#2

Prepositional Phrases, Participial Phrases, Gerund Phrases, and Infinitive Phrases

Identify the following underlined phrases as prepositional, gerund, participial, infinitive or as an appositive. If the phrase is a prepositional phrase, identify it as an adjective or as an adverb phrase.

1. As the population increases (1) by leaps and bounds, the world faces a shortage (2) of fresh water.

2. An obvious way (3) to increase the fresh water supply is (4) to convert sea water.

3. (5) Converting sea water is, therefore, one (6) of our greatest scientific problems.

4. Scientists are experimenting (7) with two methods, (8) the well-known distillation process and the freeze separation process, which separates fresh water by freezing it (9) into removable crystals.

5. (10) Using one billion gallons a day, a city (11) of four million spends, (12) under present circumstances, twenty cents a thousand gallons; but converted water (13) produced by existing methods costs five times as much.

6. (14) Faced by this economic problem, scientists are exploring the possibilities (15) of a large nuclear reactor, (16) a possible source of cheap heat.

7. It is possible (17) to build a nuclear reactor which will produce enough heat (18) to distill one billion gallons a day (19) for eighteen cents a thousand gallons.

8. Such a reactor, (20) being twenty-five times larger than any yet built, would represent a scientific achievement (21) of the first magnitude.

9. (22) Solving the water problem in this way would also be evidence (23) of our determination (24) to use atomic energy (25) for peaceful purposes.

Answer Sheet

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2. _________________________ 24. ___________________________

3. _________________________ 25. ___________________________

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