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More Level 3 Exercises

Joke # 6
Answer Key for Level 3
     Subordinate clauses are in brackets [ ]. / represents the vertical line at the end of a main clause.  The font size of words aleady analyzed has been decreased. The color codes for adjectives, adverbs, and prepositional phrases have been deleted because too many colors seemed distracting. Words which remain to be analyzed are still in 14-point black

Spaces Missing between Words? (Click here for an explanation.)

 

      Two men were traveling {on a motorcycle} {on a windy, 

winter day}. [Adverbial to "stopped" and "put" When it became

too breezy{for one}], he stopped and put his overcoat {on}

backwards to keep the wind {from ballooning it away} {from him}. /

A few miles further {on}, the motorcycle hit a tree, killing

the driver and stunning the fellow {with the reversed coat}. /

Later, [Adverbial to "asked"  when the coroner visited the

scene,] he asked a rookie policeman standing nearby: [DO

of "asked" "What happened?"] /   "Well," [Note # 1 the officer

replied,] "one {of them} was dead [Adverbial to "was" when

I got here,] /   and {by the time} [Adjective to "time"  I got the 

head {of the other one} straightened around,] he was dead,

too." /
 

Baude's Handbook of Humor for All Occasions.
Compiled by Jacob M. Braude. 
Englewood Cliffs: Prentice Hall, 1958. p. 167

Notes:

1. I prefer to consider clauses such as this as interjections, but you could consider "officer replied" as the main subject / verb and the quotation as the direct object.
 
 

Progress
Total Words = 105 Words %
L1: In Prep Phrases  31  30
L1: + Adj & Adverbs 22 50
+ L2: S / V / C 35 84
+ L3: Clauses 4 88

 
Some Basic Statistics on Style
# of Sentences: 5 Words per: 21.0
# of Main Clauses: 6 Words per 17.5
# of Sub Clauses: 6 SC / MC 1.00

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