Exam 1: Writing Effective Paragraphs

Instructions: Choose the sentence in which all the commas are used correctly. Select the letter of the correct answer. Which sentences uses all commas correctly?

Instructions: Select True if the statement is true or False if the statement is false. Proofreading is the first stage of the writing process.

Instructions: Select the letter of the correctly punctuated sentence. Which sentence is correctly punctuated?

Instructions: Read the paragraph below and answer the question(s) that follow. (1) Ambivalence can be defined as a feeling or attitude that is both positive and negative at the same time. (2) For instance, a young woman might feel ambivalent about motherhood. (3) She may want to have a child yet fear that motherhood will use up energy she would like to spend on her career. (4) Or a Michigan man who is offered a slightly higher salary in Arizona might be ambivalent about moving. (5) He and his family don t want to leave their friends, their schools, and a city they love. (6) On the other hand, they are tempted by a larger income and by Arizona s warm climate and clean air. (7) Finally, two people may have ambivalent feelings about each other, loving and disliking each other at the same time. (8) It hurts to be together, and it hurts to be apart; neither situation makes them happy. (9) As these examples show, the double tug of ambivalence can complicate decision making. How many examples does the writer use to develop the topic sentence?

Instructions: In each of the following plans, one detail has nothing to do with the topic sentence; it is merely a bit of irrelevant information. Select the letter of the irrelevant detail. The beautiful bride wore traditional wedding attire.

Instructions: The following sentences form a paragraph. For each item, select the underlined part that contains an error. Finally , there is the stress of daily hassles these are the small but annoying everyday problems, such as being unable to find a parking space or being late for an appointment.

Instructions: Each topic sentence below is followed by supporting details. Select the letter of the answer that arranges each group of details according to space order. Describe a garden. ____ an orchard of apple, pear, and cherry trees past the vegetable beds ____ raspberry and blackberry bushes dividing the flower beds from the neat rows of vegetables ____ paths lined with flowers nearest the house ____ a creek separating the orchard from the forest ____ tomato, bean, squash, and corn plants

Instructions: Read the paragraph below and then answer the following question(s) by selecting the letter of the correct response. Coffee drinkers should seriously consider switching to tea. According to the latest research, the ingredients in tea may help people stay slim. When Taiwanese researchers studied 1,000 people, they found that the people who drank two cups of any kind of tea every week for ten years had 20 percent less body fat than people who didn t drink tea. But there s an even better reason to switch. As it turns out, tea lowers the risk of serious disease, such as some cancers, heart attack, and stroke. In 2003, scientists found out that after just three weeks of drinking five cups of black tea per day, fifteen people cut their cholesterol by 7 percent and their bad LDL cholesterol by 11 percent. Australian researchers studying 218 women found that tea reduced blood pressure; in fact, the more tea a person drank, the more blood pressure dropped. Coffee does not offer any of these health benefits, so tea is clearly the better beverage choice. This paragraph was written for an audience of

Instructions: The following sentences form a paragraph. For each pair, select the answer with more sentence variety. Which answer choice has sentence variety?

Instructions: The following sentences form a passage. For each one, select the type of error in the sentence. If the sentence is free of mechanics errors, select Correct. Children of the Kindertransport As Adolph Hitler rose to power in the dark years before world war II, jewish parents in Europe agonized over how to protect their children from the murderous plans of Hitler s Nazis.

Instructions: Select True if the statement is true or False if the statement is false. Putting ideas in logical order isn t an important consideration in revising a paper.

Instructions: The following sentences form a paragraph. For each set of choices, select the letter of the answer in which conjunctions or conjunctive adverbs are used correctly and punctuation is correct. Which sentence is correct?

Instructions: The following sentences form an essay. Select the correct preposition for each blank. Unsung Innovators ____ 1900, he formed the Buick Auto-Vim and Power Company.

Instructions: For each set of sentences below, choose the sentence in which capital letters and punctuation have been used correctly. Select the letter of the correct answer. Which sentence uses capital letters and punctuation correctly?

Instructions: Read the paragraph below and answer the question(s) that follow. (1) When it comes to cleanliness, homeowners seem to fall into one of three categories. (2) The first group includes the spotless perfectionists. (3) These people would be horrified if anyone walked into their home and found even one speck of dirt, so they are constantly cleaning. (4) Everything they own is always in its place and dust-free. (5) The second group of homeowners is the complete opposite. (6) They are the slobs. (7) Visit their houses, and you will see dirty clothes and empty cans and pizza boxes strewn about. (8) Every available surface will be covered with stuff that looks like it belongs somewhere else, and the floor will be in need of some serious mopping. (9) The third group falls somewhere in the middle between these two extremes. (10) They tend to keep clutter at bay, and they probably clean house about once a week. (11) You might see a fine layer of dust or a dirty dish or two, but otherwise, the house is relatively tidy. On what basis does the writer classify homeowners?

Instructions: For each pair of sentences below, select the letter of the option that provides the best sentence variety. Which answer choice provides the best sentence variety?

Instructions: The following sentences form a paragraph. Select the answer that correctly identifies the underlined portion of the sentence as wordy or trite. Actually, the stars do move through space, but they are so far away that we cannot see the movement in our lifetimes. It s anyone s guess how many stars there are in the universe.

Instructions: Select the letter of the word in the sentence that is a look-alike/sound-alike error. Myako is more used to this weather then Joyce is.

Instructions: Select the answer that correct joins each pair of simple sentences with conjunctions or conjunctive adverbs and is punctuated correctly. Angelo lost his key during football practice. He could not get into the house that night.

Instructions: Read the paragraph below and answer the question(s) that follow. (1) Soda may be one of America s favorite beverages, but many experts now believe that drinking soda is bad for our health. (2) Because soda is high in calories but offers no nutritional value, it contributes to weight gain and obesity. (3) The sugar and acid in soda can cause unhealthy tooth decay. (4) Even sugar-free drinks may cause health problems because, as some studies have indicated, artificial sweeteners may increase the risk for cancer and other diseases. (5) Other research has shown that drinking soda is harmful to bones. (6) The phosphorus in soda causes bones to lose calcium. (7) As a result, they weaken and break more easily. Select the number of the topic sentence in the paragraph above.