Sentence Variety and Cohesion — Answers

Answer sheet with model answers and success criteria for the Year 9 sentences & clauses worksheet.

Download answers PDF Print answers Back to worksheet

Year 9 · English · Sentences & Clauses

Sentence Variety and Cohesion — Answers

Success Tutoring

Part A — Sentence types and openings

Circle the best answer.

1.'Although the storm had passed, the roads remained closed.' This sentence is:

Asimple
Bcompound
Ccomplex
Da fragment

Answer: complex

It has a dependent clause ('Although the storm had passed') joined to an independent clause. That makes it complex.

2.'The siren sounded, and the crowd fell silent.' This sentence is:

Asimple
Bcompound
Ccomplex
Dcompound-complex

Answer: compound

Two independent clauses joined by a comma and the coordinating conjunction 'and' make a compound sentence.

3.'Exhausted by the climb, the hikers collapsed at the summit.' The sentence opens with:

Aa subordinate clause
Ba participle phrase
Can adverb
Da prepositional phrase

Answer: a participle phrase

'Exhausted by the climb' is a past participle phrase describing the hikers. Opening with a phrase is one way to vary sentence beginnings.

4.Which cohesive device links these sentences? 'The council proposed a new skate park. This proposal divided the community.'

Apronoun reference
Brepetition of a key noun phrase
Ca conjunction
Dellipsis

Answer: repetition of a key noun phrase

'This proposal' picks up 'proposed' from the previous sentence, carrying the idea forward. This is sometimes called a lexical chain.

5.Which paragraph opening shows the best variety?

AThe dog ran. The dog barked. The dog jumped the fence. The dog was gone.
BThe dog ran and barked and jumped the fence and was gone.
CThe dog ran. Barking wildly, it cleared the fence in one leap, and then it was gone.
DRunning, barking, jumping, going: the dog.

Answer: The dog ran. Barking wildly, it cleared the fence in one leap, and then it was gone.

Option C mixes a short simple sentence with a longer compound-complex one and varies the openings. A is monotonous, B is a run-on, D is a fragment.

Part B — Build variety

Rewrite each sentence as instructed. Keep the meaning the same.

6.Combine into one complex sentence: 'The bushfire season started early. Many families prepared evacuation plans. They had not done this before.'

Answer: Model: Because the bushfire season started early, many families prepared evacuation plans for the first time.

7.Rewrite so that it begins with a subordinate clause: 'The team kept training even though the final had been cancelled.'

Answer: Even though the final had been cancelled, the team kept training.

8.Rewrite so that it begins with an -ing participle phrase: 'She scanned the crowd for a familiar face and felt her confidence drain away.'

Answer: Scanning the crowd for a familiar face, she felt her confidence drain away.

9.Combine into one compound sentence using a semicolon or a coordinating conjunction: 'The museum was free on Sundays. The queue stretched around the block.'

Answer: The museum was free on Sundays, so the queue stretched around the block. (or: The museum was free on Sundays; the queue stretched around the block.)

10.Add a short sentence (five words or fewer) after this long one, for emphasis: 'After three hours of searching the dunes in the fading light, calling until their voices cracked, the volunteers finally saw a small figure waving from the rocks.'

Answer: Model: She was alive. (Any short, emphatic sentence that lands the moment.)

Part C — Cohesive ties

Complete each gap with a word or phrase that links the two sentences. More than one answer may be correct.

11.The experiment failed on the first attempt. , the team learned exactly which variable to change.

Answer: However (or: Nevertheless, Even so)

A contrasting connective signals that the second sentence pushes against the first.

12.Many students struggle with early mornings. , several schools are now trialling later start times.

Answer: As a result (or: Consequently, For this reason)

A cause-and-effect connective shows that the second sentence follows from the first.

13.The novel's narrator is unreliable. unreliability forces readers to question every scene.

Answer: This (or: Her / His)

A determiner plus a repeated key word ('This unreliability') is a strong cohesive tie; it links back without repeating the whole phrase.

14.Sarah trained every morning before school. dedication paid off at the state championships.

Answer: Her

Pronoun reference: 'Her' points back to Sarah without repeating the name.

Part D — Edit for flow

15.Rewrite this paragraph so that it has varied sentence lengths and openings and uses at least three cohesive devices (connectives, pronoun reference, repeated key words). Keep all the information. 'The school introduced a phone ban. The ban started in Term 2. Students were angry at first. Teachers noticed a change. Students talked more at lunch. Students played more sport. Some students still think the ban is unfair. Most students now accept the ban.'

Model answer: In Term 2, the school introduced a phone ban, and students were angry at first. Within weeks, however, teachers noticed a change: students talked more at lunch and played more sport. This shift did not convince everyone. Some students still think the ban is unfair, but most of them now accept it.

Success criteria:

All original information retained
At least one short sentence and one sentence of 15+ words
At least three different sentence openings (subject, connective, phrase or clause)
At least three cohesive devices used (e.g. however, this shift, them, it)
No run-on sentences or comma splices

Marking tips

Give credit for correct method even when the final answer slips — the working shows where the thinking went right.
For open-ended tasks, use the success criteria as a checklist rather than looking for one "right" answer.
Celebrate what went well first, then pick one thing to work on next.