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1. Style manuals
What is a style manual? A style manual is a punctuation, spelling, citation, format, and acronym guide. A number of style manuals are regularly published.
The one we most often use at Aaron is The Chicago Manual of Style. Like other style manuals, the Chicago is a book of rules. One of the primary reasons to use a style manual is consistency. When you are rewriting a document, the paragraph format needs to be the same on each page. That is, if you use
a block style- no indentations, it is incorrect to switch to an indented style.
Other than consistency, knowing the commonly used language patterns is also important. For example, when you use numbers in a text, the Chicago standard is to spell out numbers from one through ninety-nine rather than use figures such as 1 to 99. However, when using numbers in a series, the Chicago
uses figures. For example:
Twenty-seven people attended the conference. Seven were from Japan, 3 from Norway, 8 from Denmark, 2 from Israel, and 7 from Canada.
Note that the first word of the second sentence is spelled out and not in figures because it begins the sentence.
In addition to Chicago, other professional organizations publish style manuals. The American Management Association publishes a style manual for business writing, the Modern Language Association for English and Humanities writing, and the American Psychological Association for psychological writing.
Style manuals are written in a logical order with the material indexed. Using a manual becomes easy with practice.
2. Gerunds as subjects
Gerunds are the -ing form of a verb. Creating a gerund requires the base form of a verb such as walk and an -ing added to the base. Examples of gerunds are walking, thinking, seeing, liking, writing, traveling, and working.
Simple sentence: I enjoy walking to work.
Gerund as subject: Walking to work is enjoyment for me.
Simple sentence: I plan to study this weekend.
Gerund as subject: Studying this weekend is my plan.
Here’s an example of a piece of writing:
It was an interesting situation. Everyone entered the room after dinner. No one said anything. Each person looked at each other person. The room was silent. Everyone felt very awkward.
The writing becomes stronger and more interesting when another kind of sentence structures such as gerunds are used.
Everyone entering the room after dinner was an interesting situation. No one said anything. Looking at each other and not saying anything was what everyone was doing. The room was silent, and everyone felt very awkward.
3. Obesity in the United States
People in the United States have become obese, a clinical term meaning fat. The causes of obesity are often too much eating and not enough exercising. In the United States, the environment presents a problem. Food is everywhere. Living in culture with food that is readily available, relatively
inexpensive, and full of high fat can lead to more calories and more weight. In addition, portions in the United States are often large. Eating large portions of food high in fat and low in fruits and vegetables may lead to weight gain and obesity.
Part of the obesity problem is related to a lack of exercise. Estimates are that less than one-third of the adult population in the United States regularly exercises. Regular exercise is light or moderate activity for thirty minutes or more at least five times during a seven-day period. If your
activity requires as many calories as you eat, your weight is more likely to remain the same because your eating and exercising are in balance. If you are inactive, it may be easier to gain weight.
However, genetic factors may play a role. If either of your parents was obese, you are more likely to be obese.
Obesity is a significant health risk. The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) estimate that about 300,000 Americans die every year from obesity-related illnesses. If you carry too much weight, you are much more likely to develop at number of obesity related health problems: high blood pressure,
stroke, sleep apnea, type two diabetes, and coronary artery disease.
If you lose weight, the risk of these health problems significantly decreases. Unfortunately, the numbers of obese people increase rather than decrease each year. Yet the United States is not the only obese nation. Obesity estimates for China are 15 percent, Germany 50 percent, Great Britain 51
percent, and Russia 54 percent.
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