A recent survey of senior-class presidents in high schools around them nation...

[Nott]

I'm just a new EFL teacher from Thailand. I've some questions to ask you. Please help me.

Why structure (a) is better than (b)
a) A recent survey of senior-class presidents in high schools around them nation has shown that 73% approve of draft registration of 18 year-old men and 51% favor prayer in public schools. Sharply dividing the class presidents was the issue of abortion----50% supported a woman’s right to terminate an unwanted pregnancy; 32.5% opposed it.
b) More than 50 Chicago-are student council presidents attended a free lecture last Wednesday given by Father John Damen of Holy Cross Cathedral. #Sharply dividing the class presidents was the issue of abortion----50% supported a woman’s right to terminate an unwanted pregnancy; 32.5% opposed it.

Why do sentences take the form they do?
Is it because of the rules of grammar?
Can you answer why people choose one form rather than another?
What is your reason to account for the above two examples?

Thanks for your helps.

[Alan]

Hi Nott,

I honestly don't follow you. What is the difference between the italicised part of (a) and (b)?

(a) Sharply dividing the class presidents was the issue of abortion----50% supported a woman’s right to terminate an unwanted pregnancy; 32.5% opposed it.

(b) Sharply dividing the class presidents was the issue of abortion----50% supported a woman’s right to terminate an unwanted pregnancy; 32.5% opposed it.

Alan
_________________
English as a Second Language
You can read my ESL story Present Simple

[Esl_Expert]

Hello Nott,

The structure of your two italicized sentences is the same. The difference is the broader context.

In (a), the idea of an opinion survey (and what the class-presidents approve of and disapprove of) has already been introduced, and some statistics have also already been mentioned. Thus, your italicized sentence ties in nicely with the ideas already mentioned. In addition, the structure of the italicized sentence is emphatic. It emphasizes the sharp disagreement on one particular issue. It is an appropriate structure to use to introduce a contrasting idea: Whereas there was not sharp disagreement on the issues already mentioned, there was sharp disagreement on the issue of abortion.

Your sentence structure:
Sharply dividing the class presidents was the issue of abortion...
Common ("regular") sentence structure:
The class presidents are sharply divided on the issue of abortion.

In (b), the first sentence says that 50 class presidents attended a free lecture. The topic of the lecture is not mentioned, there is no mention that there might have been multiple issues being addressed in the lecture, and there is no mention of how the 50 class presidents might view other issues. Thus, your italicized sentence doesn't really tie in logically with the first sentence at all. The ideas in the two sentences seem to be completely unrelated.

Hope that helps. Good luck with your ESL teacher training. :D
_______________________________
“Tact is the ability to tell a man he has an open mind when he has a hole in his head.”

[Tom]

Hello EE

Your post leads me to believe that you are very quick on the uptake--I mean, your comprehension skills are very good. Because I spent 5 minutes on the question, but couldn't make any head or tail of what the poster was shooting at! :shock:

Tom