Page 22 - English Grammar and Composition-Student Textbook short

Practice 5: Concise Writing

Read each of the following sentences and decide how to make it less wordy. Refer back to the
lesson to pick out mistakes that make the sentence bulky and confusing. Rewrite the sentences in
the field given below it. Wordy sections that should be replaced are in bold print. Try, if possible to
come up with a strong verb that might replace a group of words where a verb is indicated.

1. The guy who takes the patient’s information and sign-ins at the doctor’s office told us that most of the
seats that had been yellow in color were replaced.

2. For all intents and purposes we generally set up in an unoccupied, open area to carry out evangelism for

all the various people in the village.

3. The current elected government will without a doubt let us know where to go in the country for
treatment.

4. What is needed in the current situation is a qualified person with the needed training to tell us what to
do.

5. All of our 25,000 current working employees are honest in character and are working diligently over the
next several months to remove items from the store that are cheap in quality.

6. The many people traveling to other countries for vacations in May will sometime, but not immediately
realize that their current airline flights have been cancelled for good.

7. The rocks used to decorate the raised bed of an uncertain condition came from a well-known area of
Zimbabwe where animals of various types are used to grazing.

8. I was kind of upset when I found out lately that any particular type of food for the crowd to eat would be
sufficient since I had agonized over it for days.

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