Exam 1: Writing Effective Paragraphs

Instructions: In the groups below, choose the set of words in which all the words are spelled correctly. Select the letter of the correct answer. Which set of words is spelled correctly?

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. For three reasons, motorists should not exceed the posted speed limit. ____ At highway speeds, driving too fast can lower gas mileage by as much as 33 percent, resulting in higher gasoline bills. ____ People who drive the speed limit are less likely to cause or be involved in traffic accidents that injure and kill. ____ Driving the speed limit will eliminate the worry of getting a speeding ticket and having to pay hundreds of dollars in fines and court costs.

Instructions: For each group of sentences below, select the letter of the sentence that is limited enough to be the topic sentence of a good paragraph. Select the good topic sentence.

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

Instructions: Each general statement below is followed by several examples. Select the letter of the example that does not clearly illustrate the generalization. The United States offers many unusual tourist attractions for those who venture off the beaten path.

Instructions: In each of the following sentences, a blank space appears where the verb should be. Select the letter of the correct past tense verb. The disappointed contestant ____ reluctantly to his feet.

Instructions: The following sentences form a paragraph. For each item, select the underlined part that contains an error. Examples might include whether or not to commit to a relationship or which of two job offers to except .

Instructions: Read the paragraph below and answer the question(s) that follow. (1) On my right a woods thickly overgrown with creeper descended the hill s slope to Tinker Creek. (2) On my left was a planting of large shade trees on the ridge of the hill. (3) Before me the grassy hill pitched abruptly and gave way to a large, level field fringed in trees where it bordered the creek. (4) Beyond the creek I could see with effort the vertical sliced rock where men had long ago quarried the mountain under the forest. (5) Beyond that I saw Hollins Pond and all its woods and pastures; then I saw in a blue haze the world poured flat and pale between the mountains. Annie Dillard, Pilgrim at Tinker Creek , Bantam, 1975, page 41 The main idea of the paragraph above is implied, not stated by a topic sentence. Which of the following sentences most accurately states the main idea?

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

Instructions: In each sentence below, a blank space appears where the verb should be. Decide which verb agrees with the subject of the sentence. Select the letter of the correct answer. One of the dentists ____ close to her office.

Instructions: Below is a source followed by passage(s) from student papers. If the student has summarized, directly quoted, or indirectly quoted the source correctly, select Correct. If you believe the source is incorrectly summarized or plagiarized, select Incorrect. In May, scientists in the Gulf of Mexico began tracking plumes of methane and oil droplets drifting up to 30 miles from the broken BP oil well, at depths of 3,000 to 4,000 feet. One of those scientists was University of Georgia biogeochemist Mandy Joye, who has spent years studying hydrocarbon vents and brine seeps in the deep Gulf. She found a plume the size of Manhattan, and its methane levels were highest she had ever measured in the Gulf. As bacteria feast on spilled oil and methane, they deplete the water of oxygen; at one point Joy found oxygen levels dangerously low for life a water layer 600 feet thick, at depths where fish usually live. Since waters in the deep Gulf mix very slowly, she said, such depleted zones could persist for decades. Bourne, Joel. The Gulf of Oil: The Deep Dilemma. Green . Boston: Wadsworth, 2013. 100-112. Print. Student version: The BP Oil Company s 2010 oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico was environmentally destructive. According to Joel Bourne, University of Georgia biogeochemist Mandy Joye found a plume the size of Manhattan, and its methane levels were highest she had ever measured in the Gulf. As bacteria feast on spilled oil and methane, they deplete the water of oxygen; at one point Joy found oxygen levels dangerously low for life a water layer 600 feet thick, at depths where fish usually live (110-111).

Instructions: Identify each of the following definitions as a synonym definition, class definition, or definition by negation. Select the letter of the correct answer. To be ornery is to be mean-spirited and disagreeable.

Instructions: Select the letter of the answer that correctly identifies the subject and complete verb in each sentence. A mystery admirer from Ian s office sent the bouquet of flowers.

Instructions: Read each one of the following essay introductions. Select the letter of the method the writer used to begin the composition. The essay below begins with a Parents have long debated the best method for disciplining children. Some parents advocate using only nonphysical methods, which include rewards for good behavior and time-outs, or removal of privileges as punishment for bad behaviors. Many other parents have long insisted that physical methods, such as spanking, are an effective and necessary disciplinary tool. Spanking, however, is not recommended by the American Academy of Pediatrics. Three potentially harmful effects of spanking make it an undesirable discipline method.

Instructions: Read the paragraph below and answer the question(s) that follow. (1) Emoticons are the facelike symbols made of keyboard characters in e-mail messages. (2) Meant to be read sideways, with the head tilted 90 degrees, these symbols help to overcome the lack of facial expressions and body language that are present in face-to-face communications but missing from written communications. (3) Specifically, emoticons make the emotions of the person sending the message clearer so that the receiver of the message will not misinterpret the meaning of the words. (4) For example, a smile is made with a colon, a dash, and a parenthesis, forming :-), and a frown with the other parenthesis :-(. (5) Other common emoticons are the wink ;-), surprise :-o , and laughing hard with eyes closed XD. (6) The symbols for a clown face, :o), can indicate that a statement was made tongue-in-cheek. Select the number of the topic sentence in the paragraph above.

Instructions: Each question below is a topic sentence followed by supporting details. The steps in each set are not in correct chronological order. Select the letter of the answer that arranges each group of details according to the proper time sequence. Changing a baby s diaper is easy. ____ Next, use a baby wipe to clean the baby s bottom. ____ First, lay the baby on a changing table and secure the safety strap around the child s waist. ____ After strapping the baby down, remove the dirty diaper, roll it up, and throw it away. ____ Finally, place a fresh diaper underneath the baby s bottom, pull up the sticky tabs on each side, and fasten them firmly.

Instructions: Select the letter of the word in the sentence that is a look-alike/sound-alike error. As dawn approached, the morning star seemed to lose some of it s brilliance.

Instructions: Read the following paragraph. For each set of sentences below the paragraph, select the letter of the sentence that provides the best revision for consistency; parallel structure; sentence variety; and fresh, concise language. On December 4, 1872, the crew of the Dei Gratia discovered a ship named the Mary Celeste drifting in the Atlantic. Some of them rowed out to investigate. According to their account, the ship was seaworthy, but a lifeboat was missing, and not one single, solitary person was on board. It seemed that the Mary Celeste s crew simply vanished into thin air without a trace, leaving their oilskin boots and pipes behind. The Mary Celeste s captain recorded his last entry in the ship s log book on November 25 when the ship lands on an island in the Azores. An Admiral Court inquiry found no evidence of foul play or piracy, and praise for the crew of the Dei Gratia for safely bringing both vessels to harbor. The public didn t give a hoot about the incident until young Arthur Conan Doyle s fictional version of the event made them chomp at the bit to learn more in 1884. Conan Doyle described untouched breakfasts and still-warm cups of tea on the captain s table. The public began to confuse fiction with the facts. Obsessed with the mystery, many people developed theories about what happened; some suggested, for example, that the ship experienced a seaquake, and others wondering if the Dei Gratia s men slaughtered everyone. Which sentence provides the best revision for consistency; parallel structure; sentence variety; and fresh, concise language?

Instructions: The following sentences form a paragraph. Select the answer that correctly identifies the underlined portion of the sentence as wordy or trite. Enormous stars, called red giants, can be fifty times more massive than the sun. The smallest stars, called white dwarfs, are small, usually no larger than Earth.

Instructions: The paragraphs of the following essay have been scrambled so that they are out of order. Read them and then answer the question(s) that follow. Different Types of Weightlifters _____ (1) Power lifters may be athletes, competitive power lifters, and people wanting to increase strength. (2) These groups take power lifting seriously. (3) Power lifters lift four days a week with a two-day split. (4) Days one and four are reserved for upper body, days two and five for lower body, and the other days for rest. (5) Power lifters use a pyramid scheme to track their strength and progress. (6) The pyramid scheme is a chart that uses percentages of maximum lifts to guide repetitions for each set. (7) Power lifters rest two to two and one-half minutes between each set so that maximum strength can be applied to every set. (8) A power lifter s main focus is explosion rather than isolation or burning. (9) Sets of each lift include a low number of repetitions with a high weight to create as much strength as possible. (10) Power lifters are knowledgeable weightlifters, but they are extremely injury prone. (11) Their use of high weight with a concentration on explosion makes an injury easily possible. _____ (12) Weightlifting can be used for different purposes throughout one s life. (13) Different people lift weights for different reasons. (14) Weightlifters can be classified into four categories: intermediate lifters, circuit lifters, power lifters, and mass lifters. (15) Each category focuses on a different type of lifting and each leads to different results. _____ (16) Intermediate lifting contains the largest number of weightlifters. (17) Intermediate lifters do not take weightlifting seriously, using it only as a complement to cardiovascular exercise. (18) Lifters in this category do not keep journals of workouts, and they lift weights between two to five days a week, depending on their schedules. (19) An intermediate lifter s workout varies daily since records of past workouts are not kept. (20) One workout could be a total-body workout while the next is three sets of arm curls. (21) These lifters are typically beginners with little or no weightlifting knowledge. (22) Due to this lack of knowledge, intermediate lifters are injury prone. _____ (23) Circuit lifters are the second largest group of weightlifters. (24) A circuit lifter s goal is to define his or her muscles. (25) Lifting is second to cardiovascular exercise since their main goal is to bum fat covering muscle definition. (26) Circuit lifters lift five days a week with a specific plan as well. (27) The plan includes day one for chest, day two for back, day three for legs, day four for shoulders, and day five for biceps and triceps. (28) Circuit lifters sometimes take fat-burning supplements to aid them in burning fat. (29) Circuit lifters will do fifteen to twenty repetitions per set with a light weight. (30) They will rest thirty to forty-five seconds between each set, concentrating on keeping the muscle burning. (31) The burning means lactic acid is being released, which means fat is being burned. (32) Circuit lifters are the least injury prone due to their use of light weight. (33) The risk of injury is small but still remains. _____ (34) Intermediate lifters, circuit lifters, power lifters, and mass lifters all lift for different reasons. (35) Each lifter receives different benefits in his or her quest for improvement. (36) All weightlifters fall into one of the four mentioned categories, each with a different goal. _____ (37) Mass lifters are typically bodybuilders or people who want to get bigger. (38) These people follow weightlifting religiously. (39) Mass lifters lift five days a week with a specific plan. (40) This plan includes chest and triceps on days one and four; back, shoulders, and biceps on days two and five; and legs on day three. (41) The other days are reserved for rest. (42) Mass lifters usually take weight-gaining supplements to aid them in their quest for more muscle mass. (43) Mass lifters will do eight to twelve repetitions per set using a medium weight. (44) Their rest periods are between one and one and one-half minutes. (45) A mass lifter concentrates on isolation of each body part, which will maximize muscle growth. (46) Mass lifters are prone to injury simply because they lift weights. (47) They are less injury prone than most lifters, however, due to their good form and proper rest techniques. Andy Sarjahani, Student Student Voices, Cengage Learning, 2009 This essay is a a. classification essay. b. comparison and contrast essay. c. persuasive essay.