Exam 1: Writing Effective Paragraphs

Instructions: Select the letter of the answer that correctly identifies each of the types of prewriting illustrated below. The prewriting below is an example of Reality TV Shows Who? Ordinary people become famous, Mark Burnett produces many of the best shows, Simon Cowell, Ryan Seacrest, Nigel Lythgoe What? American Idol, Survivor, The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills, Big Brother, Extreme Makeover: Home Edition, The Bachelor, The Biggest Loser, The Amazing Race has won awards Where? New York and other big cities, tropical islands When? All the time there s always one on TV! Why? Viewers can t get enough, participants want chance to win big money, become famous, get into showbiz How? Some series taped in secret locations, broadcast a few months later, but some (like Big Brother ) are broadcast live

Instructions: Read the paragraph below and answer the question(s) that follow. (1) Most of the ingredients in cigarettes cause serious damage to health, but three of the worst are tar, carbon monoxide, and nicotine. (2) Tar, the brown, sticky substance produced by a burning cigarette, is a messy mixture of hundreds of toxic chemicals. (3) At least forty-three of those chemicals cause cancer. (4) The other two destructive substances, carbon monoxide and nicotine, contribute to heart disease. (5) Carbon monoxide prevents red blood cells from carrying a full load of oxygen. (6) Therefore, it reduces the body s oxygen supply. (7) At the same time, nicotine is not only constricting blood vessels and impairing blood flow but also stimulating the heart, making it beat faster and crave more oxygen. (8) Consequently, carbon monoxide and nicotine work together to damage the cardiovascular system. How many causes does the writer include to develop the topic sentence?

Instructions: Each one of the following groups contains one correct sentence. Select the letter of the one correct sentence. Which sentence is correct?

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. Ellis, Joseph J. His Excellency: George Washington : 2004.

Instructions: Each general statement below is followed by several examples. Select the letter of the example that does not clearly illustrate the generalization. State troopers report that many people do outrageous and dangerous things while driving.

Instructions: The following sentences form an essay. Select the correct preposition for each blank. Unsung Innovators Three automobile pioneers who were responsible ____ the early success of General Motors never reaped the rewards for their hard work.

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

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. In 1897, Lena Jordan performed the first triple somersault on the flying trapeze, but for years she did not get credit. ____ For the next sixty-six years, all the record books listed Clarke as the record holder, not Jordan. ____ When a second person, a man named Ernest Clarke, managed a triple somersault in 1909, he received national attention. ____ Only recently did the Guinness Book of World Records give Jordan sole credit for the first triple somersault in circus history. ____ In 1975, the Guinness Book of World Records finally listed Lena Jordan s achievement, but only in addition to Clarke s.

Instructions: Read the paragraph below, and answer the question(s) that follow. (1) Sadly, this college is part of a national trend. (2) Date rate is on the rise. (3) To stop date rape, college administrators and students must understand and deal with is possible causes. (4) First, some fraternities and male peer groups on campus promote an attitude of disrespect toward women. (5) This mentality sets the stage for date rape. (6) Second, alcohol and drugs erode good judgment and self-control. (7) The kegs, barrels, and bags consumed at many parties here put students at risk, including the risk of date rape. (8) A third cause of date rape is miscommunication between men and women. (9) Men and women often have different ideas of what date rape is or even if it exists. (10) We need campus workshops in which we can discuss this issue openly and come to some understanding between the sexes. (11) Date rape is a serious problem that can ruin lives. (12) We can make a difference by addressing the causes of date rape: the male mentality of disrespect, heavy campus use of alcohol and drugs, and the differing views of men and women. Michael White Moon, Student How many causes or effects does the writer present?

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. Evaluating a Web Site _____ (1) Next, find out more about the person or people who created the web site. (2) Scroll down to the bottom of the page to look for the author s name, or click on links such as About Us, Biography, or Who Am I? (3) These links will usually lead to more information about the individual or organization responsible. (4) Look for details about the author s credentials. (5) Is he or she an expert, with education, training, or experience in the subject matter? (6) If no information about the site s creator is provided or if that person offers no proof of authority, the information may not be reliable. (7) Remember that anyone can create an Internet web site; therefore, researchers should verify that the person who posted the information knows what he or she is talking about. _____ (8) First, begin by examining the URL, or Internet address, of the web site. (9) In particular, examine the last three letters of the address, which reveal the domain of a site as an educational institution, government agency, nonprofit organization, or commercial company. (10) Usually, the first three types of domains, which end in .edu , .gov , .mil , .us , and .org , tend to be reliable sources of information. (11) The primary purpose of sites that end in .com, on the other hand, may be to persuade viewers to buy something rather than provide them with accurate, unbiased information. (12) A .com web site could also be someone s personal web site, which may or may not offer reliable information. _____ (13) Using this procedure helps researchers get their facts straight. (14) Mining the Internet for information will almost always produce gold, but finding that gold often requires sifting through and discarding worthless rocks. _____ (15) Finally, in addition to finding out more about the site s creator, look for a few other indicators of quality information. (16) The date the page was last updated, for example, should be fairly recent. (17) In addition, note whether the author mentions the sources of his or her information. (18) Sources that are documented with footnotes or links, especially if they refer to scholarly or academic journals and books, are usually more reputable. (19) Also, don t forget to notice the overall look of the site. (20) Is the page crowded with advertisements? (21) If so, its main purpose may be selling rather than informing. (22) Is the text filled with grammatical or spelling errors? (23) These kinds of mistakes may indicate untrustworthy information. _____ (24) The Internet offers millions of web sites; however, they re not all created equal. (25) Some of them contain accurate information, and some contain only opinions, inaccurate information, or information that s been manipulated in some way. (26) Therefore, people who use a search engine to look for web sites about a particular topic need to know how to distinguish a credible web site from a dud. (27) To evaluate the trustworthiness of a web site, online researchers can use a three-step procedure. Part A: Select the answer that numbers the paragraphs in the order they should appear in the essay. a. 1, 4, 5, 3, 2 b. 5, 3, 2, 4, 1 c. 3, 2, 5, 4, 1 Part B: In the reordered sequence, select the number of the topic sentence in the second paragraph. a. Sentence 13 b. Sentence 15 c. Sentence 8 Part C: In addition to a transitional expression, what other linking technique does the writer use at the beginning of the fourth paragraph in the reordered sequence? a. He repeats key words or ideas from the thesis statement. b. He refers to a word or idea from the preceding paragraph. c. He uses a transitional sentence.

Instructions: Select the letter of the correct answer. Which prewriting technique involves exploring a topic by asking who, what, when, where, why, and how?

Instructions: Each question below is a plan for a process paragraph. The steps for the plan(s) are not in the correct chronological order. Select the letter of the answer that numbers the steps in the proper time sequence. The U.S. Bureau of Engraving and Printing s procedure for making paper currency combines human talent with the precision and speed of modern machinery. ____ Finally, machines slice the pages into notes and band them into stacks for distribution to banks. ____ First, engravers hand-cut the design for a bill on a piece of soft steel known as the master-die. ____ Sheets of paper are then fed into this printing press, where they are stamped with ink under heavy pressure. ____ Next, the master-die is heated and subjected to tremendous pressure to transfer its impression to a plate that goes into a high-speed printing press. ____ Workers carefully examine each stack of printed sheets, and those without defects are fed into a second printing press to be printed with seals and serial numbers.

Instructions: Each general statement below is followed by several examples. Select the letter of the example that does not clearly illustrate the generalization. Amelia Earhart dared to act beyond the limits of what society thought a woman could or should do.

Instructions: The following sentences form a passage. Select the correct past tense verb for each blank. Joggers ____ advantage of the early morning cool air; they ____ along the well-marked trails in their multicolored sweatsuits.

Instructions: In each of the paragraph plans below, 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 in each plan. The new entertainment complex downtown has something for everyone.

Instructions: Select the letter of the word in the sentence that is a look-alike/sound-alike error. Is you re brother going to accept the teaching position he was offered?

Instructions: Select the letter of the correct noun to fill in the blank in each of the following sentences. For the first time in years, the river teemed with ____.

Instructions: The following sentences form an essay. Select the correct preposition for each blank. Unsung Innovators A few years later, he built the first successful Buick, which his son test-drove ____ a 115-mile course in what was then a record three and one-half hours.

Instructions: For each of the following sentences, select correct if the sentence is punctuated correctly, fragment if it is a fragment, run-on if it is a run-on, and comma splice if it is a comma splice. For broiling, smoking, and drying meat and fish.

Instructions: For each of the following sentences, select correct if the sentence is punctuated correctly, fragment if it is a fragment, run-on if it is a run-on, and comma splice if it is a comma splice. Barbecue comes from the Spanish word berbekot , which refers to the wooden framework used for cooking meat.