3) You haven’t answered my question about where to get these books.
it’s Ok to drop out of college: Here ―it‖ is used as a formal subject, and the actual subject is the infinitive structure ―to drop out of college‖. The general pattern is ―It is + adj. + (for/ of + sb.) to do sth.‖ More examples:
1) It was very thoughtful of her to come to see me when I was ill. 2) It’s easy for me to see through his trick.
that’s what I did: ―what I did‖ here is a predictive clause (表语从句)introduced by ―what‖. It is always structured in the form of ―subject + be/ look/ remain/ seem + predictive clause‖ and can be introduced by such words as ―that‖ (always omitted), and other wh-words, for example: 1) It seems (that) it is going to rain.
2) This is why I refused to attend the meeting.
2. As I’ve said before, nobody should drop out of college unless they believe they face the chance of a lifetime.
As I’ve said before: This is a non-restrictive relative clause(非限制性关系从句) introduced by ―as‖(正如…的那样), which can be placed at the beginning or at the end of the sentence. More examples:
1) As people expected, she was admitted to Beijing University.
2) Hundreds of people were killed in the earthquake, as I have learned from the newspaper.
unless: is a conjunction for an adverbial clause of condition (条件状语从句), which equals ―if…not…‖(除非).
e.g. I won’t leave unless the rain stops.
3. In my company’s early years, we have a bright part-time programmer who planned to drop out of high school to work.
planned to: intend to do sth.计划、打算做某事
e.g. I plan to make a trip to Beijing during the summer vocation.
who planned to …work: a restrictive relative clause introduced by ―who‖ since its antecedent is a person and serves as the subject in the clause. The relative pronoun ―that‖ can be used here too. More examples:
1) The young man who sits there quietly is my brother. 2) I don’t like people that pry into others’ private business.
4. Having a diploma certainly helps somebody who is looking to us for a job. look to sb./ sth.: to depend on sb. or sth. for help or advice 指望，依赖 e.g. We look to you for support.
5. High school and college offer you the best chance to learn many things and to do projects with others that teach you about team spirit.
that teach you about team spirit: This is a restrictive relative clause introduced by ―that‖, whose antecedent acts as the subject of the clause. Actually the relative clause introduced by ―that‖ can be used to modify both the person or the thing, and the roll of ―that‖ can be either the subject or the object.
e.g. He was the only one that I knew there.
I haven’t been to the place that you have mentioned.
6. In high school there was a time when I was highly focused on writing software, but for most of my high school years I had many interests.
when …software: This is a relative clause introduced by the relative adverb ―when‖, which acts