding compound list item. As written, the sentence implies that there were four stages to the crime: 1) They pulled him from his vehicle, 2) they beat him, 3) they robbed him, and 4) equipment. Huh? That’s wrong. Only three things occurred; items 3) and 4) are one step. Because that one step is the final list item, it should be preceded by a conjunction: â€Å"They pulled him from his vehicle, beat him, and robbed him of his money and equipment.† 5. Interest and ability take different prepositions, so they need to be separated into parallel phrases where each word is supported by its own preposition: â€Å"Dedication, hard work, flexibility, a sense of humor, and the interest in learning and improving professionally and the ability to do so are some of the positive qualities the company seeks in all employees.† Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Grammar category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:English Grammar 101: All You Need to KnowCannot or Can Not?The Two Sounds of G

5 of the biggest motivation myths

5 of the biggest motivation myths Activate your potential for success! Seize the day! Everything is right there waiting for you! Motivational slogans can be very appealing. They tug at our best selves, suggesting that there’s a positive, productive human being just waiting to break free if we can just coax it out the right way. That sounds great, in theory- but in reality, a lot of this motivational-speak just doesn’t cut it. Let’s look at some of the bigger motivation myths floating out there that don’t really work as well as they promise.Myth: All you need is the right motivation!Motivation is great- it’s also not the only thing. If you want to be more productive and successful in your career, it’s important to make sure you’re building up your skills and experience in addition to doing those mega-positive self-affirmations in the mirror each morning. A positive outlook is great, but you need the goods to back it up if it’s going to propel you to doing great t hings.Myth: Just do your best.This is one we likely all heard as kids. Just try, and you’ll be great. While that works well for little kids, as an adult, it doesn’t do anything to push you beyond your level. As a professional adult, â€Å"do your best† is kind of like a participation trophy. If you truly want to motivate yourself, try to go beyond â€Å"this is what I think I can do† if you want to build ambition. In theory, you’re doing your best anyway- how does this motivate you to push yourself higher?Myth: Visualize what you want.Planning and goal-setting is a great way to get ahead. But if you’re just visualizing the end outcome (you standing on the Olympic podium, singing along with the national anthem), you’re missing out on the process it takes to get there (cut to a training montage of you sweating, swimming, drinking kale smoothies, and running up stairs, Rocky-style).Myth: You need to reward yourself to achieve your goals. I will forever defend the idea that a little #treatyoself is a necessary part of life. But you shouldn’t be setting your career goals and working toward them just because of the personal rewards or incentives you attach to them. And there’s the fact that it just doesn’t always work. Look at salespeople- most sales jobs have built-in commissions or incentives to perform well. Yet if rewards were all that are necessary to build motivation to achieve goals, then every salesperson would be performing at top capacity, all the time. Again, your career is a process, and incentives don’t always motivate you to do your best.Myth: Don’t think about setbacks.Setbacks are disappointing, but they can also be good motivators. If you understand why things went wrong, and take from it that crucial knowledge about what you can do better or differently the next time, that gives you motivation to make improvements and show that you can bounce back.The thing about mot ivation is that it’s totally unique to you- so platitudes only go so far. If you’re doing careful planning and embracing a high level of self-awareness, you’ll find what specifically works for you as you build your career and reach toward your goals.