(Pre) Intermediate Odd-One-Out Irrelevant Sentence Exercise 1

1. Janet had worked for an advertising company for two years. (I) Due to her outstanding performance the company offered her a promotion to become head of the department. (II) A few months later, Janet told her employers about her pregnancy. (III) At first, they congratulated her but over the next few weeks, her workload just continued to grow. (IV) Later that month, the personnel director told her that due to her inability, they had to give her another promotion.

2. A car company recently put an advertisement in a magazine. (I) In the ad, there were photographs of all the managers of the car dealership. (II) They were all smiling and looked friendly, yet all white, middle aged men.  (III) There were no women, blacks, Asians, or Native Americans. (IV) The implied meaning of the advertisement was clear: only white, middle-aged men were unwelcomed customers. The company ignored the majority of the population, so nobody was interested to buy the car.

3. Mothers are not neglecting their responsibilities by working outside home. (I) In fact, the mothers who work outside home give benefits to their children. (II) For one thing, children who are cared for by baby-sitters or in day-care centers are dependent and gain social skills more quickly than those cared by their mothers. (III) Children whose mothers work are also enriched by their mothers’ experience and knowledge of the work world. (IV) Finally, the children of working mothers have the economic advantages gained from their mothers’ income.

4. Generally speaking, the community does not usually encourage changes in the school system unless there is some form of crisis in that system. (I) This negative attitude towards changes is to a large extent supported by teachers. (II) They don’t know that the only permanent thing in life is change. (III) They consider that children are very tender plants that must not be open too much to the winds of change. (IV) It is believed that experimentation is quite all right on things, but not on people, particularly children.

5. I’m sorry that you are in this situation, and I know it’s not easy to get out of debt. (I) If you’re serious about it, it’s essential that you go on with your lifestyle and spending habits. (II) I strongly recommend that you start working full-time instead of part-time and that all your extra money go toward the credit card debt. (III) Also, cut your expenses by 25%. (IV) It is necessary that you spend your money on essential things for a while.