English Skill Building – 122
Rewriting Sentences
Break these three long sentences taken from a prominent newspaper to smaller and simpler sentences.
Make sure you don’t change the meaning in any way.
Sentence 1 – His win, which followed a slugfest of a campaign in a deeply divided country awash in fake news and explosive rhetoric, came amid allegations of official suppression of the vote by Bolsonaro’s allies in the police
Sentence 2 – Overall, the race sounded strong echoes of the 2020 showdown in the United States between Joe Biden and Donald Trump. It pitted Bolsonaro, 67, a staunch Trump ally, against Lula, 77, a stalwart of the traditional left who moved to the center during the campaign.
Sentence 3 – Lula’s strength lay in female and low-income voters — particularly the Northeast, heavily populated by people of color — but also in social progressives and power brokers disturbed by Bolsonaro’s authoritarian bent.
Answers
a. 1. His (Bolsonaro’s) win came amid suppression of official votes (of his rival Lula) by Bolsonaro’s allies in the police.
2. The country (Brazil) is divided by a tide of fake news and explosive rhetoric.
b. 1. There was a showdown in the United States between Joe Biden and Donald Trump in 2020 elections.
2. This election in Brazil echoed the U.S. election slugfest.
3. The Brazil election pitted Bolsonaro,67 against Lula.
4. Bolsonaro is a strong Trump ally, whereas, Lula is a traditional leftist leader who moved to the center.
c. 1. Lula drew his strength lay in female and low-income voters of the Northeast.
2. The Northeast is heavily populated by people of color.
3. Lula also was supported by social progressives and power brokers who were disturbed by Bolsonaro’s authoritarian style.
New words found:
Slugfest – The slugfest between the BJP and the AAP has reched a peak before the Gujarat election ns.
Rhetoric –The audience was impressed by the rhetoric of the ultra-nationalist leader.
Staunch – My friend is a staunch capitalist who despises even the neo-leftists.
Sir, I have just completed class 10th and I have an ambition to qualify the civil services examination. But before that I think I should first take the RRB NTPC examination and now I am studying history, reasoning and a dictionary. My question is “Is it better to read a dictionary or read articles and essays and come across new words that way?”
Interesting question. I have learnt many English words by reading newspapers, magazines and books. When you come across the same word again and again, you get to gues their meaning more or less correctly. I think, most English learners do this. As regards the utiity of a dictionary, I can say that a dictionary is very important. When you get a totally new word, or want to learn its uses as noun, verb or adjective, a dictionary becomes very essential. This applies to understanding phrasal verbs using the particular word. I refer to Dictionary.com 10 to 15 times a day.