Exam 1: Writing Effective Paragraphs

Instructions: Read the paragraph below and answer the question(s) that follow. (1) Charisma is not merely attractiveness or fame but a rare combination of qualities that produces personal magnetism or charm. (2) According to Ronald Riggio, professor of leadership and organizational psychology at Claremont McKenna College in California, these qualities include self-confidence, brilliant communication skills, and sensitivity to the needs of others. (3) Riggio says that former President Bill Clinton is a good example of a charismatic person. (4) Not only is he an excellent communicator, but he makes everyone who speaks to him feel as though he or she is the most important person in the world. (5) Oprah Winfrey, says Riggio, is another person with charisma. (6) She expresses herself well, and she naturally attracts people to her by responding to their needs. What word or phrase is being defined in this paragraph?

Instructions: Proofread the following sentences, which form an essay, for errors in the past participle. If the sentence contains a past participle error, select Past participle error. If the sentence is correct, select Correct. Scientists have studied the bodies of ancient people from all over the world who have remained nearly intact in their bog graves.

Instructions: For each of the following statements, select the answer that correctly identifies the cause and effect. Many people are going under the knife for cosmetic surgery because American culture glorifies youth and makes it difficult for people to handle aging.

Instructions: Read the paragraph below and answer the question(s) that follow. (1) People who are thinking about getting a pet should carefully consider the kind of care that animal will require. (2) Pets can be classified into three categories according to how labor-intensive they are. (3) The first category includes very labor-intensive pets. (4) These animals require the most time, energy, and money because they need constant, daily care. (5) Horses kept in a barn are probably the best example, for they need to be fed, exercised, and groomed on a daily basis. (6) Dogs, which need to be fed and walked at least once a day, are another good example of a high-maintenance pet. (7) The second category contains those pets that are only moderately labor-intensive, such as a cat or a hamster. (8) They need to be fed every day, but other maintenance is done on only a weekly or monthly basis. (9) For example, a cat s litter box or a hamster s cage needs only periodic cleaning. (10) The third and final category includes very low-maintenance pets. (11) Fish are the best example. (12) They need just a little sprinkling of food every day, and their tanks need cleaning only a few times a year. How many categories are there?

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 answer that correctly identifies each type of prewriting. The prewriting below is an example of Teenage Pregnancy What do I know about teenage pregnancy? My sister s plans for her future were cut short by pregnancy. She won a high school fashion design award, was spunky, full of fun. Now, with a child to raise, she works in a diner. The father of the child disappeared two years ago. What would I like to know? Do TV shows like Teen Mom glamorize pregnancy? Why do teenagers get pregnant? Teenage girls think they can t get pregnant. Teenage boys think it s macho to get a girl pregnant. Lack of knowledge of birth-control methods. Teenage girls think that having a baby will keep their boyfriends from leaving them. They think that babies are fun to have around, to play with. Where can I get more information? Guidance counselors at my old school. Planned Parenthood. Interview my friends who had babies when they were still teenagers. Talk to my sister. Conduct an Internet search. What would I like to focus on? What interests me? I would like to know what pressures, fears, and hopes teenage girls feel that would allow them to take the chance of becoming pregnant. What is my point of view? I would like teenagers to be aware of how their lives will be forever changed by a pregnancy. Who is my audience? I would like to write for teenagers primarily girls to help them understand the problems of teenage pregnancy.

Instructions: Select the letter of the correct answer. An error pattern is any error that the writer makes

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

Instructions: The following sentences form a passage. Select the correct adjective or adverb for each blank. Since its discovery, many scientists, explorers, filmmakers, and tourists have taken submersibles down to see the wrecked ship in its ____ resting place, and thousands of artifacts have been brought up from the deep to be displayed in museums.

Instructions: For the following question(s), select the letter of the answer that correctly identifies each type of prewriting. The prewriting below is an example of My Best Friend My best friend Robin. We met junior year, Sherman High School. A very caring person, has many friends because she s sympathetic to other people s problems. A really good listener. She s smart makes good grades. Got a scholarship. Nursing student, I know she ll be a good one nurses have to be good at helping people, and Robin is great at that. Cares about animals, would be a good veterinarian if she doesn t become a nurse.

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 view from a hotel room balcony. ____ wet, dark sand of water s edge ____ beach grass growing in high sand dunes just below the balcony ____ white-crested waves breaking on shore ____ the straight line of horizon where sea seems to meet sky ____ a short wooden fence separating the dunes from the hard-packed sand of the shoreline ____ calm, grayish-blue water stretching out behind breakers

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. Keeping an open mind and a spirit of play.

Instructions: Select the letter of the correct answer. If an essay exam question asks you to identify something, your paragraph or essay should

Instructions: Select the answer that correct joins each pair of simple sentences with conjunctions or conjunctive adverbs and is punctuated correctly. Stephen cleans the kitchen and bathroom once a week. They always look cluttered and messy.

Instructions: Read the paragraph below and answer the question(s) that follow. (1) The United States is dealing with many invasive species, which are non-native plants, animals, and insects that are harmful to the area they invade. (2) For example, the fast-growing kudzu vine is known as the vine that ate the South because it covers trees and other vegetation, blocking their access to sunlight and killing them. (3) Formosan termites from East Asia are now responsible for millions of dollars in damage to homes and properties in Louisiana and other parts of the southeastern United States. (4) African honey bees, which spread from South America and Central America into America s Southwest, have been known to chase down and kill people and animals. (5) In the Great Lakes, Asian carp, imported in the 1970s to clean up algae, are now pushing out other kinds of fish and disrupting the lakes ecosystem. (6) In Florida s Everglades, huge pythons descended from abandoned pets are threatening everything from crocodiles to livestock to children. How many examples does the writer use to develop the topic sentence?

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

Instructions: The following sentences form a passage. Select the correct past tense verb for each blank. In the cabin of a docked craft, a slender white-haired man and a woman in a terry cloth robe ____the morning newspaper.

Instructions: For each sentence below, choose the correct preposition to insert. Select the letter of the correct answer. Steve left the fruit flies ____ the laboratory overnight.

Instructions: Read the paragraph below and answer the questions that follow by selecting the letter of the correct response. When Lewis and Clark made their way through what is now North Dakota, the Shoshone Indian woman named Sacajawea joined the team of explorers. Because the expedition was traveling with a Native American, other tribes did not attack the group. In fact, one tribe even supplied horses to help the explorers and their interpreter cross the Rocky Mountains. This invaluable team member taught the men how to find medicine and food in the wilderness and once even saved the records of the journey when a canoe overturned during a storm. She reached the Pacific Ocean with Lewis and Clark in 1805. Her fame eventually spread; one of the best-known monuments to her is a statue in Portland, Oregon. Which of the following is a synonym used to refer to the subject of the paragraph?

Instructions: Select the letter of the correct noun to fill in the blank in each of the following sentences. My roommate and I faced several ____ during our freshman year.