5 Awkward Sentences

5 Awkward Sentences 5 Awkward Sentences 5 Awkward Sentences By Mark Nichol Innumerable missteps in constructing sentences are possible. Here are five random statements with assorted obstacles to comprehension, each accompanied by discussion and a revision. 1. The past month has seen two major developments. Avoid bestowing the gift of sight on inanimate objects or on concepts such as duration of time: â€Å"Two major developments have occurred during the past month.† 2. The question becomes why has everyone been unable to solve this puzzle. Treat the question in a sentence constructed this way as if it were spoken: â€Å"The question becomes, ‘Why has everyone been unable to solve this puzzle?’† Alternatively, reword the sentence so that a direct query is not stated: â€Å"The question then becomes one of why everyone has been unable to solve this puzzle.† 3. We would welcome your opinions and feedback on the results of this research. Inserting would in an entreaty that expresses what in marketing-speak is known as a call to action, an invitation to the reader to do something in response to a message, is an unnecessary and unproductive (and ingratiating) attempt to sound courteous. Instead of stating, literally, that welcoming opinions and feedback is potential but not actual, make the statement more emphatic by omitting the qualifying word: â€Å"We welcome your opinions and feedback on the results of this research.† 4. Additional processes for incident handing and breach reporting may be required to meet these requirements. Does this sentence mean that that the specified additional processes must conform to previously mentioned requirements, or that the processes may be mandated so that previously mentioned requirements are met? Normally, the phrase â€Å"in order to,† preceding a verb, can safely be omitted from a sentence. However, in this case, its inclusion will aid in comprehension: â€Å"Additional processes for incident handing and breach reporting may be required in order to meet these requirements.† 5. Those pressure tests and related assessments will clarify how prepared the organization is to make the actual transition. Because the reader cannot immediately tell which part of speech prepared is (it can be either a verb or an adjective, and is usually the former), inserting the adverb well before it will send a clear signal: â€Å"Those pressure tests and related assessments will clarify how well prepared the organization is to make the actual transition.† (Otherwise, a miscue might occur- the reader might assume that a noun has been omitted before the verb prepared: â€Å". . . how [the (blank)] prepared . . . .†) Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Style category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:Good At, Good In, and Good WithUse a Dash for Number RangesWriting Styles (with Examples)

How to Separate Salt and Water

How to Separate Salt and Water Have you ever wondered how you could purify seawater to drink it or how you could separate salt from water in saltwater? Its really very simple. The two most common methods are distillation and evaporation, but there are other ways to separate the two compounds. Separate Salt and Water Using Distillation You can boil or evaporate the water and the salt will be left behind as a solid. If you want to collect the water, you can use distillation. This works because salt has a much higher boiling point than water. One way to separate salt and water at home is to boil the salt water in a pot with a lid. Offset the lid slightly so that the water that condenses on the inside of the lid will run down the side to be collected in a separate container. Congratulations! Youve just made distilled water. When all of the water has boiled off, the salt will remain in the pot. Separate Salt and Water Using Evaporation Evaporation works the same way as distillation, just at a slower rate. Pour the salt water into a shallow pan. As the water evaporates, the salt will remain behind. You can speed up the process by raising the temperature or by blowing dry air over the surface of the liquid. A variation of this method is to pour the salt water onto a piece of dark construction paper or a coffee filter. This makes recovering the salt crystals easier than scraping them out of the pan. Other Methods To Separate Salt and Water Another way to separate salt from water is to use reverse osmosis. In this process, water is forced through a permeable filter, causing the concentration of salt to increase as the water is pushed out. While this method is effective, reverse osmosis pumps are relatively expensive. However, they can be used to purify water at home or when camping. Electrodialysis can be used to purify water. Here, a negatively-charged anode and a positively-charged cathode are placed in water and separated by a porous membrane. When an electric current is applied, the anode and cathode attract the positive sodium ions and negative chlorine ions, leaving behind the purified water. Note: this process does not necessarily make the water safe to drink, since uncharged contaminants may remain. A chemical method of separating salt and water involves adding decanoic acid to salt water. The solution is heated. Upon cooling, salt precipitates out of the solution, falling to the bottom of the container. The water and decanoic acid settle into separate layers, so the water can be removed.