О WRITING 2

Joining sentences

Connecting Words and How to Punctuate Them

1. If you join two independent clauses without connecting words, use a semicolon (точка с запятой).

The environment today is at a critical stage; it has reached a crisis point.

The George Bush climate change plan is not a climate policy, it's a polluters' charter.

2. You can join two independent clauses using Coordinating adverbs.

also	incidentally	nonetheless
anyway	indeed	still
consequently	instead	then
furthermore	likewise	therefore
hence	moreover	thus
however	nevertheless

If you use one of these words, place a semicolon before it and a comma after it.

Ecological literacy is critical for the survival of humanity, therefore. it will he the most important component oj education at all levels. Systems thinking is at the forefront of science; however, people still find it difficult to understand.

III. Subordinate conjunctions.

After	if	supposing [that]
although	in case [that]	that
as	lest	though
as [far / soon] as	no matter how	unless
because	now that	until
before	once	when
even if	provided [that]	whenever
even though	since	while
		why

If a subordinate conjunction starts a sentence, there is a comma after the introductory phrase.

After exploring living systems, the scientists saw the world in a new way. Unless we take action right away, marine species will start going extinct. Whether you live downtown or uptown, the air pollution will affect you.

IV. Coordinating conjunctions.

and	yet	or
so	but	for

If you join two independent clauses using coordinating conjunctions, place a comma before a conjunction.

Ecological education will be the most important component at all levels, for it will be critical for the survival of humanity. Note: Comma is not necessary if the conjunction joins two verbs, not two clauses.

People will understand the basic principles of ecology and will be able to embody them.

V. Transitional phrases.

Use them between paragraphs to create a logical flow in your writing; use them within paragraphs, too. They usually begin a sentence and are followed by a comma.

after all	incidentally	in fact
as a result	even so	in other words
at any rate	for example	in the first place
at the same time	in addition	on the contrary
		on the other hand

We must build and nurture sustainable communities. After all, our long- term survival depends on sustainable development. ("After all" is used in persuading; it suggests "this is a strong argument that you haven't taken into consideration.")

The intellectual tradition of systems thinking is about 100 years old. Even so, it has still not taken hold in the mainstream culture of devel­oped countries in the West, (even so = despite this)

Ex. 26. Analyse the sentences and put the right punctuation mark where necessary.

1. Mars probably had an atmosphere[] and the surface bears witness to the ancient, massive volcanoes. But at some point our neighbouring planet lost an atmospheref] and became an icy desert.

2. Mars probably had an atmospheref] al some point it lost itfj and became an icy desert.

3. Mars probably had an atmospheref] however[] at some point it lost it and became an icy desert.

4. If life exists on Marsf] it is most likely microscopic.

5. Life is most likely microscopic[] even if it exists on Mars.

6. As human values are not natural laws[] they can change.

7. However[] human values can change[] they are not natural laws.

8. After all ["J these numbers are projections, not predictions. But this is ex­actly why we must focus on these projections[] for they call attention to the paramount questions.

9. The U.S. vigorous engagement to control its own titanic greenhouse output would help get the Kyoto protocol enacted[] instead[] the U.S. has with­drawn from the protocol altogether.

10. Costa Rica and other countries saw the profit they would make from cattle farming[] so they began to cut down their rainforests.

Ex. 27. Analyse the sentences and punctuate them.

1. Systems theory entails a new way of seeing the world it also entails a new way of thinking.

2. Ecosystems are highly nonlinear they don't maximize their variables but optimize them.

3. Things go in circles they don't go in straight lines.

4. The point is to be sustainable it's not quantity that counts, but quality.

5. You can't take a photograph of the web of life it is a network of functional, nonmaterial relationships.

6. An ecosystem generates no waste the waste of one species is the food of another.

7. After all there is but one race - humanity.

8. Few countries have been able to formulate adequate strategies to control the volume of the waste produced. Moreover there are precious few meth­ods of effective waste disposal and each has its own drawbacks.

9. The problem doesn't go away it merely relocates.

10. Methane in the atmosphere breaks down in about 10 years (compared to over 100 years for carbon dioxide) so it is a relatively minor environmental problem.

11. The human waste in Calcutta, India, is channeled into the lakes around the city it fertilizers the growth of aquatic plants the fish feed on these plants. The fish that feed on them is an important source of food for the population of Calcutta.

12. Unfortunately the Clinton administration never demonstrated a sustained

commitment to foreign policy. As a result Clinton failed to define a new

internationalism for the United Stated thus letting historic opportunities

slip away.

Ex. 28. Punctuate the sentences in the passages below.

1. Climate change is one of the most serious issues facing our planet. Unless we take action to combat global warming [] it could cause dramatic changes in the weather. In fact [] it is likely to bring famine. Hooding and disease on a global scale. For example f] many heavily populated regions, such as the Nile delta, the Netherlands and Indonesia, would be permanently flooded. Moreover [] some islands, such as the Maldives in the Pacific, might disappear com­pletely.

2. How can we combat global warming? The most important way is to re­duce the emissions of carbon dioxide (CO>) by industry and motor vehicles. Incidentally [] the US is responsible for one quarter of the world's carbon di­oxide emissions, from 4 per cent of the world population. They must cut mas­sively on them [] however [] the changes would be expensive and inconvenient to implement.

3. However[] systems theory tells us that the essence of life doesn't lie in the molecules[] but in the patterns and processes in which these molecules are involved. The basic patterns of life are configurations of relationships between biological processesf] and these relationships and processes are nonmaterial. They involve matter[] of coursef] but a relationship is something nonmaterialH a process is something nonmaterial.