W HEN WE ARE communicating with others, speaking has several advantages over writing. For one thing, speaking enables dialogue. If we don’t understand what the speaker is say- ing, we can ask the speaker to repeat, rephrase, or clarify his or her ideas. For another, when we speak, we have much more freedom to play with grammar and stylistic conventions. We can use slang, clip off endings of words, and state incomplete or run-on thoughts. Because we are speaking, often for- mulating our thoughts as we go, it is natural and even acceptable to make occasional grammatical mistakes. And when we do, we have the chance to correct ourselves before we continue. Not so with writing. Writing necessarily distances us from our audience, and we cannot correct ourselves as we go along or backtrack if our reader doesn’t understand what we have written. When we write, there- fore, we need to be clear and correct from the start. Otherwise, our readers may not be able to understand our message. Because you will do an enormous amount of writing in college—including lab reports, research papers, and essays—admissions officers need to know that you can communicate clearly and correctly in written Eng- lish. That’s why Section II of the TOEFL exam tests your knowledge of English grammar and style. CHAPTER Structure: Grammar and Style As you can imagine, you will do a great deal of writing in college. To do well in an American school, you will need to write in clear, gram- matically correct English. In this chapter, you will learn exactly what the structure section of the TOEFL exam is like. You will also review and practice basic grammatical rules and patterns so you can write cor- rectly and perform well on the exam. 3 51  The TOEFL Exam Structure Section: What to Expect Section II: Structure does not require you to actually write grammatically and stylistically correct sentences. You will have that opportunity in Section IV: Writing (or the Test of Written English™ [TWE ® ] if you take the paper-based exam). Instead, Section II presents you with a series of sentences in which you have to cor- rectly fill in the blank or identify a grammatical mistake. These sentences will cover a wide range of topics, including history, biology, culture, and art. But you do not need background knowledge in the subject to answer the questions correctly. The sentences will pro- vide enough context to make their meaning clear, but the actual subject of the sentence is not important. What matters is that you can recognize and correct errors in English grammar and style.  Kinds of Structure Questions on the TOEFL Exam On both the computer-based and paper TOEFL exams, you will find two types of questions: Type 1: Incomplete sentences. These sentences will have a blank and ask you to select the correct word or phrase to put in that blank. On the paper-based TOEFL exam, these questions are called Structure questions. Examples: 1. It is illegal _________ cars on a two-lane road when there is a solid yellow dividing line. a. passes b. passing c. to pass d. when passing 2. After a female seahorse produces eggs, she gives them to her mate, _________ fertilizes them and carries them in his pouch until they are ready to be born. a. he b. who c. which d. while Answers: 1-c, 2-b. Type 2: Sentences with underlined words or phrases. These sentences will have several underlined words or phrases. You will be asked to choose which of the underlined words or phrases is incorrect. On the paper-based TOEFL exam, these questions are called Written Expression questions. – STRUCTURE: GRAMMAR AND STYLE– 52 Examples: 3. Frederick Law Olmsted, who d esigned Manhattan’s Central Park, wanting the park to be a “democratic ABC playground” w here everyone was equal. D a. A b. B c. C d. D THERE are a few important differences between the structure sections of the new computer-based TOEFL exam and the old paper-based exam. The kinds of questions are the same, but the computer-based test offers fewer questions. More important, the questions on the computer exam will be selected according to your level of pro- ficiency. Your first question will be “average” in difficulty. The next question will be easier or harder, depending upon how you answered the first question. The rest of the questions will follow this pattern. Throughout the struc- ture section on the computer-based test, the level of difficulty of each question will be based upon your answer to the previous question. This chart compares the structure sections of the two tests: Computer-Based TOEFL Exam (“Structure”) Supplemental Paper-Based TOEFL Exam (“Structure and Written Expression”) 15–20 minutes 25 minutes 20–25 questions 40 questions Question types (see “Kinds of Structure Questions” below) Question types are divided into two sections: Part A are not divided into sections. Incomplete sentence and consists of 15 incomplete sentences (“structure” sentences with underlined words and phrases will be questions) and Part B consists of 25 sentences with presented at random. underlined words and phrases (“written expression” questions). The computer selects questions based on your level All test-takers answer the same questions. of proficiency. Once you submit an answer, you cannot go back to You can return to previous questions and change previous questions. your answer. Your score on this section is combined with your score Your score on this section is not combined with your on the essay in the writing section. score on the essay in the writing section (Test of Written English™). Source: Barron’s Passkey to the TOEFL ® , 4th ed., 2001. – STRUCTURE: GRAMMAR AND STYLE– 53 Computer-Based Test vs. Paper-Based Test 4. A lack in folic acid, especially in early pregnancy, can lead to serious birth defects. AB C D a. A b. B c. C d. D Answers: 3-b, 4-a.  Grammar and Style Review Now that you have a better idea of what to expect on the structure section of the TOEFL exam, it’s time to review some basic English grammar patterns and rules. This review and the practice exercises throughout the chapter will help you write more clearly and correctly and better prepare for the exam. The Basic Unit of Writing: Sentences and Sentence Structure When we write, we express our ideas in sentences. But what is a sentence, anyway? S UBJECTS, PREDICATES, AND OBJECTS A sentence is the basic unit of thought in the English language. It is composed of two essential parts—a sub- ject and a predicate—and it must express a complete thought. The subject of a sentence tells us who or what the sentence is about. The predicate tells us something about the subject. Thus, in the following sentence: The snow is falling. The word snow is the subject. It tells us what the sentence is about—who or what performed the action of the sentence. The verb phrase is falling is the predicate. It tells us the action performed by (or information about) the subject. The subject of a sentence can be singular or compound (plural): I ate a large pizza. Ted and I ate a large pizza. singular subject compound subject (two subjects performing the action) The predicate can also be singular or compound: I at e a large pizza. I ate a large pizza and drank a liter of soda. singular predicate compound predicate (two actions performed by the subject) – STRUCTURE: GRAMMAR AND STYLE– 54 In many sentences, someone or something “receives”the action expressed in the predicate. This person or thing is called the direct object. In the sentences below, the subject and predicate are separated by a slash (/) and the direct object is underlined: I / ate a lar ge pizza. (The pizza receives the action of being eaten.) Jack / loves J ill . (Jill receives the action of being loved.) Sentences can also have an indirect object: a person or thing who “receives”the direct object. In the sen- tences below, the direct object is underlined and the indirect object is in bold: I / gave Xiomara a g ift. (Xiomara receives the gift; the gift receives the action of being given.) The teacher / threw the (The children receive the party; the party receives the action of children a s urpr ise party. being thrown.) Practice 1 For each of the following sentences, please: A. Put a slash (“/”) between the subject and the predicate. B. Identify whether the subject is singular or compound. C. Identify whether the predicate is singular or compound. D. Underline any direct objects. E. Circle any indirect objects. You will find the Answer Key in Appendix A. 1. Tobias washed his car. 2. My boss gave me a huge raise. 3. The engineer measured the water level in the reservoir and tested it for contaminants. 4. Horace and Renee both told the detective a different story. – STRUCTURE: GRAMMAR AND STYLE– 55 INDEPENDENT AND DEPENDENT CLAUSES A clause is a group of words that has a subject and a predicate (clauses can have direct and indirect objects, too). A clause that expresses a complete thought is called an independent clause; it can stand on its own as a sentence. A dependent clause, on the other hand, cannot stand alone because it expresses an incomplete thought. When a dependent clause stands alone, the result is a sentence fragment. Independent clause: It rained. Dependent clause: Because it rained. Notice how the dependent clause is incomplete; it requires an additional thought to make a complete sentence. The independent thought, however, can stand alone. What makes the dependent clause above dependent is the word because. Because is one of many subor- dinating conjunctions like the following: SUBORDINATING CONJUNCTIONS: after before that when although if though where as, as if once unless wherever because since until while When a clause has a subordinating conjunction, it must be connected to an independent clause to become a complete thought: Because it rained, the game was cancelled. dependent clause independent clause I was so hungry that I ate a whole pizza. independent clause dependent clause A sentence with both a dependent and independent clause is called a complex sentence. Both of the sen- tences above are complex sentences. When two independent clauses are combined, the result is a compound sentence like the following: It rained, so the game was cancelled. The most common way to join two independent clauses is with a comma and a coordinating con- junction: and, but, or, nor, for, so, yet. Independent clauses can also be joined with a semi-colon if the ideas in the sentences are closely related. – STRUCTURE: GRAMMAR AND STYLE– 56 . in the subject to answer the questions correctly. The sentences will pro- vide enough context to make their meaning clear, but the actual subject of the sentence is not important. What matters. English™). Source: Barron’s Passkey to the TOEFL ® , 4th ed., 2001. – STRUCTURE: GRAMMAR AND STYLE– 53 Computer-Based Test vs. Paper-Based Test 4. A lack in folic acid, especially in early pregnancy,. to correct ourselves before we continue. Not so with writing. Writing necessarily distances us from our audience, and we cannot correct ourselves as we go along or backtrack if our reader doesn’t