Download the Answer and Commentary - HKU Faculty of Dentistry

“Write Expressions” Quiz
from Expressions 2012 issue 1
Answers and commentary:
(1) Cigarettes or other smoked tobacco is known to irritate the gums and make people
lose teeth.
(a) is / are: “is” is grammatically correct here. For compound subjects in or and nor
constructions, a commonly used rule (known as the proximity rule) is that the noun
phrase closest to the verb dictates the agreement:
1.
Two singular noun phrases (here, the –ing forms act as singular nouns):
Smoking cigarettes or chewing tobacco increases the risk of gum disease.
2.
Two plural noun phrases:
Cigarettes or chewable tobacco products are a common cause of oral cancer.
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3.
Singular then plural:
Smokable tobacco or smokeless products such as chewable leaves are addictive.
4.
Plural then singular:
Cigarettes or chewable tobacco causes oral cancer.
Because sentence 4 may sound odd, even though it is grammatically correct, a writer
may do the following:
(a) turn both nouns plural: Cigarettes or chewable tobacco products cause oral
cancer
(b) turn both nouns singular: Smoking tobacco or chewing it causes oral cancer
(c) reverse the terms so the plural part of the subject is closer to the verb: Chewable
tobacco or cigarettes cause oral cancer (but this now sounds like cigarettes are
also chewable)
(d) if the overall meaning is the same, change “or” to “and”, and use plural
agreement for the verb and rest of the sentence: Cigarettes and chewable
tobacco cause oral cancer
The sentence in the quiz could thus begin: Cigarettes or other smoked tobacco products
are known to…, or Cigarettes and other smoked tobacco are known to…. Reversing the
terms in the subject would not work here because the sentence would begin with “Other
smoked tobacco”. Instead, the subject could be recast as a family/member construction,
with the first (family) term controlling the verb: Smoked tobacco such as cigarettes is
known to…, or Smoked tobacco products such as cigarettes are known to….
Sometimes, another alternative is to add commas, dashes, or brackets either side of the
second (family) term, to turn it into an intervening phrase that does not affect the verb;
the verb agrees with the first noun: Cigarettes, or other smoked tobacco, are known to…
(b) aggravate / irritate: “irritate” is correct here to describe a direct effect of tobacco use
on the gums. Using the verb “aggravate” assumes that there is already a medical
condition that gets worse (eg …known to aggravate gum disease…, which is also an
indirect effect of tobacco use). The sentence could thus include both verbs: … known to
irritate the gums and aggravate gum disease….
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 HK Licence,
<http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/hk/>. © T Lane © Faculty of Dentistry, The University of Hong Kong.
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(c) loose / lose: “lose” (pronuounced /lu:z/) is correct here as a verb meaning “no longer
have”; “loose” (pronounced /lu:s/) is an adjective meaning “not tight” or “movable”.
Actually, loosening of teeth until they fall out is an effect of untreated gum disease and is
associated with tobacco use, so the sentence could mention both tooth loosening and
tooth loss.
However, the sentence could be made more accurate regarding the cause of tooth loss.
Research suggests both direct and indirect mechanisms. Tobacco use not only irritates the
gums but also affects the body’s healing and inflammatory responses and encourages plaque
formation. Tobacco use is thus a risk factor—but a modifiable (preventable) one—that is
associated with an increased likelihood of the development and progression of gum disease.
Gum disease is caused by the body’s immune and inflammatory reaction against microbes
such as those growing in dental plaque because of poor oral hygiene. When gum disease is
left untreated or made worse by tobacco use, the disease becomes more and more severe,
leading to the destruction of the tooth-supporting tissues including the jaw bone, and
eventually causing tooth loosening and tooth loss.
To reflect both direct and indirect effects of tobacco use, the sentence in the quiz could end
by introducing the concept of risk, such as: …and make it more likely that people lose teeth or
have loose teeth, or …and make it more likely that teeth become loose or fall out, or …and
make tooth loss and tooth loosening more likely. In addition, smoking is only one way that the
harmful chemicals in tobacco enter the body. The whole sentence could be revised to be
more accurate, while being brief and understandable by a general audience, eg: Use of
tobacco products such as cigarettes increases the risk of gum disease, tooth loosening, and
tooth loss; or Smoking or chewing tobacco increases the risk of gum disease, which can lead
to loosening and loss of teeth.
(2) Tooth staining is a classic indicator of smoking.
(a) classic / classical: although both adjectives might be used interchangeably in speaking,
“classic” is technically the correct adjective here, meaning “definitive”, “archetypal”,
“common”, “established”, “typical”, and “usual”. “Classical” usually relates to arts and
humanities, such as classical music (but there are some special medical terms that use
this word, such as the classical complement pathway in immunology).
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 HK Licence,
<http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/hk/>. © T Lane © Faculty of Dentistry, The University of Hong Kong.
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(b) indicator / indication: these two words both mean “sign” and “signal”, but “indication” is
the more general term and “indicator” refers to a measurable marker or feature of a
condition or disease (or economic trend). In medical texts, “sign” is often used for an
indicator that can be observed or measured by a clinician, and “symptom” is used for an
indicator of altered health that a patient feels or notices.
“Indication” (usually in the plural, indications) also has a special meaning in medical
usage (including drug and patient information leaflets), explaining what a medicine is to
be used for.
(3) When quitting smoking, ensure that you choose a stress-free quit date.
(a) ensure / insure: both verbs in North American usage can mean “to make sure” or
“guarantee”. However, because “insure” has the added meaning (and usual meaning in
the UK) linked to taking precautions and protecting against financial loss by buying an
insurance policy, “ensure” is the better word in the sentence in the quiz.
A related word, “assure” means “to remove doubt”, “swear”, or “promise” (but note that
the noun is used both in this sense (as in “quality assurance”) and in a special sense
linked to insurance, as in “life assurance”!).
Tips: Assure is to give a sense of confidence; Insure is to have money coming in in
case something bad happens; Ensure is to guarantee something happens: Be sure to
assure the family that if they insure their home, they will ensure peace of mind.
(b) choose / chose: “choose” (rhymes with lose and whose) is the correct verb form here;
“chose” (rhymes with hose) is the simple past tense of this verb.
(4) People quitting smoking can be put / placed on nicotine replacement therapy.
put / placed: Either word can be used in informal texts or informal spoken language or
jargon, with “placed” being perhaps slightly more formal. However, both words (and other
terms such as “can be started on”) sound like they treat people as objects.
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The more precise word could be “prescribed”, “recommended”, “administered”, or “given”,
depending on the situation: People quitting smoking can be given nicotine replacement
therapy, or Nicotine replacement therapy can be recommended/administered/given to [or
“prescribed for”] people quitting smoking.
The latter two sentences are in the passive voice, and the agent or doer of the verb is not
written (eg, probably doctors, physicians, or clinicians). Some writers may prefer to recast the
sentence and use the active rather than passive voice. The sentence could also start with
People as both the grammatical subject and agent, which would make People sound
empowered to play a role in quitting smoking: People quitting smoking can undergo/receive
nicotine replacement therapy. This may be more obvious for verbs that require active
participation: People quitting smoking can obtain/request/start/try nicotine replacement
therapy. The word “therapy” could be defined, too: People quitting smoking can
purchase/obtain/request/use/try nicotine replacement products, such as patches, gums, and
lozenges.
(5) Data from the UK’s National Health Service show that the number of smokers
using its quitting services is continually rising.
(a) show / shows: “show” is correct, since it agrees with the plural Latin noun “data”
(singular, datum), although in spoken or informal language, people often say “the data
shows”. Writers might prefer to say “figures” or “statistics” as a plural noun.
(b) is / are: “is” is correct, since it agrees with the singular subject and definite article, “the
number”. In contrast, if the subject “number” has the indefinite article—that is, “a
number”—and is followed by a countable noun, the verb should be in the plural, eg: A
number of smokers who try quitting require several quitting attempts. The same rule
applies for “the total” and “the proportion of” (treated as a singular subject) versus “a total
of” and “a proportion of” (treated as a plural subject).
(c) continually / continuously: “continually” is correct, although in spoken or informal
language, both are used interchangeably. They have similar meanings but “continually”
is used for repeated, frequent, or “on-and-off” occurrences, whereas “continuously” is
used for non-stop, constant, uninterrupted occurrences.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 HK Licence,
<http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/hk/>. © T Lane © Faculty of Dentistry, The University of Hong Kong.
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