1.In the following sentence, identify the prepositional phrase, and tell whether it acts as an adjective or adverb.
The children found the pictures in the book interesting.
A. The children; adjective
B. the pictures in; adjective
C. in the book; adjective
D. found the pictures; adverb
2. After reading an essay or other assigned material, you can enhance and clarify your understanding by creating a graphic organizer that tracks
A. your annotations.
B. unfamiliar words and phrases.
C. the key elements of the material.
D. everything you've highlighted.
3. Which type of sentence includes an independent clause and one or more dependent clauses?
A. Appositive
B. Complex
C. Simple
D. Compound
4. When the independent clauses of a run-on sentence are closely connected in meaning, the sentence can be corrected by joining the two clauses with a
A. adjective.
B. comma.
C. semicolon.
D. preposition.
5. Which of the following is one of the eight standard parts of speech?
A. Subject
B. Preposition
C. Modifier
D. Article
6. Choose the sentence in which the italicized pronoun agrees in number with its italicized antecedent or antecedents.
A. The waiter refilled their glasses as they emptied it.
B. Mary and Jill won't eat her vegetables.
C. Maureen called the children for her meal.
D. The boys want their dessert now.
7. Which of the following would typically require annotating?
A. Points that elicit an emotional response
B. The author's name
C. Passages that are easy to understand
D. Passages that have unimportant information
8. What is the conjunction in the following sentence? I will take my sister to the concert, provided that she can buy a ticket.
A. concert, provided
B. that she
C. provided that
D. to the
9. In which of the following sentences is an adverb used correctly?
A. She sang a beautiful song.
B. She sang the song beautiful.
C. She is a beautifully singer.
D. She sang beautifully.
10. Which of the following sentences demonstrates the correct use of subject-verb agreement when an indefinite pronoun is the subject?
A. Everybody was shouting at the meeting.
B. Neither of us have checked our voicemail messages.
C. Nobody were listening to the speaker.
D. Each of the boys were looking for the library.
11. The term _______ refers to a construction in which two or more independent clauses are joined by a comma but lack a coordinating conjunction.
A. complementary sentence
B. prepositional clause
C. sentence fragment
D. comma splice
12. Writing a summary of an essay, article, or other assigned reading material is an effective way to
A. determine whether you've understood the material.
B. formally present your own response to the author's ideas.
C. offer a critical analysis of the material.
D. record your impressions.
13. People with a/an _______ learning style are most likely to enjoy exploring a writing topic thoroughly and completely, without restricting themselves by rules or requirements.
A. emotional
B. abstract
C. independent
D. creative
14. According to Paul's article, "The New Marshmallow Test," what exactly is the marshmallow test?
A. A test of hand/eye coordination
B. An experiment that tests a student’s ability to resist a blinking inbox or buzzing phone
C. A series of experiment in which young children were presented with a marshmallow and told they could have two marshmallows if they put off eating one right away
D. A series of memory retention experiments
15. Unless directed otherwise by an instructor, the best approach to writing a response paper is to
A. prepare by reading related essays.
B. critique the author's writing style.
C. focus on a key idea or a question raised by the essay to which you're responding.
D. begin by reading responses other people have written.
16. Which of the revisions below is the most appropriate way to correct the following sentence fragment? Jacquie doesn't travel very much. Because she is afraid of flying.
A. Jacquie doesn't travel very much; because she is afraid of flying.
B. Jacquie doesn't travel very much, afraid of flying.
C. Jacquie doesn't travel very much because she is afraid of flying.
D. Jacquie doesn't travel very much, she is afraid of flying.
17. Run-on sentences or comma splices can sometimes be corrected by adding a _______ to make one of the clauses dependent.
A. participial phrase
B. coordinating conjunction
C. prepositional phrase
D. subordinating conjunction
18. A claim based on merely one or two specific examples but applied widely as an overall statement about a situation, topic, group, or even a single individual is commonly referred to as a/an
A. overstatement. End of exam
B. generalization.
C. omission.
D. euphemism.
19. In his essay, "Superhero or Supervillain?" Will Oremus mentions research that shows people act morally when
A. they're raised to observe good manners.
B. they think they're being watched.
C. it's against the law to behave otherwise.
D. it's immoral to behave otherwise.
20. What is an assumption?
A. A reasonable guess based on the available facts and information
B. An idea or principle the writer accepts as true and makes no effort to prove
C. A claim based on one or more specific examples and applied more widely
D. A word or phrase that's used to avoid a word that is unpleasant, embarrassing, or objectionable
21. Which of the following titles is made more effective by alliteration?
A. "Now You See It; Now You Don't"
B. "Guns: Our Lethal Heritage"
C. "Ruby, the Rose of Roslyn"
D. "What's in a Name?"
22. Tressa likes to generate ideas and relationships about a topic by writing a central idea in the middle of a piece of paper and then surrounding it with related ideas connected to each other and the main idea with a series of lines or arrows. This approach is best described as
A. prewriting.
B. freewriting.
C. brainstorming.
D. mapping.
23. Alexis has been assigned to write a persuasive essay on gun control legislation. What type of evidence will she likely need to collect?
A. Personal experiences
B. Statistics that support her claim
C. Explanations of processes
D. Descriptive details
24. The introduction to an essay should not only engage the reader's attention, but also
A. defend your approach to the topic.
B. present a call to action.
C. present your thesis statement and your approach.
D. state your conclusions about the topic.
25. When creating an outline, where should you place your thesis statement?
A. At the top of the page
B. In the center of the page
C. At the bottom of the page
D. In the margin
26. Elliot has created a paragraph-by-paragraph outline that consists of a few key words or phrases this type of outline is known as a _______ outline.
A. simple
B. scratch
C. graphical
D. key word
27. An effective paragraph not only provides specific details but presents them in
A. active voice.
B. logical order.
C. narrative form.
D. the third person.
28. As Felipe narrows his topic using the _______ method, he discovers that the topics change from words and phrases to statements of ideas.
A. drafting
B. analyzing
C. questioning
D. branching
29. Which method of organization is most often used in narrative essays?
A. Chronological
B. Spatial
C. Most-to-least
D. Least-to-most
30. Paddy and Clare are writing effective conclusions. Paddy's conclusion will summarize his main point and reaffirm his theses statement. Clare's conclusion will take the readers beyond the scope of her essay. Who is writing an effective conclusion?
A. Neither Paddy nor Clare
B. Both Paddy and Clare
C. Only Clare
D. Only Paddy
31. Eliza is writing an essay describing a family vacation in a cottage in Maine. To organize the supporting details she decides to describe the experience of entering the cottage moving through the front room, to her bedroom, and the view of the beach from the back porch. Which method of organization is she using?
A. Chronological
B. Spatial
C. Most-to-least
D. Least-to-most
32. Your topic is courtesy, and you're writing from the point of view of a caring mentor. Which of the following sentences is most persuasive for an audience of high school graduates from a working-class neighborhood?
A. Remember that you can catch more flies with honey than with vinegar.
B. Courtesy yields profits to the impecunious as well as to the wealthy.
C. Courtesy to others shows self-respect as much as it shows respect for others.
D. Courtesy is the oil that lubricates the machinery of discourse.
33. After settling on an essay topic or being assigned one, one of the most crucial steps is to _______ it to correspond to the length of the required essay.
A. refine
B. draft
C. revise
D. narrow
34. Leila says that a thesis statement is like a promise to a reader. Lucas says a thesis statement expresses the writer's point of view. Who is correct?
A. Only Lucas is correct.
B. Neither Leila nor Lucas is correct.
C. Only Leila is correct.
D. Both Leila and Lucas are correct.
35. The usual point of view when writing a formal academic essay is
A. second person.
B. personal.
C. third person.
D. subjective.
36. What is the dominant pattern of development in the following passage? Having been raised on a dairy farm in rural Minnesota, Lorie Ann Kline was having trouble adjusting to life in the city and to Central High School. In a conference with her parents, the school guidance counselor explained that Lorie Ann avoided talking to her fellow students and sat by herself in the lunchroom. Perhaps most disturbing, her grades were not what one would expect given her high scholastic aptitude scores. Mrs. Kline agreed that Lorie Ann was often shy around strangers. A solemn Mr. Kline explained that his daughter had been severely bullied by two older children who had lived at the farm for a short time. The guidance counselor nodded in understanding.
A. Narration
B. Process
C. Description
D. Comparison and contrast
37. Please read the following paragraph. The sentences are numbered to help you respond to the question that follows. End of exam (1) I never set out to become a Buddhist. (2) It happened by accident one afternoon when I stumbled into a lecture given by a Tibetan lama. (3) In fact, according a Pew Research Study conducted a few years ago there are close to 500 million Buddhists worldwide. (4) The lama spoke so gently and thoughtfully about the need for compassion, especially in this day and age when violence is exploding everywhere, politics creates more problems than solutions, and more people seem to be interested in "selfies" than selflessness. (5) I had always wanted to go to Tibet, though. (6) The lama spoke about his own experiences during the invasion of his homeland, and how the sense of deep compassion he'd developed during his years of monastic training helped him to avoid feeling hatred toward the invaders. Which of the sentences detracts from the unity of the paragraph?
A. 3
B. 5 and 6
C. 3 and 5
D. 5
38. Evidence that supports your thesis should be
A. unusual.
B. representative.
C. rare.
D. generalized.
39. Lillian is looking for ideas to write about, and she decides to make a list of everything she can think of that relates to the topic of teenage romance. Which concept best describes Lillian's strategy?
A. Free association
B. Brainstorming
C. Mapping
D. Outlining
40. In a well-structured essay, each topic sentence should help to explain or support
A. the topic sentence of the next paragraph.
B. the concluding sentence of the previous paragraph.
C. the thesis.
D. the title.
41. In the following sentence, which word is used as a coordinating conjunction? Lisa and Mary were home on time, but Kim, Francine, and Penny weren't going to make it.
A. but
B. and
C. were
D. on
42. Which of the following sentences demonstrates a subject-verb-modifier pattern?
A. Shelly served dinner after spending hours preparing the meal.
B. Shelly, after spending hours preparing the meal, served dinner.
C. After spending hours preparing the meal, Shelly served dinner.
D. Because she'd spent hours preparing the meal, Shelly, a stickler for following recipes, finally served dinner.
43. The topic sentence of each paragraph should support the
A. thesis.
B. title.
C. conclusion.
D. topic sentence of the following paragraph.
44. The feelings and attitudes evoked by a word are referred to as its
A. connotation.
B. evocation.
C. figuration.
D. denotation.
45. Which type of learners would benefit by checking whether their thesis and topic sentences are clearly stated when revising their essays?
A. Pragmatic
B. Abstract
C. Verbal
D. Concrete
46. If one or more paragraphs in an essay lack adequate explanations or supporting details, you can
A. use a transitional phrase to link it to another paragraph that includes more details.
B. revise the topic sentence so that fewer details are needed to support it.
C. use who, what, when, where, why, and how questions to generate the details you need.
D. delete sentences that don't support the topic sentence.
47. Contractions, slang, short sentences, and sentence fragments are all characteristic of _______ diction.
A. popular
B. non-academic
C. informal
D. conventional
48. Choose the sentence that correctly uses parallelism.
A. In her English Composition class, Emma learned to read essays critically and she appreciated academic writing.
B. The world will little note, nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here.
C. It was both a very long lecture and very boring.
D. Phillip and his friends found the concert offensive, and they also thought it was embarrassing.
49. Which of the following sentences uses a coordinating conjunction in a compound sentence?
A. My aunt, who usually behaves like a queen, was suddenly asking—no, begging—for help.
B. The budget payment is much higher than we anticipated, but the price of heating oil has skyrocketed this year.
C. Out in the yard, the children shouted loudly and threw silly insults at each other.
D. We fired our old housekeeper, who we thought had stolen Grandma's rings; we later regretted it.
50. Both Ada and Phil are evaluating their thesis statements, topic sentences, and evidence. If Ada finds that her essay doesn't have a thesis statement identifying the topic of the essay, she will reread the essay to determine the main point of the essay. If Phil finds that his essay lacks evidence to support his thesis statement, he will do additional research to find substantial evidence. Who is correctly evaluating and revising his or her essay?
A. Both Ada and Phil
B. Only Phil
C. Neither Ada nor Phil
D. Only Ada
51. In the process of revision, your main objective should be to
A. demonstrate correct grammar.
B. clarify your ideas.
C. establish proper tone.
D. explain your essay's purposes.
52. Compound-complex sentences are typically used to express
A. emphasis and clarity.
B. academic integrity.
C. complicated relationships.
D. the relationship between the importance between ideas.
53. In order to demonstrate that one idea is less important than another, which type of sentence will Bernice use?
A. Compound
B. Compound-complex
C. Complex
D. Simple
54. Which of the following statements is true about an independent clause?
A. It can't stand alone.
B. It begins with a subordinating conjunction.
C. It can stand alone as a complete sentence.
D. It contains only a verb, not a subject.
55. During revision, you should scan your paper for _______ words and replace them with concrete words or phrases.
A. formal
B. figurative
C. informal
D. general
56. Spotting errors as you proofread is easier if you
A. handwrite your essay.
B. use a clean printed copy each time.
C. reassess your marked-up copy.
D. read your work from the computer screen.
57. Which of the following figures of speech uses words such as like or as to make a direct comparison between two dissimilar things?
A. Metaphor
B. Cliché
C. Personification
D. Simile
58. Which of the following techniques would be best used to present constructive feedback on a draft of an essay to a peer?
A. Only write notes on the things you like about it
B. Rewrite sections for your peer
C. Concentrate on content and the message of the paper
D. Point out the negative aspects so your peer can improve End of exam
59. Reading your draft aloud, using peer review, and using a typed and printed copy are all examples of A. points of view.
B. patterns of development.
C. graphic organizers.
D. useful techniques for revision.
60. What is the sequence of components in the following sentence? Listless and depressed by vistas of snow and gray skies, Dieter left the cabin and walked toward the frozen pond.
A. Subject, modifier, verb
B. Modifier, subject, verb
C. Modifier, subject, modifier, verb
D. Subject, verb, modifier
