115. THE EXPLETIVE In the following sentences find the parts that tell what is done. Find the subject substantives in the usual way. Are they the same in both sentences? 1. A little girl was hurt. 2. There was a little girl hurt. In the first sentence the subject comes first, as it usually does. The second sentence begins with "there," followed by part of the predicate, the subject, and the remainder of the predicate. In such sentences, "there" as an introductory word adds nothing to the meaning, and is called an expletive. a. Find the predicate verbs and subject substantives in the sentences below: 1. There are many idle men in town. 2. There were two boys passing by. 4. There is a man at the door. 5. That pupil laid the new book upon the table. 8. Jones is captain of the ship. 9. He will be successful. 10. Roses are red. II. We found the ball there in the grass. 12. There was no one perfect in spelling. 13. It was they. 14. We have been warm. 15. The fruit will soon be ripe. 16. The road has been muddy for several days. 17. The American soldiers were brave. 18. Allen has been absent for two days. 19. John told me about it yesterday. 20. She has spoken to me about them. 21. There are some pictures here of great value. b. Tell the use of there. c. Find the nouns in these sentences (12) that are modified by adjectives (omit "a" and "the"), and write each thus: MODEL: Many idle men are here. men idle Many d. Select the prepositions (13). 116. A COMPOSITION Dear Children, Tokyo, Japan April 6, 1914 I am now in Japan. Four months ago I was with you, helping you in your efforts to learn a little more of reading, writing, and arithmetic, with no thought of leaving you. Then one Friday night Mr. and Mrs. Cole, childhood friends, came quite unexpectedly, and the next afternoon I was sailing with them out through the Golden Gate on the big steamer "Mongolia." It would take too long to tell you of the trip over, of the beautiful blue sea, of the long, idle, sunny days, and of the arrival of the steamer in the harbor of Yokohama, with its queer looking boats and quaint looking people. In a short time we were comfortably settled in the American hotel and ready for sight-seeing. Since that time every waking minute has been full to overflowing with the most interesting scenes. To-day we were guests in one of the beautiful Japanese homes, in which the little daughters were observing the Dolls' Festival. This festival comes every year on the third day of the third month and usually lasts for three days. For nearly a week before, preparations had been going on, and now all was ready. In the guest room of the house shelves had been arranged along the wall, one above another like steps. They were covered with red cotton crêpe. On these had been grouped more than one hundred dolls. On the top shelf were the dolls that represented the emperor and empress. Just below these were the court musicians playing on queer Japanese instruments. There were also many court ladies dressed in lovely silks, with their back hair fastened with jeweled hairpins. On the lower shelves were placed the more common dolls and toys. The dolls are handed down from mother to daughter, consequently in many families there is a large number of them. While we were calling, the little girls, all dressed in their best, prepared a holiday meal of beans and rice for their dolls. After the nobility had been served, the little girls had their share. Then the family of dolls was taken to visit friends and relatives where they, with their mistresses, would be entertained with dainty sweets. The girls have a wonderful time on this holiday, and are sorry when it is over, but they cheerfully pack up their dolls and toys and put them away in bags and boxes for the next year. In two months the Flag Festival, which is the day for boys, will be observed. I shall try to write you about that. Meantime, I hope you are showing your new teacher what earnest boys and girls you really are. Your teacher, Edna Carlson This letter was written by a teacher to her pupils. Pretend that she was your teacher, and you one of the children, and answer the letter. If you enjoyed the letter; say so. Tell about your surprise at finding a new teacher in her place when you went to school after the Christmas vacation. Perhaps she would be interested in hearing of the games you are playing in the yard now, of any special exercises you may have had, of any athletic contest that may have taken place, or of anything interesting that has happened in school since she went away. Be sure to tell her how you are pro gressing with your work. If you prefer, write a letter to some friend telling of your teacher's leaving, of receiving her letter, and of the interesting things she is doing in Japan. Decide which you would prefer to write, then plan your work. Think the letter through before beginning to write. After you have finished, read your letter first to see if every sentence is clear and definite. Read again, and correct errors in capitalization, punctuation, and spelling. Read again to see if every sentence adds something to the central thought of the paragraph. Look to see that the heading, salutation, and closing are correctly placed and punctuated. 117. A LANGUAGE LESSON Choose from the words in parentheses the correct forms of the verb be. Remember that is and was require singular subjects. Are and were require plural subjects. What pronoun is an exception? 1. A beautiful rose (was or were) in the vase. 3. A long time ago there (was or were) a great fire in 5. (Is or are) there any pencils left? 6. There (was or were) two apples on my desk this 9. There (is or are) many children on the playground. Fill the blanks with the correct forms of the verbs in italics: 9. Has Mary to the city? (go) Fill the blanks in the sentences on the next page with the adjective or adverbial forms of the words in italics. |