Chopp\,
Sentences
Chaptern I UsingParallelStructm·esandFixingSentenceProblems 185
____14. Evidencethatthewavereacheda heightof 80 feet(24meters)
whencomingashorealongthecoastlineandroseto 100 feet
(30meters)insomeareaswhen travelinginland.
____15. Despitea lagofuptoseveralhoursbetweentheearthquake
andtsunami,nearlyallofthevictimsweretalcencompletely
bysurprise.
B. Readthefollowingshortessay.Putbrackets[ ]aroundanysentencefragments
youfindandmarkthemFrag.Thencorrectthefragmentsona separatesheet
ofpaper.
WomenDrivers
Sexismlextendsevenintotheareaofautomobiledriving,it seems.
Believingthattheyarefarbetterdriversthanwomen.Menconsiderwomen
driversincompetent,inattentive,andevendangerousbehindthewheel.
2 However,statisticsprovethatwomenare,infact,saferdriversthanmen.
Forexample,insurancerates.Insuranceratesforwomenare 20 percentlower
thantheyareformen.Anotherproofis thatmoreaccidentsarecausedbymale
driversbetweentheagesof 18 and 25 thanbyanyothergroup.Also,thegreater
percentageofaccidentsinvolvingdeathscausedbymen.Althoughwomenare
criticizedforbeingtoocautious.Theyarereallyjustbeingsafedrivers.
3 Thereasonsforwomendrivers'saferdrivinghabitscan.perhapsbefoundin
thedifferingattitudesofthesexestowardautomobiles.Ontheonehand,women
driverswhoregardtheautomobileasa convenience.Likea washingmachine.
Ontheotherhand,menregardtheautomobileasanextensionoftheiregos.
Usingitasa weaponwhentheyfeelparticularlyaggressive.Orusingit asa
statussymbol.
4 Allinall,womenaresaferdrivers.Becauseoftheirattitude.Mencanlearn
tobecomesafedrivers.If theyadopttheattitudethatanautomobileis merelya
convenience.
Choppysentencesaresentencesthataretooshort.Shortsentencescanbeeffective
incertainsituations.Forinstance,whenyouwanttomakeanimpact,usea short
sentence.
Despitecountlessdoctors'warnings,newsstories,andmagazinearticles
abouttheimportanceofeatinga nutritious,balanceddiet,manypeopleresist
developinghealthyeatinghabits.Somepeoplejustlikejunkfood.
(Asentenceof 25 wordsis followedbyoneof 6 words.Thesecondsentencehas
greaterimpactbecauseitissoshort.)
ISexism:men'sbeliefinmalesuperiority