Exam 1: Writing Effective Paragraphs

Instructions: In each set below, select the letter of the sentence in which commas are used correctly. In which sentence are commas used correctly?

Instructions: Read the paragraph below and answer the question(s) that follow. (1) Houseguests can be classified according to their level of self-sufficiency as independent, semidependent, or completely dependent. (2) Independent guests make an effort to fit their routines to yours; they make their own beds, cook breakfast if they get up early, and know how to entertain themselves if you have other things to do. (3) These usually are the guests you want to invite back. (4) Semidependent guests demand more of your attention and companionship; they may want to be driven around town or may urge you to play pool with them even though you hate pool or have a term paper due. (5) Still, the guests in this category may have charming qualities that make their visit worthwhile. (6) Most infuriating are the helplessly dependent guests, who enter your house as if it were a hospital or spa, expecting to be taken care of. (7) My friend George, for example, sprawls on a chair, his feet on my coffee table, complaining about his love life while I cook dinner, set the table, and change the CDs. (8) After two days of waiting on George while I try to solve his problems, I m exhausted. (9) As these categories show, houseguests are a mixed blessing some more mixed than others. How many categories are there?

Instructions: Choose the correct spelling of each of the following words. Choose the correct spelling.

Instructions: Select the letter of the correct answer. An error you make two, three, or more times is called a(n)

Instructions: Read each of the following essay introductions. Then select the letter of the method the writer used to begin the composition. The essay below begins with a Our society esteems extroverts, people who are outgoing, social, and expressive. Television reality shows, advertisements, and online social media sites, in particular, celebrate excessive self-promotion and lots of group interaction. They encourage people to turn themselves into the life of the party. However, new research is now indicating that the underappreciated introvert the quieter, more reserved person who enjoys time in solitude might actually make a superior employee, leader, and innovator.

Instructions: Select the letter of the answer that correctly identifies the subject and complete verb in each sentence. One of our subscribers wrote a letter of complaint about the magazine s quality.

Instructions: For the following sentences, select the letter of the incorrect past tense verb in each group. Despite such challenges, on March 13, 2012, a Siberian research institute with access to mammoth remains signed an agreement with one of the world s most controversial geneticists, Hwang Woo-Suk of South Korea. They sayed that they would clone a mammoth together.

Instructions: The following sentences form a passage. Select the correct past tense verb for each blank. Wings outstretched, they ____ beautiful patterns in the sky.

Instructions: Read the definition below and answer the question(s) that follow. Spam is any e-mail or text message that is both unsolicited and undesirable. What is the synonym, the class, or the negation that helps to define the subject of the sentence?

Instructions: The following sentences form a paragraph. For each item, select the underlined part that contains an error. Unlike one-time life changes, chronic stress is ongoing. Like a long-term illness an unpleasant job or financial problems .

Instructions: Choose the correct spelling of each of the following words. Choose the correct spelling.

Instructions: The following sentences form a paragraph. For each item, select the letter of the word that is a look-alike/sound-alike error. Than, after several years, Chavez left the CSO to organize migrant farm workers on his own. Using civil disobedience and picketing tactics, Chavez was ultimately successful in negotiating work contracts for Mexican American farm workers.

Instructions: The following sentences form a passage. Select the correct noun for each blank. In ten ____ with the Dodgers, he had a high batting average and helped the team win six National League pennants.

Instructions: In each set below, select the letter of the group in which all the words are spelled correctly. In which group are all of the words spelled correctly?

Instructions: The following sentences form an essay. Select the correct verb for each blank. All of us ____ forward to spending time on the farm.

Instructions: Read the paragraph below and answer the question(s) that follow. (1) Horace Bristol might be the only photographer to owe his fame to his child s book report. (2) Before he became an architect, Bristol had been a documentary journalist. (3) One day his teenage son was writing a report on The Grapes of Wrath , John Steinbeck s novel about an Oklahoma farm family forced off their drought-stricken land during the 1930s. (4) He asked his father if he d ever read the book. (5) Not only had he read it, Bristol replied, he had dreamed up the idea for it, recruited Steinbeck to write it, and photographed thousands of real farm families forced to leave their homes. (6) After revealing his past to his son, Bristol the photographer came out of hiding. (7) Hoping to sell a few of his photographs, he was soon astounded by the prices they commanded. (8) Encouraged, he took up his camera once again. (9) Since then, the photographs of Horace Bristol have become famous. (10) His images of despair during the Depression, heroism in the Pacific during World War II, and postwar poverty and hope in rural Korea are among the greatest photographs of the twentieth century. In the paragraph above, transitional expressions that indicate time include all of the following except :

Instructions: Select the letter of the answer that arranges the ideas that develop each of the topic sentences below in their order of importance. Begin with the most important (or largest, most severe, most surprising) and continue to the least important. On January 2, the Waltons returned to find that their home had been robbed. ____ The DVD player was gone. ____ A jar with about $20 in change was nowhere to be found. ____ A video game worth $40 had been taken. ____ Mrs. Walton s diamond ring was missing. ____ Two cans of noodle soup had been filched.

Instructions: In each set below, select the letter of the group in which all the words are spelled correctly. In which group are all of the words spelled correctly?

Instructions: The following sentences form an essay. If the sentence contains a pronoun error, select Pronoun error. If the sentence is free of pronoun errors, select Correct. With a wooden spoon, I mixed it into the dough, adding more drops of water as needed.

Instructions: In each set below, select the letter of the sentence in which capital letters and punctuation have been used correctly. Which sentence uses capital letters and punctuation correctly?