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More Level 1 Exercises

The Opening Paragraphs of
Mark Twain's Tom Sawyer
Answer Key for Level 1
Current technology makes it extremely difficult to draw lines, etc. from word to word in web documents. In Level One, I have therefore indicated words modified by prepositional phrases in following brackets. These brackets will be deleted in the answer keys to subsequent levels.
 
     "TOM!"

     No answer.

     "TOM!"

     No answer.

     "What's gone {with that boy}, [Adverb to "gone"]  I wonder? 

You TOM!"

     No answer.

     The old lady pulled her spectacles down and looked 

{over them} [Adverb to "looked"Note #1] {about the room}

[Adverb to "looked"] then she put them up and looked out 

{under them}. [Adverb to "looked"] She seldom or never looked

{THROUGH them} [Adverb to "looked"] {for so small a thing}

[Adverb to "looked"] {as a boy}; [Adverb to "so" in preceding phrase] 

they were her state pair, the pride {of her heart}, [Adjective to 

"pride"] and were built {for "style," not service} [Adverb to 

"were built"Note #2] -- she could have seen {through a pair} 

[Adverb to "could have seen"] {of stove-lids} [Adjective to "pair"] 

just as[Note #3] well. She looked perplexed {for a moment}

[Adverb to "looked perplexed"] and then said, not fiercely, but still 

loud enough {for the furniture} [Adjective to "enough"] to hear:

     "Well, I lay if I get hold {of you} [Adverb to "get hold"] I'll--"

     She did not finish, for {by this time} [Adverb to "was bending"

and "punching"] she was bending down and punching {under the 

bed [Adverb to "punching"] {with the broom}, [Adverb to "punching"]

and so she needed breath to punctuate the punches with.

[Note #4]

She resurrected nothing {but the cat}. [Adjective to "nothing"]

     "I never did see the beat {of that boy}!" [Adjective to "beat"]

     She went {to the open door} [Adverb to "went"] and stood

{in it} [Adverb to "stood"] and looked out {among the tomato

vines and "jimpson" weeds} [Adverb to "looked out"] that 

constituted the garden. No Tom. So she lifted up her voice 

{at an angle} [Adverb to "lifted up"] calculated {for distance} 

[Adverb to "calculated"] and shouted:

     "Y-o-u-u TOM!"

     There was a slight noise {behind her} [Adverb to "was"] and

she turned just {in time} [Adverb to "turned"] to seize a small 

boy {by the slack} [Adverb to "to seize"] {of his roundabout}

[Adjective to "slack"] and arrest his flight.

     "There! I might 'a' thought {of that closet}. [Adverb to 

"have thought"Note #5] What you been doing {in there}?" [Adverb

to "been doing"]

     "Nothing."

     "Nothing! Look {at your hands}. [Adverb to "look"Note #5]

And look {at your mouth}. [Adverb to "look"Note #5] What IS 

that truck?"

     "I don't know, aunt."

     "Well, I know. It's jam -- that's what it is. Forty times 

I've said if you didn't let that jam alone I'd skin you. Hand 

me that switch."

     The switch hovered {in the air} [Adverb to "hovered"] --

the peril was desperate --

     "My! Look {behind you}, [Adverb to "Look"] aunt!"
 

Project Gutenberg
sawyr10.zip


Notes

1. In "looked over them," "{over them}" is definitely a prepositional phrase. If you considered "over" as a verbal tag to "look," then you changed the meaning. This analysis would mean that she "examined" them.

2. If you missed the "not service" part, don't count it as an error. The phrase involves ellipsis -- "{for "style,"} not {*for* service}."

3. "Well" is an adverb, not a noun or pronoun, so "as well" is not a prepositional phrase.

4. In "to punctuate the punches with," the "with" can simply be considered a verbal tag. Note that it can be left out without changing the meaning, and its inclusion adds to the colloquial style of the passage. If one wants to get fancy, I suppose, one could explain that it is an ellipsed prepositional phrase -- "to punctuate the punches {with *that breath*}."

5. You could also consider the "of" as a verbal tag: "might *h*a*ve* thought of" = "might have remembered." I marked it as I did for two reasons. First, more students tend to mark it this way at this level, and second, it gives me more words in the wordcount at this level. ;) The same is true of the "at" in the two phrases further down.
 
 

Progress:
Total Words = 305 Words %
L1: In Prep Phrases  99  32

Click here to see the addition of adjectives and adverbs.

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