Answers

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 SECTION I

LESSON 1
1.
SUBJECT DIRECTIONS

The vectors involved in the transmission of rabies from dogs to humans Identify

Three ways to prevent the spread of rabies Describe

2.
SUBJECT DIRECTIONS

The implications of the argument that behaving ethically makes good business sense Discuss

This argument to the behavior of companies today Relate

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 3.
SUBJECT DIRECTIONS

Western European culture with the Islamic culture during the Middle Ages Compare

Each culture’s scientific accomplishments, literature, and concepts of law and justice Include informa-
tion about
4.
SUBJECT DIRECTIONS

The reasons that the U. S. government decided to build a canal across the Review
Isthmus of Panama
5.
SUBJECT DIRECTIONS

Four factors that affect the rate of photosynthesis Identify

The effect of each factor on the rate of photosynthesis Explain

6.
SUBJECT DIRECTIONS

Your goals in life List or identify

How you plan to reach your goals Explain

7.
SUBJECT DIRECTIONS

The three main tasks of marketing Identify

8.
SUBJECT DIRECTIONS

The representation of courage in Henry V and in The Charge of the Light Brigade Contrast
9.
SUBJECT DIRECTIONS

Economic imperialism and political imperialism Contrast

10.
SUBJECT DIRECTIONS

The foreign policy objectives of Italy, Germany, and Japan in the 1930s Identify

How each nation achieved its objectives Explain

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LESSON 2
1. Answers will depend on the topic and writer.
2. a. You could ask others for ideas about problems that concern them, listen to the news or read peri-
odicals. A clip file would be a good source for this assignment.
b. You could go to a local museum or art gallery or browse through art books in your local library.
You could also use pictures on the walls of your home or buildings at your work or school for this
assignment.
c. You could browse your scrapbooks, photo albums, and resume for ideas. You might also write in
your journal about your own areas of expertise and interests and your goals and dreams. What
have you done to move toward your personal goals? What types of things are you proud of? What
about you makes your friends and family proud of you?
3. Answers will vary from person to person. One possibility is shown here.
a. The causes of teenage pregnancy or the options for a pregnant teen
b. How to keep your computer virus free
4. a. The audience will be a college admissions committee. They will be looking for insight into your
personality, goals, and values, as well as evidence that you can communicate effectively and logi-
cally in writing.
b. The newspaper staff, and ultimately, the readership of the newspaper will be your audience. The
newspaper staff will be more likely to print a letter that is engaging, interesting, easy-to-follow,
and that makes points relevant to past material printed in the paper or to the general readership
of the paper.
c. Your biology teacher will be the audience of this essay. Your biology teacher will be looking for
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evidence that you have learned the content covered in the question.
d. Your college composition teacher will be the audience for the research paper. He or she will be
looking for a clear thesis, coherent topic, and evidence that you have used appropriate resources
to research your topic. Your teacher will also be interested in your organization of the topics, writ-
ing style, grammar, spelling, presentation of sources, and your ability to follow the style guide or
instructions provided in the writing assignment.
5. Answers will vary from person to person and depend on the piece of writing chosen.

LESSON 3
1. Answers will vary from person to person. One possibility is shown here.
The Internet
Scary
Powerful
Useful
Over-touted
Does it really save time? Or waste time like TV?
So many connections
New kinds of viruses, security, safety, privacy issues
New kinds of businesses
New ways of working—from home, in isolated areas, etc.

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 2. Answers will vary from person to person. One response is shown below.
I remember my first day in first grade. I sat beside my cousin John. It was scary. We were in an
outside temporary building. The teacher was very nice—Mrs. Bracken or something like that. Her
room smelled like crayons and she had a lot of stuff on the walls. The chairs were just the right
size for us. There was a boy crying and his face was all red. My mom kissed me good-bye and waved.
I stayed near my cousin all day and felt safe with him there. Then they told us our room and teacher
were just temporary. Later, they reassigned me and John and I guess all the kids in our class to
teachers inside the school building. Then John and I weren’t in the same class anymore. I didn’t
like my new teacher and felt less secure for a long time after this happened. I guess it really affected
me since I still remember it so well . . .
3. Answers will vary from person to person. One response is shown below.
What are genetically engineered foods?
Why should they be labeled?
Who will be affected?
Why wouldn’t manufacturers want to provide this information?
When would it start?
Why would we want to know?
How would it be done?
What if they aren’t labeled? What could happen?
Who will standardize the labels and claims and regulate their use?
Who eats these foods? Avoids them?
4.
My friends, Jenna
and Jimmy My guitar
My Family

Reading
What’s Stephen King
special and Anne Rice
Music camp— about me?
music lessons,
music
scholarships
School band
and musicals—
lead guitar for
My clothes—always Grease
wear red and white.

5. Answers will vary from person to person. See answers to 1–4 for examples.

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LESSON 4
1. Building a prison near my home would benefit my community.
2. Uniforms are not a good idea for public schools because they suppress student expression and lower
self-esteem.
3. Getting separated from my parents at the World’s Fair was a terrifying experience, but it taught me
that I could be self-reliant and that many people are available for help if you ask them.
4. If I were President for one day, I would focus on two issues important to me: reducing poverty and
improving public education in the United States.
5. Answers will vary from person to person. See any of the examples of graphic organizers in Lessons
2 or 3.
6. Answers will vary from person to person. One response is shown below.
Thesis statement: Teenagers get pregnant for a number of reasons.
I. Too much exposure to sexual material
A. TV
B. Movies
C. Advertisements
D. Rock music
II. Unmet needs
A. Parents aren’t giving enough attention
B. Need to fill an emptiness
III. Wanting to grow up

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A. Need for more responsibilities
B. Need for independence
C. Need for more attention
IV. False information
A. From friends
B. From parents
V. Peer pressure
A. From friends
B. From self
7. Answers will vary from person to person and depend on the outline produced.

LESSON 5
1. Answers will vary from person to person. One example is shown below.
Thesis statement: Building a prison near my home would benefit my community.
Topic sentence 1: A new prison near my home would provide needed jobs and counteract the flow
of people from our small town.
Topic sentence 2: Building a prison in my community would stimulate our local economy and ben-
efit local businesses.

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 www.elsolucionario.org

2. Answers will vary from person to person. One example is shown below.
Thesis statement: Building a prison near my home would benefit my community.
A new prison near my home would provide needed jobs and counteract the flow of people from
our small town. A prison would require construction, security, administrative support, cafeteria
workers, sanitation, and many other services. People in my community could fill these positions.
Every person in my community who finds a local job will have a reason to stay here.

LESSON 6
1. Answers will vary from person to person. One example is shown below.
Thesis statement: I would not recommend Boris Pasternak’s novel Dr. Zhivago.
Supporting reasons:
a. Too many characters
b. Too many difficult names to keep up with
c. Too many complicated subplots to try to follow
d. Too many unimportant details
e. Too many digressions—I lost interest
f. Too many extraordinary coincidences—I didn’t find it credible
2. Answers will vary from person to person. One example is shown below.
Although it’s considered a great novel, Boris Pasternak’s Dr. Zhivago is not an enjoyable read. The
book is filled with an overabundance of characters, each possessing a polysyllabic Russian name
that is difficult to pronounce, recognize, and distinguish from the next. The story is a labyrinth of
subplots, which are easily confused with one another and difficult to follow. Pasternak provides
entirely too many details of trivial importance that have no bearing on the main plot of the novel.
He digresses often and advances to the end of the story so slowly that I eventually lost interest alto-
gether. Even if I had been able to stay interested in the plot, the number of extraordinary coinci-
dences that Pasternak expects the reader to digest would have turned me off. Despite its reputa-
tion, Dr. Zhivago was a major disappointment. If you are interested in this story, I suggest renting
the movie instead.

LESSON 7
1. Answers will depend on the pieces of writing chosen by each person.
2. a. The writer begins with a startling claim and quotation, both of which get the reader’s attention.
However, readers who already have a strong opinion about Creationism or evolution may not be
convinced or may be turned off.
b. In fact, evolution and Creation can be combined and accepted as one general explanation of
mankind’s origin. These two explanations are not in conflict with one another, but actually need
one another in order to complete the answer to mankind’s questions.
c. Answers will vary from person to person.
3. Answers will vary from person to person. See the examples in Lesson 7.
4. Answers will depend on the pieces of writing chosen by each person.
5. Answers will vary from person to person and depend on the thesis statement chosen. Examples of
effective conclusions can be found in Lesson 7.

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LESSON 8
1. a. The introduction is clear and well written, but it does not prepare the reader for the rest of the
essay.
b. I expected the last sentence to be the thesis statement, but these lessons are not discussed directly
in the essay.
c. Not really. They do not discuss the lessons learned on the trip abroad.
d. No, they discuss other accomplishments.
e. There are some specific examples, but they don’t relate to the thesis statement.
f. The conclusion does seem to stem from the information in the body paragraphs, but it doesn’t
really match the introduction to the paper.
g. Answers will vary. Perhaps a new thesis statement and introduction should be written. Based on
the revised thesis statement, the support in the body paragraphs and the conclusion can be made
more directly relevant to the introduction.
2. Answers will vary from person to person.

LESSON 9
1. a. Yes. There are two main things that I really dislike about myself.
b. Two things the writer doesn’t like about himself
c. Although some of the examples could be more specific, all of the sentences relate to the paragraph’s
main idea.
2. Answers will vary from person to person.
3. a. They are arranged spatially—room by room.
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b. This is an effective way to arrange the items because it’s a logical way to think about an apartment.
c. Yes, the sentence, “If you plan to clean your apartment once in a while, you’ll also need cleaning
supplies specific for each room,” doesn’t follow the spatial organization and breaks up the flow of
the room-to-room listing. It should either be deleted or moved to the end of this paragraph or to
another paragraph.
4. Answers will vary from person to person.
5. Answers will vary from person to person.

LESSON 10
1. you’re
2. quiet
3. past
4. complements
5. desert
6. its
7. capitol
8. already
9. waste
10. principal
11. Whose
12. weak

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 13. site
14. write
15. There
16. wear
17. Answers will vary from person to person. One way to correct each problem is shown below.
a. Look at the facilities in other countries, and you’ll see the U.S. has far better facilities.
b. Contributing time, money, and effort, John got the project off the ground.
c. My father isn’t sick—he’s as healthy as a horse.
d. I stayed up all night working on my paper.
e. Employees must be prepared and on time.
18. Answers will vary from person to person. One way to rewrite the paragraph is shown below.
A person who is interested in becoming a teacher—a profession that is in great need of talented
people—should investigate the elements required to be a good teacher before making a final deci-
sion. On first thought, it might seem that a good teacher is one who is very knowledgeable of the
subject matter: a master of what he or she wants to teach. However, others would disagree. Good
teachers are those who connect with students and are able to interest students in the process of
thinking and inquiring about the subject matter. Teaching is more than knowing the subject mat-
ter. It’s understanding where students are and dreaming about where they can go with the subject
matter.
19. Answers will vary from person to person. One way to rewrite the paragraph is shown below.
Several months ago, February 29, I had just watched the ending of a very funny movie. I reached
over, turned off the TV, and was just beginning to dream quite pleasantly when the familiar ring
of my telephone suddenly startled me awake. Groggily, I answered my telephone. It was my best
friend telling me he had just been given extra tickets to the Yankees game. He excitedly asked,“Would
you like to go?”
20. Fewer; than
21. emigrated
22. invented
23. accepted
24. inferred
25. adapt
26. affect
27. badly
28. lay
29. lying
30. Set

LESSON 11
1. Answers will vary from person to person. One way to rewrite the paragraph is shown below.
What a person accomplishes in life depends on what he thinks he can accomplish. Self-esteem is
a good indicator of one’s future. Low self-esteem can cripple a person. Although he might be qual-
ified to accomplish a particular project, he will probably fail because he will give up more readily.

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 www.elsolucionario.org

LESSON 12
1. Answers will vary from person to person. One way to rewrite the paragraph is shown below.
Last Sunday Henri Henklebeck, my best friend, called. “Did you hear that the circus is coming to
town?” he asked. After a long discussion about the circus, we decided to spend the afternoon there
and hung up.
2. Answers will vary from person to person. One example for each type of figurative language is shown
below.
a. The dog was a rocket zipping across the field.
b. The dog zipped across the field like a rocket.
c. As we left for the last time, our old home sighed a good-bye.
d. The dog was covered with a billion fleas.
e. On the day of the test, I woke up late to a thundering bolt of lightning. I knew it was going to be
a good day.

LESSON 13.
1. a. Define the ADA. Identify who is covered. Identify who is not covered.
b. Explain what the term disability means in the ADA. Give examples of who does and does not qual-
ify as a person with a disability.
c. Describe some aims of the ADA. List or describe the processes covered by the ADA.
2. Answers will vary from person to person and depend on the essay question selected. One response
is shown below.
Aims
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■ Protect people with disabilities from discrimination

■ Increase wages for people w/ disabilities

■ Increase employment rate for these people

Covered processes
■ Applications

■ Hiring/firing

■ Promotions

■ Salary/benefits

■ Training

3. Answers will vary from person to person and depend on the essay question selected. One response
is shown below.
a. The ADA, or the Americans with Disabilities Act, is a federal law intended to prevent discrimina-
tion against people with disabilities.
b. In the ADA, the term disability refers to people who meet specific criteria.
c. The ADA aims to protect people with disabilities from discrimination.

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 LESSON 14
1. Answers will vary from person to person and depend on the exploratory strategy selected. One response
is shown below.
Aspects of mountain climbing
■ physical training and conditioning

■ planning a route

■ climbing locations

■ weather requirements

■ climbing tools and equipment

■ provisions needed

2. Answers will vary from person to person and depend on the topic selected. A response for the topic
of mountain climbing tools and equipment is shown below.
■ What types of tools and equipment are needed for mountain climbing?

■ What types of safety equipment are available?

■ Where can you find the equipment?

■ What’s the bare minimum one would need to begin mountain climbing?

■ How expensive is the equipment?

3. Answers will vary from person to person and depend on the topic selected. To find information about
the topic of mountain climbing tools and equipment, you might check the following sources.
■ encyclopedia

■ climbing how-to books

■ climbing-related magazines

■ survival guides

■ travel books

■ Internet sites

■ first-hand accounts from mountaineers (memoirs, biographies, autobiographies)

LESSON 16
1. Answers will vary from person to person. Refer to Lesson 3 for examples of prewriting strategies in
action.
2. Answers will vary from person to person. One response is shown below.
RECORDING FOR THE BLIND, Austin, TX 1993–1994
Project Manager
Produced audio recording of a 700-page, 2nd-year Russian textbook for blind students by recruit-
ing and training volunteers, securing the use of equipment, and organizing the workflow; completed
project one month ahead of schedule
3. Answers will vary from person to person. See the examples in Lesson 15 and in the appendix at the
end of this book.
4. a. As Administrative Assistant at Taiwan Foods International, I wrote all outgoing correspondence
and spoke with customers on the phone.

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 b. As Student Representative, I listened to student ideas and took them to monthly meetings. I was
able to persuade the university administration to keep the library open an extra hour each night
during final exams.
c. As part of the college’s Green Team, I worked with ten other students to keep the creek that runs
through campus free of litter and other types of pollutants.
d. When I was a tutor at the Learning Skills Center, I helped students overcome math anxiety by help-
ing them cope with their fears. Not only did I help them study for upcoming math tests, but I also
helped them become familiar with other aspects of the testing situation, such as the room and the
format of the test.
5. Answers will vary from person to person. See the examples in Lesson 15 and in the appendix at the
end of this book.

LESSON 17
1. Answers will vary from person to person and depend on the letters chosen.
2. Answers will vary from person to person. One response is shown below. Other examples are pro-
vided in Lesson 16 and in the Appendix.
January 22, 2002

Your company letterhead

Customer Service Department

Duplicating Parts Company
201 Kentucky Avenue
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Iowa City, IA 67459

Dear Sir/Madam:
Our company recently ordered a replacement part (Part # A458) for our photocopying machine
(Model # 5002). The part that we received, however, does not fit our machine—it appears to be
for a different model of photocopier.
I am returning the incorrect part to you along with its packing slip. Please provide us with the
correct part. I am also attaching a copy of our original order form.
I look forward to receiving the correct part. I appreciate your prompt attention to this matter. If
you need any additional information, please do not hesitate to contact me.

Sincerely,

Your name
Your title

Enclosures: Photocopy part

Copy of packing slip
Copy of original order form

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LESSON 18
1. Answers will vary from person to person. One response is shown below. Other examples are pro-
vided in Lesson 17 and in the Appendix.
MEMO
To: All Employees
From: Jill Montgomery, Vice President Human Resources JM
Date: November 15, 2002
Subject: Open Enrollment for Medical and Dental Insurance

Materials for this year’s open enrollment are in! Please come to the Human Resources Depart-
ment to pick up your packet. There are several changes in the Medical and Dental plans we will
be offering next year. You’ll need to make your selections by December 15. Plan changes will be
effective January 1, 2003.
2. a. Yes, the message is short and to the point.
b. The message is fairly clear, but the subject line is not meaningful.
c. It’s simple, but it’s not effective. Uppercase letters are not used effectively. The information could
have been listed or separated to make it easier to read. The writer could have been more polite.
d. No, it seems fine.
3. Answers will vary from person to person. One response is shown below.
Subject: New carpet installation this weekend
Date: Mon, 1 Oct 2001 12:33:24 –0500
From: Sara Change <[email protected]>
To: All Employees <[email protected]>

We will be getting new carpet installed in our office on Saturday, October 6. To help with the car-
pet installation, you are asked to do the following things by FRIDAY, OCTOBER 5, at 5 PM.
1. Please remove all your belongings and non-furniture items from the carpet in your work area.
2. Please remove everything from the surfaces of the furniture in your work area.
If you have any questions or need help complying with these requests, please call me at extension
555. Thanks for your cooperation!

Sara
4. Answers will vary from person to person and depend on the e-mail message selected.

LESSON 18
1. Answers will vary from person to person. One response is shown below.
Progress Report
Submitted by: Joy Tan
Date submitted: July 5, 2002
This is a progress report for my work in Better Writing Right Now.
■ I began this book on June 1.

■ I completed Section I on June 5.

■ I completed Section II on June 15.

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■ I completed Section III on June 20.
■ I completed Section IV on June 25.

■ I completed Lessons 15–18 on July 3.

■ I will complete Lesson 19 today.

■ I plan to browse the examples of writing in the Appendix over the next week.

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