Reviewing book 3 skills
Before you start this final skills booklet, ensure your understanding
of skills in book 3. Using your best books, identify and tick the skills
that you have confidently used. These include:
Sentence structure and punctuation
Variety of controlled sentences both simple and complex (used for
effect)
 Confident range sentence features: fronted adverbial, complex
noun and prepositional phrases.
 Wide range of consistently accurate punctuation
 Generally accurate internal punctuation
Cohesion and paragraphing
Whole texts:
Clearly controlled and sequenced texts.
A range of cohesive features:
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Paragraphs of differing lengths
Tense transition / use of flashbacks
Clear openings and closings
Discourse markers
Linking strategies between paragraphs
Paragraphs:
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Topic sentences
Developed topics
Withholding information for effect
Cohesion strategies between paragraphs
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Imaginative and interesting texts appropriate to task, reader and
purpose:
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imaginative treatment of task,
familiarity with conventions of a variety of forms,
adapted for audience and purpose,
convincing individual voice: authorative expert, convincing
characterisation, adopting a role,
 generally appropriate level of formality: controlled informality,
managed shifts between conversational style and more literary
language,
 stylistic devices used for effect.
Vocabulary and spelling:

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generally appropriate
varied
ambitious
spelling generally correct throughout
If there are skills that you have not used in your assessments,
please revise the Book 3 skills before moving onto this booklet.
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Embedded phrases and clauses: revision activities
Underline the embedded clauses:
1. The boy, who was only seven, could play the piano.
2. The beach, which was very crowded, was hotter than ever.
3. The ball, which was kicked by the goal keeper, flew through the
air.
Put paired commas around the embedded clause:
1. The music which was too loud gave me a headache.
2. The old lady who had lots of bags waited for a taxi.
3. The bus which was empty sped down the street.
4. The loaf of bread which she bought last week was moldy.
5. The singer who was on the stage sang to the audience.
Put the embedded clauses in the middle of the right main clause.
Don’t forget the commas!
1. The child was crying in the supermarket.
2. The aeroplane was landing at the airport.
3. The people queued to buy a bargain.
who was lost
who were pushing
and shoving
which was full of passengers
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Make the following sentences more interesting by adding an
embedded clause:
1. The music ____________________________ gave me a headache.
2. The astronaut ________________ climbed into the space rocket.
3. The ants ________________________________ built their colony.
4. The elderly man ___________________ struggled across the road.
5. The rainbow ________________ stretched across a cloudless sky.
On the previous page, you revised the basic construction of
embedded clauses and phrases. However, to access the highest
grades these sentences need to be shaped and crafted to support
the purpose of the text.
 Identify the embedded clauses and phrases in the following
descriptive extract.
 Note whether it is a phase (no verb) or clause (has verb)
 In the margin, note how the clause or phrase supports the
purpose of the text.
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Description of the beginning of winter in Moscow
At home in Moscow everything was already wintry,
the stoves were heated, and in the morning, when the
children were getting ready for school and drinking
their tea, it was dark, and the nanny would light a
lamp for a short time. The frosts had already set in.
When the first snow falls, on the first day of riding in
sleighs, it is pleasant to see the white ground, the
white roofs; one's breath feels soft and pleasant, and
in those moments one remembers one's youth. The
old lindens and birches, white with hoarfrost, have a
good-natured look, they are nearer one's heart than
cypresses and palms, and near them one no longer
wants to think of mountains and the sea.
"The Lady with the Little Dog" by Anton Chekhov
Description of a young woman
Sitting beside the young woman, who looked so
beautiful in the dawn, appeased and enchanted by
the view of this magical decor--sea, mountains,
clouds, the open sky--Gurov reflected that, essentially,
if you thought of it, everything was beautiful in this
world, everything except for what we ourselves think
and do when we forget the higher goals of being and
our human dignity.
“The Lady with the Little Dog" by Anton Chekhov
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Description of the homeless
The homeless are close to the streets, to the
pavement, the curbs and gutters, the concrete, the
litter, the sewer lids and fire hydrants and
wastebaskets and bus stops and store-fronts. They
move slowly over familiar terrain, day after day,
stopping to talk to each other because time means
little, stopping to watch a stalled car in traffic, a new
drug dealer on a corner, a strange face on their turf.
They sit on their sidewalks, hidden under hats and
caps and behind drugstore sunshades, and, like
sentries, they observe every movement. They hear
the sounds of the street. They absorb the odours of
diesel from city buses and fried grease from cheap
diners. The same cab passes twice in an hour and they
know it. A gun is fired in the distance and they know
where it came from. A fine auto with Virginia or
Maryland plates is parked at the curb; they'll watch it
until it leaves.
A cop with no uniform waits in a car with no
markings and they see it."
“The Street Lawyer” by John Grisham
Now write your own descriptive paragraph of one of the following:
 A person
 A pace
 A season
Use a variety of sentences including crafting embedded phrases and
clauses.
Annotate your text to show how your embedded clauses support
the purpose of your writing.
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Complex verb forms
Major subclasses of verbs:
1. full verbs: eat, sleep, play
2. primary (auxiliary) verbs: be, have, do
3. modal auxiliaries: can, could, may, might, shall, should, will,
would, must
The Structure of Finite Verb Phrases
There are two types of finite verb phrase: simple and complex.
Simple verb phrase : contains only one word
Complex verb phrase: contains more than one word. Complex verb
phrases are made up of one or more of four basic “constructions.”
These are:
Type A (modal)
repair)
modal auxiliary + base form (should
Type B (perfective)
have + -ed participle (has repaired)
Type C (progressive)
be + -ing participle (are repairing)
Type D (passive)
be + -ed participle (were repaired)
These four basic constructions can be combined in eleven ways.
These structures are listed below with examples:
ABC: should have been repairing
ABD: should have been repaired
ACD: should be being repaired
BCD: has been being repaired
ABCD: should have been being
repaired
AB: should have repaired
AC: should be repairing
AD: should be repaired
BC: has been repairing
BD: has been repaired
CD: is being repaired
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The ordering of the four basic constructions listed above (and of the
letters of the alphabet used to name them) reflects the order in
which the constructions appear in complex finite verb phrases.
Notice also that, although the constructions must always follow each
other in alphabetical order (i.e. B cannot come before A or D before
C), there can be “gaps.” For example, A can be followed by C or D).
Notice also that the same construction cannot be repeated in a
single verb phrase; i.e. combinations such as ABB are impossible.
scream
hibernate
examine chew
knit
laugh
Pick four of the verbs above. Turn them into a sentence with a
complex verb phrases using four of the constructions on the
previous page.
Verb form
BC
Example
She has been screaming all night.
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Verb form
Example
Verb form
Example
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Verb form
Example
Write a 200 word article to your local free paper complain about
one of the following (or something you feel strongly about). Find
opportunities to practice using a variety of complex verb phrases
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Slow, but free Wi-Fi
Mondays
Weather
Flying
Facebook statuses
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Grammar patterns or parallel structures
Parallelism is a type of repetition. You can achieve parallelism by
repeating sentence structures or by beginning related phrases and
clauses with words that have the same grammatical form. For
example:
 I lingered round them, under that benign sky: watched the
moths fluttering among the heath and harebells; listened to the
soft wind breathing through the grass; and wondered how
anyone could ever imagine unquiet slumbers for the sleepers in
that quite earth.
Emily Bronte, Wuthering Heights
[note how that subject “I” does four things, all of similar
grammatical structures: lingered…, watched…, listened….,
wondered….]
 In the past we have had a light which flickered, in the present
we have a light which flames, and in the future there will be a
light which shines over the land and the sea.
–Sir Winston Churchill
[Note how the writer addresses time in a similar, or parallel,
manner. "In the past...in the present...in the future...." Each
element begins with a parallel prepositional phrase.]
 His unbrushed, curly, red hair blowing in the wind, Preston, the
captain of the debate squad and President of the Science Club,
walked in to the biggest party of the year, situating his glasses
on his freckled face, pulling up his trousers, snapping his
suspenders, making all the girls swoon.
[Note how the sentence ends with repeating the present
progressive verb]
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A series of sentences can also be parallel:
 I came. I saw. I conquered.
 We need a leader with moxie. We need a leader with
intelligence. We need a leader with courage.
The problem with many awkward-sounding sentences is that they
are NOT balanced or do not repeat the grammar pattern.
To spot potential parallelism pitfalls:
 look for the connectives in a sentence - for, and, nor, but, or,
yet, so - look to either side of the connective if it's parallel.
Unbalanced sentence
adjective
noun
Deep-fried Oreos are delicious but bad nutrition.
Balanced sentence
adjective
adjective
Deep-fried oreos are delicious but not nutritious.
Now both of the descriptors are adjectives, the sentence is
balanced.
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Correct the following unbalanced sentences. The first one has been
done for you.
.
Unbalanced: She doesn’t like washing clothes or housework.
Balanced: She doesn’t like washing clothes or doing housework.
1.
The British Museum is a wonderful place to see ancient
Egyptian art, you can explore African artifacts, and find beautiful
textiles from around the world.
2.
The hurricane not only destroyed the fishing fleet but also the
homes of the fishermen.
3.
He said that he would meet you at the soccer field and not to
be late.
4.
Dominic does not have enough time to play soccer, join the
debating team, and band.
5.
He said that he would meet you at the soccer field and not to
be late.
6.
Dominic does not have enough time to play soccer, join the
debating team, and band.
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Using parallel words or phrases, complete each of the following
sentences. Underline the repeated structures. 1 and 2 have been
done for you.
1.
When I was a child, I loved to play in the leaves, skip down
the driveway, and run against the wind.
2.
I still enjoy playing in the leaves, skipping down the
driveway, and running against the wind.
3.
Merdine danced a jig and then _____ a song that took my
heart away.
4.
Merdine said that she wanted to dance a jig and then _____
a song that would take my heart away.
5.
The children spent the afternoon playing video games,
watching TV, and _____ donuts.
6.
If you want to learn how to play video games, watch TV, or
_____ donuts, spend an afternoon with my children.
7.
All that you need to make a great tomato sandwich is
whole-wheat bread, a sliced sweet onion, two lettuce leaves,
mustard or mayonnaise, and a juicy ______.
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8.
To make a great tomato sandwich, begin by toasting two
pieces of whole-wheat bread and _____ a sweet onion.
9.
Whatever you have, you must either use it or _____ it.
10. It is easier to build strong children than to _____ broken
adults.
11. I divided my time between my music and my _____.
12. Giving is better than _____.
13. It is better to give than _____ _____.
14. People can hurt others not only by their actions but also by
their _____.
15. Children cannot learn well if they lack adequate health care,
nutrition, and _____.
16. Cheating can result in failing the assignment, failing the
entire course, getting suspended, or _____ _____ from college
entirely.
17. Plagiarism or any other form of cheating can result in a
failing grade for the paper or a _____ _____ for the course.
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Write parallel / balanced sentences for the following:
A burglar
________________________________________________________
Tree in winter
________________________________________________________
School uniform
________________________________________________________
Fast food
________________________________________________________
A castle
________________________________________________________
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Antithesis
A balanced sentence that uses the juxtaposition (or placing next to
each other) of contrasting ideas in balanced phrases or clauses.
Underline the contrasting ideas:
1.
“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times.”
2. "Love is an ideal thing, marriage a real thing."
3. "Everybody doesn't like something, but nobody doesn't like Sara
Lee."
4. There are so many things that we wish we had done yesterday, so
few that we feel like doing today."
5. We notice things that don't work. We don't notice things that do.
We notice computers, we don't notice pennies. We notice e-book
readers, we don't notice books."
6. "Hillary has soldiered on, damned if she does, damned if she
doesn't, like most powerful women, expected to be tough as nails
and warm as toast at the same time."
7. "Tonight you voted for action, not politics as usual. You elected us
to focus on your jobs, not ours."
8. "You're easy on the eyes. Hard on the heart."
Write a persuasive speech on a subject of your choice using the
skills developed in this booklet. Don’t forget to revise book 3 skills
(noted at the front of this book) and use those too.
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