Page 924 - Wordsmith A Guide to College Writing

5. A golf ball had smashed through the window striking a mirror.
Glass lay on the windowsill on the floor and on the arm of the

sofa.

Review Exercise 23-5 Editing a Paragraph

for Comma Use

Insert commas where they are needed in the paragraph below. Each
sentence contains one type of comma problem, which may require

more than one comma to correct.

1 2
For many people waiting is a fact of life. People wait in train
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stations doctor’s offices and employment offices. However people’s

attitudes about waiting are even more interesting and varied than the
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places where they wait. My dentist Jack Davis values his time and
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his patients’ time. “I hate to wait” he says “so I don’t keep my
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patients waiting, either.” Some people become angry and they make
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sure that those who keep them waiting get the message. One of my
neighbors once told me “If I’m kept waiting more than an hour, I send
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a bill for my time.” Other people endowed with more philosophical
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natures try to make waiting productive. These are the people who are
seen in airport terminals and doctors’ offices reading books knitting

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or catching up on their correspondence. Though some endure it more
patiently than others waiting is a fact of life for everyone.

1.

2.