Exam 1: Writing Effective Paragraphs

Instructions: The following sentences form a passage. Select the correct noun for each blank. Jackie Robinson was probably the bravest ____ to play professional baseball.

Instructions: Each of the following plans for an essay contains a thesis statement and several topic sentences in scrambled order. Select the letter of the answer that numbers the topic sentences in each group according to an order that makes sense. Thesis statement: To process and store information, the human brain uses three kinds of memory. Topic sentences: ____ All incoming information from the world around us is registered first by our sensory memory. ____ If we rehearse information or integrate it with what we already know, we can move it from working memory into long-term memory, the brain s permanent storage vault. ____ By focusing attention on the information in sensory memory, we can move it to working memory, where we can consciously think about it.

Instructions: Each question below is a plan for a narrative paragraph. The events in the plan(s) are not in the correct chronological order. For each plan, select the answer that numbers the events in the proper time sequence. Physical education instructor James Naismith invented the game of basketball in 1891. ____ Thinking of how these ancient games required balls that went through holes, he rounded up two peach baskets and a soccer ball. ____ In December 1891, the director of the YMCA School where Naismith worked asked him to come up with a game that would occupy a class of rowdy students. ____ Then, he divided his class of eighteen into two teams of nine players each, taught them to throw the soccer ball into the peach basket. ____ Naismith, needing a game that could be played indoors in a relatively small space, remembered a description of Ollamalitzli and Ulama, Aztec and Mayan ball games he had read about in a magazine. ____ He nailed the peach baskets to the lower railing of the gym balcony.

Instructions: The following sentences form a passage. Select the correct past tense verb for each blank. As a morning breeze gusted inland off the bay, buzzards, terns, and gulls ____ the air currents overhead.

Instructions: Study the body of each of the following paragraphs. Then, select the letter of the topic sentence that is most accurate. Select the best topic sentence for the paragraph. A study conducted by George Washington University and the National Endowment for the Arts showed that senior citizens who sing in a choir are physically healthier than senior citizens who aren t involved in an arts program. Plus, the singers are less likely to suffer from depression and mental deterioration. Dr. Graham Welch of the University of Surrey, who has spent over thirty years researching the effects of singing, claims that singing requires breathing deeply, so it s good aerobic exercise for the lungs, abdominal muscles, and circulatory system. Physician Eric Roter, who reviews the connection between music and health on his web site ermusic.org , agrees. He says that when people sing, the body responds as though it was getting a physical workout. Plus, singing just makes people feel good. Research from Manchester University suggests that singing stimulates a small organ in the inner ear called the saccule, which produces pleasure. Also, endorphins released during singing relax the body and lift the singer s spirits.

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 Once in England, children from infants to teenagers were selected by foster parents. Older adolescents went different ways some were sent to boarding schools, some went to work on farms, and others received job training to help them join British society.

Instructions: Select the letter of the writing process step in which the task is completed. Brainstorming

Instructions: Read the following sentence(s) carefully. Then select the correct adjective or adverb in parentheses. I ll have two ( largely , large ) sodas and two ( smaller , small ) orders of French fries.

Instructions: Read the paragraph below and answer the questions that follow by selecting the letter of the correct response. The cross is, of course, most often associated with Christianity. However, it was also used by the Assyrians to represent their sky god, Anu, and by the Chinese to represent the earth. The symbol appears in Egyptian paintings, too; gods are often shown holding the ankh, a cross topped with a loop, which symbolized immortality. When Hernan Cort s and his Spanish troops invaded Mexico in 1519, they found the cross in native temples there, but the image represented the gods Tlaloc and Quetzalcoatl. The Celtic cross, which predates Christianity, symbolized fertility. Which of the following is a pronoun used to refer to the subject of the paragraph?

Instructions: For each of the following sentences, choose the correct noun to fill in each blank. Select the letter of the correct answer. Another ____ is to build an overpass to divert traffic.

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. A vehicle s airbag saves lives by instantly inflating at the moment a collision takes place. ____ Tiny holes in the bag allow the gas to escape so that the bag will deflate and the vehicle s occupants can move. ____ The sensors then ignite rapidly, burning chemicals that create a large volume of gas to fill the thin, nylon bag. ____ When the vehicle collides with something, sensors register the impact. ____ The gas-filled bag bursts from its storage site to cushion the vehicle s occupants against the impact.

Instructions: Below is a plan for a contrast paragraph. The points of contrast in the second column do not follow the same order as the points in the first column. In addition, one detail is missing. Eating in a restaurant and eating at home Eating in a restaurant Eating at home 1. Can get expensive ____ Delicious, home-cooked meals 2. Atmosphere often loud and bustling ____ Someone must do the dishes 3. Diners more likely to converse with one another ____ Usually cheaper than eating out 4. No clean up ____ ________________________ 5. Quality of food varies from very good to poor, depending on the restaurant ____ Family members more likely to read or watch TV while eating Select the letter of the answer that correctly numbers the points in the second column to match those in the first.

Instructions: Read the paragraph below and answer the question(s) that follow. (1) Energy sources can be divided into two groups: nonrenewable sources and renewable sources. (2) The first group, nonrenewable sources, includes the energy sources that are in finite supply and will eventually be depleted. (3) Fossil fuels, which include coal, petroleum, and natural gas, are in this category. (4) They are obtained from deposits in the earth that were formed from living matter during previous geologic eras. (5) When these deposits have been emptied, these energy sources will no longer be available. (6) The second group contains renewable energy sources. (7) Energy produced by wind, water, the sun s rays, and the heat of the Earth, for example, will always be available because these sources continuously regenerate as they are consumed. Which of the following sentences does NOT contain a transitional expression that indicates classification?

Instructions: Select the answer that correctly adds the suffix to each word below. cruel + est

Instructions: The following sentences form an essay. Select the correct preposition for each blank. Unsung Innovators Durant manipulated the stock of the new Chevrolet Motor Company to regain control of General Motors. Chevrolet soon argued ____ Durant and pulled out of the company.

Instructions: Study the body of each of the following paragraphs. Then, select the letter of the topic sentence that is most accurate. Select the best topic sentence for the paragraph. One parent in Oklahoma, fed up with her daughter s poor grades and chronic tardiness, forced her daughter to stand at a busy intersection and hold a sign that read I don t do my homework and I act up in school. My parents are preparing me for my future. Will work for food. After her son was suspended from school for the seventh time, a Kansas City mom required her son to wear a sandwich board declaring that he was the class clown and pace for hours outside her workplace. In California, two parents were charged with abuse after they sent their son to school with dog excrement in his backpack to punish him for failing to clean up after his pet.

Instructions: Proofread the following sentence(s) for inconsistent tense and person. In addition, check for faulty parallelism. Select the type of error each sentence contains. Before you buy a new car, one should read the most recent Consumer Reports car issue.

Instructions: Select the letter of the correct word for each blank. To find information on the Internet, a researcher can use a ____ such as Google.

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. Trading My Brown Shirt for a Backpack _____ Although I was prepared to have less money, one effect I didn t expect from losing my job was the negative feelings I would have. I was embarrassed to tell my family what had happened, worried that my fianc e would think less of me, and angry that events I couldn t control had ruined my life. It was strange and depressing not having the job to go to every day. Maybe some wouldn t consider delivering packages a career, but I liked my work, it paid well, and I was outside driving a truck all day. So it s not just the money I miss; it s the job. _____ The words economic downturn didn t mean much on the front of a newspaper, but then I got laid off. Suddenly, those weren t just words but the beginning of a long chain of events in my life. I liked my job at the United Parcel Service, and I had received many positive performance reviews, so I didn t think the rising unemployment rate was going to touch me. People still have to ship packages, right? Wrong. Getting my pink slip had powerful effects on my lifestyle and plans, but not all the effects have been bad ones. _____ The one positive effect of getting laid off is that it forced me to reconsider college. When I got a good job shortly after high school, in confirmed my decision to head straight into the real world. Now that there are so few full-time jobs with benefits out there, getting more education and training seems like the logical move. A counselor at the unemployment office encouraged me to attend a career fair at San Francisco Community College. I ended up taking placement exams and enrolling that same afternoon. _____ After losing my job, I have had to make major financial changes. My unemployment check is about half what I was making at UPS, so I have to budget very carefully. I used to take my fianc e out to a nice dinner almost every week. Now our dates involve pizza and rented movies. We also had to postpone our wedding until I m back on my feet. The hardest change by far has been moving back in with my dad because I couldn t make the rent on my apartment. _____ So here I am in a freshman writing class, returning to school the spring I expected to be getting married and hunting for a nice apartment. So far I m enjoying college more than I thought. I feel proud to be pursuing my Emergency Medical Technician (EMT) certificate. When I m done, I ll be driving around in an ambulance instead of a delivery truck, and I have a feeling I m going to like it. Alex Silvio, Student Which of the following sentences expresses the thesis statement of this essay?

Instructions: The following sentences form a passage. For each one, 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. Then a television program on PBS changed his life the seventh grader watched in amazement as students in a well-equipped machine shop built their own robots.