Exercises 1.13 & 1.14

1.13 Brevity

Edit all the unnecessary words from the following expressions.

1. wore a white goatee

2. throughout the nation

3. was confirmed

4. looked ill

5. a corpse was found

6. in Los Angeles

7. cost ten dollars

8. broke a rule

9. during May

10. for a short time

11. a pioneer

12. the incumbent

13. will end

14. at the corner of Sixth and Elm

15. for shock purpose

1.4 Wordiness

The following sentences use too many words. Edit them carefully to reduce the number of words, but do not cut out important information. If necessary, rewrite the sentences completely.

1. There was no doubt that one day soon Hannah would become a famous, internationally-recognized jazz singer.

2. Midville is a small town, offering a safe environment for its residents, young and old alike.

3. Ed spent many tedious hours drawing a detailed map tracing the growth of the church denomination to which he had belonged from its beginnings. 

4. At this point, Erin could not any point in continuing to pay tuition to a college where she felt she was not receiving an education comparable to her investment.

5. Always confused by mathematical problems, Sally signed up for one of the hardest math courses in the curriculum, much to everyone's surprise.

6. Because John had not taken prerequisite courses, he was having difficulty and spending a lot of time figuring out his schedule for the upcoming semester.

7. Our textbooks are often extremely expensive, and our professors don't seem to care about this problem.

8. Alex said that in order to improve his writing he should read as many good books as possible.

9. While baseball has always been thought of as the national pastime, football, for all practical purposes, has replaced baseball as the favorite sport for many across the country.

10. During most of February, Laura stayed cooped up in her room trying to fight off a debilitating cold.

11. I don't like helping people who are not willing to put forth the effort to succeed in life.