Reference Words - Antecedents

Guided Practice

In the two paragraphs below, some of the reference words are numbered and highlighted. They are also listed below their respective paragraphs. After reading the first paragraph, go to the list of reference words below it. Type the correct antecedent of each reference word in the blank box below it. Then click ANSWER for verification that will appear at the bottom of the page. Do the same with the second paragraph.

Paragraph 1:
After the Soviet Union established communism in East Germany, ¹ they took over banks, farms, and industries and forced people to work for low wages. In response to ² these difficult conditions, hundreds of thousands of East German citizens fled to ³ the West to live. Soon, fewer people were working in East German factories, banks, farms, and industries. Then, on 26 May 1952, in order to stop ⁴ this exodus, East Germany established a tight ⁵ security system along its frontier with West Germany: Starting at the Baltic Sea in the north and extending all the way to Czechoslovakia in the south, ⁶ they constructed minefields, barbed wire, and watchtowers with guards. ⁷ These effectively kept East Germans from escaping to West Germany across the frontier.
1. they ANSWER
  They: ANTECEDENT: the Soviet Union.
2. hese difficult conditions ANSWER
  These difficult conditions: ANTECEDENT: the Soviet Union took over banks, farms, and industries and forced people to work for low wages.
3. the West ANSWER
  The west: ANTECEDENT: West Germany
4. this exodus ANSWER
  This exodus: ANTECEDENT: hundreds of thousands of East German citizens fled to the West to live
5. security system ANSWER
  Security system: ANTECEDENT: minefields, barbed wire, and watchtowers with guards from the Baltic Sea to Czechoslovakia.
6. they ANSWER
  They: ANTECEDENT: East Germany
7. These ANSWER
  These: ANTECEDENT: minefields, barbed wire, and watchtowers with guards from the Baltic Sea to Czechoslovakia
Paragraph 2:
However, within the city of Berlin, there was no ⁸such security system. People were still able to pass freely from ⁹East to West and they ¹⁰did. Many East Germans made their way to Berlin; then, they crossed over to the West, and never returned. Finally, on 13 August 1961, the East German Government built a huge 27-mile wall of concrete and barbed wire right through the middle of ¹¹the city, dividing the Soviet sector from ¹²the other three. Now nobody could escape to the West; East Germans were truly prisoners of ¹³their own country. ¹⁴The Berlin Wall separated families and ruined ¹⁵people's lives.
1. such security system. ANSWER
  Such security system: ANTECEDENT: A security system like the minefields, barbed wire, and watchtowers with guards along the East-German to West-German frontier. Note that the word 'such' does not refer directly to the East-West German frontier security system; rather, it refers to a hypothetical security system that would resemble the one on the East-West German frontier.
2. East to West ANSWER
  East to West: ANTECEDENT: East Germany to West Germany.
3. did ANSWER
  Did: ANTECEDENT: pass freely from East to West
4. the city ANSWER
  The city: ANTECEDENT: Berlin
5. the other three ANSWER
  The other three: ANTECEDENT: sectors
6. their own country ANSWER
  Their own country: ANTECEDENT: East Germany
7. The Berlin Wall ANSWER
  The Berlin Wall: ANTECEDENT: a huge 27-mile wall of concrete and barbed wire right through the middle of the city
8. people's ANSWER
  People's: ANTECEDENT: both East Germans and West Germans

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