Exam 1: Writing Effective Paragraphs

Instructions: Select the letter of the correct definition of the word. Compare

Instructions: Identify each of the following statements as true or false. An indirect quotation is always enclosed in quotation marks.

Instructions: Each group below contains one correct sentence. In each group, select the letter of the sentence that is correct. Which sentence is correct?

Instructions: Read the paragraph below and answer the question(s) that follow. (1) The city of Bangalore, India, is a jarring mixture of new and old. (2) Bangalore has become a world center of the computer software industry, and companies like IBM, Dell, and Hewlett Packard have built dozens of gleaming new buildings. (3) In contrast, the rutted dirt roads are choked with oxcarts, and three-wheeled taxis belch black fumes. (4) Over breakfast each morning at the Taj Residency Hotel, Indian programmers chat with American engineers about the latest piece of computer code. (5) Yet sandal-clad women carry baskets of tools on their heads at a nearby construction site, and workers drag a huge pipe into place using only ropes. (6) Each night, teams of programmers send their work by satellite uplink to teams on the other side of the earth. (7) However, they must rely on diesel generators because power outages lasting two or three hours occur almost every day. Select the number of the topic sentence in the paragraph above.

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: The following sentences form an essay. Select the correct preposition for each blank. Unsung Innovators By 1923, Durant, not sensitive ____ economic shifts, had again overexpanded and lost General Motors.

Instructions: Each question below is an entry for a Works Cited page. Select Correct if the entry is correctly formatted according to MLA guidelines or Incorrect if the entry is not correctly formatted. Wilson, James Q. and John J. DiIulio, Jr. American Government . 9th ed. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 2004. Print.

Instructions: Select the letter of the correct noun to fill in the blank in each of the following sentences. One of the ____ spoke in defense of the accused.

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: Select the letter of the correct answer. Slowly reading your revised paragraph or essay in order to find and correct any errors in grammar, punctuation, and spelling is called

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 gift. ____ white rectangular box ____ big blue bow ____ flannel nightgown with Minnie Mouse design ____ white tissue paper, the innermost wrapping ____ flowered wrapping paper

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 Part A: Select the letter of the answer that numbers the paragraphs in the order they should appear in the essay. a. 2, 6, 4, 3, 5, 1 b. 3, 5, 1, 2, 4, 6 c. 4, 1, 2, 3, 6, 5 Part B: Which paragraph in the reordered sequence begins with a transitional expression that most clearly indicates this type of order? a. paragraph 3 b. paragraph 4 c. paragraph 5 Part C: What type of order arranges the categories explained in the body paragraphs? a. time order b. space order c. order of importance: most to least

Instructions: Identify each of the following statements as true or false. Facts and statistics from outside sources must be documented, but direct quotations do not have to be documented.

Instructions: Select the letter of the answer with the correct words for the blanks in each of the following sentences. If ____ interested, I can have ____ ten-speed bike delivered to ____ home by noon tomorrow.

Instructions: Each question below is a plan for a narrative paragraph. The events in the plan(s) are not in the correct chronological order. Select the letter of the answer that numbers the events in the proper time sequence. Aesop s fable about a dog and his reflection teaches a lesson about greed. ____ In the reflection, he thought he saw another dog with another piece of meat in his mouth, so he decided to get that one, too. ____ Now the dog had nothing at all to eat. ____ A dog was happily carrying a piece of meat in his mouth and came to a bridge he had to cross. ____ While crossing the bridge, he saw his reflection in the water of a running brook. ____ When he snapped at the reflection, the meat dropped from his mouth into the water and sank.

Instructions: The following sentences form a paragraph. Select the correct word for each blank. Thanks to the Zamboni s efficiency, ____ alike can enjoy clean ice and a great performance.

Instructions: For each of the following sentences, choose the correct pronoun to fill in the blank. Select the letter of the correct answer. Everyone must bring ____ own chair to the outdoor jazz concert.

Instructions: The following sentences form a passage. Select the correct adjective or adverb for each blank. In another fifty years, nothing will be left to see. The famous ship is being consumed by iron-eating bacteria, so it will soon deteriorate ____.

Instructions: Read the paragraph below and answer the question(s) that follow. (1) The staff at the Shoe Barn is trained to use a very effective customer service procedure. (2) When a customer enters the store, a nearby salesperson first greets that person by saying, Hello, welcome to Shoe Barn. (3) Second, the salesperson asks the customer, Can I help you find something today? (4) Third, the employee listens carefully to the customer s description of the shoes he or she is looking for and leads the customer to the appropriate part of the store. (5) While helping the customer find what he or she needs, the salesperson also describes that day s specials and sales. (6) Finally, when the customer is ready to purchase an item or leave the store, the salesperson smiles and says, Thank you for shopping at Shoe Barn! How many steps are in the process?

Instructions: In each of the following sentences, a blank space appears where the verb should be. Choose the correct past tense verb. Select the letter of the correct answer. As a young man, Stuart ____ the clarinet, piano, and drums.