Sentences and fragments

Sentences v. Fragments

Directions: Read each short passage that follows. Identify the fragment in each passage (A, B, or C) and copy the fragment onto lined paper.

1. A Maria wasn’t watching her plate of barbecue very carefully. B So Santana, the family beagle, snatched a chicken leg hanging over the edge. C As baked beans and potato salad slid onto Maria’s new sandals.

2. A Ever since Andre peeked at Melissa’s paper during the biology exam. B Guilt has consumed him. C Even the blueberries floating in his cereal bowl seem like the accusing eyes of Dr. Gregory, his microbiology instructor.

3. A James opened the door of his cluttered refrigerator. B Which caused a pint of blueberries to fall to the floor. C The fruit bounced and rolled everywhere in an explosion of indigo.

4. A Richie loves to walk his friends’ dogs at Lake Eola Park. B For example, Kim’s Labrador retriever Murphy or Gary’s bulldog Kembo. C Beautiful women, Richie has learned, gravitate toward guys with cute dogs.

5. A Head down, Lela stared at the textbook on her desk. B She understood the fragment practice that Mrs. Markham was going over in class. C But was too shy to raise her hand and volunteer an answer.

6. A Joshua found the pressure from the gas in his stomach unbearable. B Although he didn’t want to be rude in the middle of geology class. C An explosive belch erupted from his mouth.

7. A Phillip left work early. B To memorize the vocabulary that his Spanish midterm would test the next day. C But all that he could think about was Beatrice, the cute new sales associate who worked in the camera department.

8. A Chewing the dry, tough, whole-grain bread bought from the health food store. B Lorena tried to enjoy her lunch. C Fantasizing about a juicy cheeseburger on a soft white bun didn’t improve the taste of the soy product sandwiched between leaves of organic lettuce.

9. A My cat Fuzz loves to sleep in inconvenient places. B Lately she prefers the computer table. C Where her long hair sticks to the mouse pad, covers the keyboard, and clings to the screen of the monitor.

10. A Rocking and thrashing like a wild horse that cowboys had lassoed. B The washer complained about its overloaded tub. C At the other end of the laundromat, Bobby quietly read an old magazine, pretending that it was not his machine.

11. A Day after day, thunderclouds rolled in during the early afternoon. B Making Madison’s grass thrive from all of the water. C Her neighbors, however, prayed for a sunny afternoon so that Madison could finally mow the jungle that was the front yard.

12. A While cleaning under his bed, Glen heard the vacuum cleaner suck up something hard and metallic. B Glen wanted to know what the object was. C But had no intention of digging through a bag of dust, dead bugs, cat litter, and bathroom hair to find out.

13. A Farah woke Kirby, the family’s ancient German shepherd. B To see if he had fallen asleep on the remote control. C The growl that Kirby rumbled in protest convinced Farah to use the channel buttons on the front of the television instead.

14. A Raja knew that his roommate Tina had cupcakes hidden in the apartment. B He looked everywhere. C Including in the clothes hamper, on top of the bookcases, behind the sofa—even under his own bed!—all to no avail.

15. A Peering around the other students in line, Sylvia tried to see the lunch choices. B The cafeteria selections were disappointing. C For example, greasy fried chicken, soupy sweet-n-sour pork, and a gray mystery meat floating in translucent, lumpy gravy.

16. A Struggling up three flights of stairs, her arms filled with the heavy texts for four classes, her backpack loaded with notebooks and other supplies. B Jamala huffed and puffed. C Never again would she register for all of her classes back-to-back on the same days of the week.

17. A As quietly as possible, Sherri tried to open the one-pound bag of candy on her lap. B Finally, the tough plastic split open. C Causing an explosion of chocolate balls that bounced and rolled down the aisles of Dr. Wilson’s chemistry class.

18. A Each morning when Helene is fixing her hair in the bathroom. B She applies many sticky hair products. C During a typical day, she catches more bugs in her coif than most spiders manage to land in their webs in a week.