Editorial Inspirations

Driving through the city, I often hear fire trucks, police cars, and ambulances. As a little girl, these noises, as well as the sight of the emergency vehicles, did not faze me. When I began to drive, my thoughts on their presence changed.

As a seventeen-year-old driver, I imagined how I would feel if these emergency vehicles were coming to my aid. I would need their drivers’ assistance. It might be my life that would be determined, depending on how soon the vehicles met me.

When I heard the sirens, I searched to find the rescue vehicle. If I or other cars were in the path, I moved aside and honked incessantly at others who did not until they finally moved from the path to freedom—life.

This act of creating the path did not prove enough. Upon seeing these vehicles, I began to pray for the people in trouble. It didn’t matter that I didn’t know them and probably never would. I could only imagine what trouble they were in and what I could do to help.

A few times, I even cried.

Those people, in such need, and random drivers who care only about being late to work. I care. I want to help.

Though many products continue to be sold through the Internet, books more than any other product are sold on the Internet, and the number of books sold is increasing, according to a Nielsen Online survey as reported by the BBC.

Nielsen polled 26,312 people in 48 countries, and 41% of Internet users had bought books online, up from 34% from two years ago. The biggest increases in buying books online occurred in emerging markets like South Korea and India.

The top 10 Internet book-buying countries by percentage, according to Nielsen are
1. South Korea: 58%
2. Germany: 55%
3. Austria: 54%
4. Vietnam: 54%
5. Brazil: 51%
6. Egypt: 49%
7. China: 48%
8. India: 46%
9. Taiwan: 45%
10. U.K.: 45%

While the United States had a high number of consumers who Nielsen estimates have bought books online (57.5 million) that represents 38% of all American Internet users.

The main clause of a sentence is the independent part of the sentence that can stand on its own as a complete sentence. Below are two main clauses in the simple sentences.

Example

I forgot to get the mail.

I asked Dave to pick it up.

The main clauses can sometimes be more difficult to locate in longer sentences.

Example

I forgot to get the mail, but I asked Dave to pick it up. [”but” is a coordinating conjunction that shows that each main clause is of equal value.]

Although I forgot to get the mail, I asked Dave to pick it up. [”Although I forgot to get the mail” is a subordinate clause, or a dependent clause, because it can no longer be a sentence on its own.]

Try It!

Locate the main clauses, the subordinate clauses, and the coordinating conjunctions.

1. Even though she remembered to buy the milk, she forgot to get the bread.
2. I forgot to print my homework, but I did not worry about it.
3. Sam adopted a puppy, and he took it immediately to the vet for a check up.
4. Though I love to read, I do not enjoy science fiction.
5. She changed her hair style, but I do not like it!