Effective Writing 10th Edition by Claire May,Gordon May

Exercise 6

Some of the following paragraphs are effectively organized, but some lack unity and/or coherence. Analyze the paragraphs to decide which ones need revision. Then revise the faulty paragraphs, using some of these techniques.
• Write a strong topic sentence stating the paragraph's main idea.
• Use transitional devices to show the relation between sentences.
• Eliminate sentences that don't fit.
• Divide long, disunified paragraphs into shorter, unified ones.
• Rearrange sentences by grouping ideas together (add sentences if necessary).
1. Government accountants help national, state, and local governments control spending and budgeting. Government spending could run rampant. Governmental accounting is similar to industrial accounting in many of its functions. Government accountants help prevent the government from wasting taxpayers' money.
2. One service that public accountants perform is auditing. Accountants examine clients' financial statements to see if they are in conformity with generally accepted accounting principles. Accountants give credibility to financial statements. Public accountants offer management consulting services. Management consultants suggest ways firms can improve such functions as information processing, budgeting, and accounting systems. Taxes are an increasingly complex area. Accountants prepare and file returns and advise clients how to incur the smallest tax liability on a transaction.
3. Many corporations can benefit from convertible debt. Firms should be aware of the hardships that may arise from conversion or non-conversion. Firms should be aware that accounting requirements may impose potentially unfavorable effects on earnings per share. Corporations want to obtain low-cost funds now and desire also to increase their equity in the future.
4. Although the purchase of our supplier's stock may offer us several advantages, there are also some potential problems we should consider. For one thing, we may not always need the supplier's raw material, because we may not always manufacture the product that requires this material. And even if we continue to manufacture our product, our research and development staff may discover a cheaper, synthetic raw material. Finally, if we do purchase the stock but later need to resell it, we cannot be assured that the stock will be marketable at that time.