NUMBER 01111
1. Which of the following words has three syllables?
A. Multiplication
B. Division
C. Fraction
D. Exponential
2.Which of the following is an example of an infinitive phrase?
A. to run
B. running
C. having been running
D. which had been running
3. Which of the following would you most often be able to find in a basic dictionary?
A. The pronunciation of a word you don't already know
B. A list of newspapers that frequently use a word you don't already know
C. An illustrated picture of a word you don't already know
D. A narrative story featuring a word you don't already know
4. Which of the following is an example of a proper noun?A. him
B. justice
C. John G. Roberts, Jr.
D. gavel
5. In the following sentence, which words are used as adjectives?The golden rays of the bright sun reflected off the clear waters of the calm lake.
A. The, of, in, clear, and calm
B. The, golden, the, bright, the, clear, the, and calm
C. The, rays, the, sun, the, waters, the, and lake
D. Golden, rays, clear, and waters
6. Which of the following words would require the article a, instead of an?
A. Elderly
B. Hotel
C. Igloo
D. Honest
7. Three of the following statements about a verb are true. Which statement is false?
A. A verb can express a state of being.
B. A verb takes the place of adjectives.
C. A verb can express action.
D. A verb makes a statement about the subject of a sentence.
8. Why do writers often strive to write using more active-voice verbs and fewer passive-voice verbs?
A. The active voice often puts the actor in a phrase after the verb.
B. The passive voice never omits the actor.
C. The active voice usually makes the writing more clear and concise.
D. The passive voice is usually more emphatic.
9. Which of the following is not one of the eight standard parts of speech?
A. Conjunction
B. Adverb
C. Preposition
D. Modifier
10. What is the conjunction in the following sentence?
I will take my sister to the concert, provided that she can buy a ticket.
A. that she
B. provided that
C. concert, provided
D. to the
11. How can you tell the difference between a compound sentence and a complex sentence?
A. A compound sentence can be separated into two parts that can each stand alone.
B. Complex sentences contain coordinating conjunctions that separate the clauses.
C. A compound sentence isn't made of stand-alone clauses.
D. Clauses in a complex sentence are always independent.
12. In the following sentence, identify the prepositional phrase, and tell whether it acts as an adjective or adverb.
The children found the pictures in the book interesting.
A. the pictures in; adjective
B. in the book; adjective
C. found the pictures; adverb
D. The children; adjective
13. What is the difference between abstract nouns and concrete nouns?
A. There is no difference.
B. Abstract nouns describe something, but concrete nouns don't.
C. Concrete nouns can be identified by the senses, but abstract nouns can't.
D. Abstract nouns are specific, but concrete nouns aren't.
14. In which of the following sentences is an adverb used correctly?
A. She sang a beautiful song.
B. She sang beautifully.
C. She sang the song beautiful.
D. She is a beautifully singer.
15. Which of the following is an example of a third-person pronoun?
A. Yourselves
B. Ourselves
C. Us
D. Them
16. Which of the following is not a synonym of the word beautiful?
A. Gorgeous
B. Attractive
C. Stunning
D. Gritty
17. Which of the following is a false statement about a basic dictionary?
A. Various types of words are included a basic dictionary.
B. In a basic dictionary, pictures are provided of every word.
C. The pronunciation of words is provided in a basic dictionary.
D. A basic dictionary is organized in alphabetical order.
18. Which of the following is not a primary sentence pattern for asking questions in English?
A. Helping verb, subject, main verb
B. Adverb, verb, subject
C. Adjective/pronoun, subject, interrogative verb
D. Subject, action verb, direct object, helping verb
19. Which of the following correctly describes connotation?
A. The pronunciation of a word
B. An implied meaning of word understood by language users
C. A new word added to the dictionary
D. The meaning of a word that has never changed
20. Which of the following is an antonym of the word happy?
A. Jovial
B. Miserable
C. Blissful
D. Joyful
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1. The usual point of view when writing a formal academic essay is
A. third person.
B. subjective.
C. second person.
D. personal.
2. Please read the following excerpt from an essay, and answer the question that follows.
Biologically, adolescence is marked by hormonal changes that produce secondary sexual characteristics. These include breast development in females and beard growth in males. (Psychologically however, adolescence is a concept that applies only to modern industrial societies. In fact, in most preliterate or tribal societies, the modern American idea of adolescence simply does not exist. In such societies, the social roles of adulthood are to be learned during childhood. (Then, around the time of biological puberty, a child becomes an adult through a ritual anthropologists call a rite of passage. By contrast, in American society, adolescence amounts to a sort of social and cultural limbo. Informally, the end of childhood is often marked by one's thirteenth birthday. The child is now a "teenager." More formally, the end of adolescence is marked by legal strictures that vary irrationally. In a given state the age of sexual consent may be 16 for girls and 18 for boys. An 18-year-old may vote or enlist to die for his country, but, until he reaches age 21, he may not legally purchase alcoholic beverages.
If the topic of this paragraph is adolescence, which of the following statements best captures or reiterates the thesis?
A. Adolescence is defined differently in different societies.
B. Western society has no single concept of adolescence.
C. Adolescence is an aspect of modern society.
D. Adolescence is an irrational concept.
3. Which of the following titles is made more effective by alliteration?
A. Ruby, the Rose of Roslyn
B. What's in a Name?
C. Guns: Our Lethal Heritage
D. Now You See It; Now You Don't
4. Please read the following excerpt from an essay, and answer the question that follows.
Biologically, adolescence is marked by hormonal changes that produce secondary sexual characteristics. These include breast development in females and beard growth in males. (Psychologically however, adolescence is a concept that applies only to modern industrial societies. In fact, in most preliterate or tribal societies, the modern American idea of adolescence simply does not exist. In such societies, the social roles of adulthood are to be learned during childhood. (Then, around the time of biological puberty, a child becomes an adult through a ritual anthropologists call a rite of passage. By contrast, in American society, adolescence amounts to a sort of social and cultural limbo. Informally, the end of childhood is often marked by one's thirteenth birthday. The child is now a "teenager." More formally, the end of adolescence is marked by legal strictures that vary irrationally. In a given state the age of sexual consent may be 16 for girls and 18 for boys. An 18-year-old may vote or enlist to die for his country, but, until he reaches age 21, he may not legally purchase alcoholic beverages.
In the paragraph, the thesis is best suggested
A. through an implied topic sentence.
B. in sentences 3 and 4.
C. by what the reader decides about the actual nature of adolescence.
D. in sentences 1 and 3.
5. Karen asserts that a thesis statement is best developed as part of the prewriting process. Kyle claims that a thesis statement should be completely developed before the writer is sure of the topic. Who is correct?
A. Only Karen is correct.
B. Only Kyle is correct.
C. Both Karen and Kyle are correct.
D. Neither Karen nor Kyle is correct.
6. One of the benefits to highlighting key points is that
A. you can skim, rather than read every word.
B. it sorts the good ideas from the bad ideas.
C. it eliminates note taking.
D. it ensures active reading.
7. Please read the following excerpt from an essay, and answer the question that follows.
After Sean was arrested for breaking into a pawnshop, I began to wonder. Why did some kids from my neighborhood end up in trouble while most of us didn't? I started out with a question: What causes young people to make bad choices? Now, after two years of research, I've arrived at the conclusion that there is no simple answer. There is no one reason why good kids go bad, but there are typical reasons.
According to my research, teenagers are most likely to get into trouble if they hang out with a bad crowd. That's because people learn their values from the people they associate with. So a very big reason for bad behavior is imitating one's peers. But there are other important factors as well. Kids who get in trouble are often school dropouts. Also, kids being raised by a single mother are more likely to get in trouble than kids raised in an intact family. Substance abuse also plays a role, especially when it comes to alcohol and legal or illegal drugs.
What method of organization is used by the writer?
A. Spatial
B. Most-to-least
C. Chronological
D. Least-to-most
8. Which of the following statements best identifies a learning style that's creative, verbal, and independent?
A. Bart enjoys sitting in public places with his brother analyzing people, especially when he is trying to come up with a plot for a short story.
B. Cameron loves to diagram the different aspects or meanings of an idea.
C. Karen loves sorting out facts, especially when she can help her classmates visualize them in novel and interesting ways.
D. Loren writes poetry because she enjoys experimenting with words to evoke emotions.
9. In searching out the key elements as you read an essay, you're most likely to discover the author's support for his or her claims or ideas in the
A. body of the essay.
B. conclusion.
C. introductory paragraph.
D. title.
10. To narrow a general topic you've selected, which pair of techniques is most likely to be effective?
A. Freewriting and questioning
B. Questioning and choosing an issue that interests you
C. Using a branching diagram and consulting your journal
D. Branching diagram and questioning
11. Please read the following excerpt from an essay, and answer the question that follows.
I've never actually met a real live humorist. Well, not in person at any rate. However, one summer, having a lot of time on my hands, I discovered unexpected treasures lurking in the local public library. Among the nuggets I unearthed in those musty stacks was a book by humorist Robert Benchley. To this day I remember one of his quips. He wrote, "There are two kinds of people in this world; those who divide the world into two kinds of people and those who don't." After laughing out loud, I became pensive. I wondered why the quip was so funny. A year or so later, I formed a theory. Humor is based on the unexpected.(br)In the passage above, the topic sentence and the thesis are one and the same.
What makes the last sentence effective as a thesis statement?
A. Humor
B. Simplicity
C. Specific detail
D. Assertion
12. Lillian is looking for ideas to write about, and she decides to make a list of everything she can think of that relates to the topic of teenage romance. Which concept best describes Lillian's strategy?
A. Brainstorming
B. Outlining
C. Mapping
D. Free association
13. In my journal, I've divided several pages into two columns. In the first column, I write down selected quotations from an essay I've just read. My purpose in these procedures is most likely to be ______the essay.
A. analyzing
B. creating
C. revising
D. summarizing
14. Please read the following excerpt from an essay. The sentences are numbered to help you respond to the question that follows.
(1) After Sean was arrested for breaking into a pawnshop, I began to wonder. (2) Why did some kids from my neighborhood end up in trouble while most of us didn't? (3) I started out with a question: What causes young people to make bad choices? (4) Now, after two years of research, I've arrived at the conclusion that there is no simple answer. (5) There is no one reason why good kids go bad, but there are typical reasons.
(6) According to my research, teenagers are most likely to get into trouble if they hang out with a bad crowd. (7) That's because people learn their values from the people they associate with. (8) So a very big reason for bad behavior is imitating one's peers. (9) But there are other important factors as well. (10) Kids who get in trouble are often school dropouts. (11) Also, kids being raised by a single mother are more likely to get in trouble than kids raised in an intact family. (12) Substance abuse also plays a role, especially when it comes to alcohol and legal or illegal drugs.
Sentence 7 of the excerpt is an example of
A. a supporting explanation.
B. random evidence.
C. an opinion.
D. a conclusion.
15. The principles for supplying evidence in support of a thesis could be represented
by an acronym: RSVSRA. According to the information in your text, the two "Rs"
could stand for
A. relevant and representative.
B. representative and revealing.
C. revealing and relevant.
D. respectful and revealing.
16. Your topic is courtesy, and you're writing from the point of view of a caring mentor. Which of the following sentences is most persuasive for an audience of high school graduates from a working-class neighborhood?
A. Remember that you can catch more flies with honey than with vinegar.
B. Courtesy is the oil that lubricates the machinery of discourse.
C. Courtesy to others shows self-respect as much as it does respect for others.
D. Courtesy yields profits to the impecunious as well as to the wealthy.
17. Leila says that a thesis statement is like a promise to a reader. Lucas says a thesis statement expresses the writer's point of view. Who is correct?
A. Both Leila and Lucas are correct.
B. Only Lucas is correct.
C. Neither Leila nor Lucas is correct.
D. Only Leila is correct.
18. When you write, the tone, vocabulary, and type of information you choose should vary depending on your
A. values.
B. biases.
C. education.
D. audience
19. An active reader who is assigned an essay to read will begin by
A. reading the entire essay.
B. researching the subject of the essay.
C. previewing specific parts of the essay.
D. skimming the entire essay.
20. Please read the following excerpt from an essay, and answer the question that follows. In the passage, the sentences are numbered to help you respond to the question.
(1) Biologically, adolescence is marked by hormonal changes that produce secondary sexual characteristics. (2) These include breast development in females and beard growth in males. (3) Psychologically however, adolescence is a concept that applies only to modern industrial societies. (4) In fact, in most preliterate or tribal societies, the modern American idea of adolescence simply does not exist. (5) In such societies, the social roles of adulthood are to be learned during childhood. (6) Then, around the time of biological puberty, a child becomes an adult through a ritual anthropologists call a rite of passage. (7) By contrast, in American society, adolescence amounts to a sort of social and cultural limbo. (8) Informally, the end of childhood is often marked by one's thirteenth birthday. The child is now a "teenager." (9) More formally, the end of adolescence is marked by legal strictures that vary irrationally. (10) In a given state the age of sexual consent may be 16 for girls and 18 for boys. (11) An 18-year-old may vote or enlist to die for his country, but, until he reaches age 21, he may not legally purchase alcoholic beverages.
In which sentence of the paragraph do you find a transitional word or phrase that shows a time connection?
A. Sentence 4
B. Sentence 7
C. Sentence 6
D. Sentence 3
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1. To compose strong, compelling sentences, avoid usingA. clauses as modifiers.
B. dependent clauses.
C. forms of the verb to be.
D. short, simple sentences
2. As you're revising an essay, you write down several sentences to describe your intended readers. Why should you do this?
A. To ensure that your essay will entertain the audience
B. To see if your essay is directed toward its intended audience
C. To ensure that you're instructing your audience adequately
D. To make sure you're writing what you know, not what you believe
3. During revision, you should scan your paper for ______words and replace them with concrete words or phrases.
A. figurative
B. formal
C. informal
D. general
4. A student who regularly tracks mistakes in spelling, verb forms, and parallelism is probably
A. keeping an error log.
B. analyzing the essays' organization.
C. using a flowchart.
D. focusing on learning style
5. Which of the following correctly uses a transitional word or phrase?
A. Kara has been happily trying lots of new activities lately. For example, she took up needlepoint on the advice of her counselor.
B. Sadly, Mark broke his leg during the performance. The director regretted casting him in the part.
C. First impressions are so important in both personal and professional life. Addison shaved off his beard.
D. The floodwaters receded. The bridge could be inspected
6. Which of the following sentences contains an error in subject-verb agreement?
A. Which one of these shirts is your favorite?
B. Either Dennis or Susan is going to pick you up.
C. Each of the 14 groups are going to contribute an item to the auction.
D. Kristy, Molly, and Kate attend the same university and ride the bus together
7. Which of the following sentences shows correct usage of a comma or commas?
A. Claire's plum pudding was mainly distinctive, for its absence of plums.
B. William of Orange, arrived in England in 1688, to claim the English throne from James II.
C. After a fire at their home, Carlie and her mother rented a house in Glendale, Arizona from November 14, 2007 to January 28, 2008.
D. Christopher Wren, a contemporary of Isaac Newton and John Locke, was the
architect of St. Paul's Cathedral.
8. A passive verb is the better choice if you wish to
A. emphasize the subject.
B. establish a casual tone.
C. deemphasize the subject.
D. establish a formal tone.
9. Which of the following is a simple sentence?
A. I went to the airport, but I was too late to meet them.
B. Karen and David arrived at the airport at 3:35 P.M. and took a taxi to their hotel.
C. When I realized I was too late, I called David's cell phone and made arrangements to meet them in town.
D. I got to the airport late because the traffic was so terrible.
10. Choosing a good reviewer for your writing means finding someone who
A. is a close friend and will give you a positive review.
B. will concentrate on your ideas and how well you support them.
C. concentrates on correcting your spelling and grammar errors.
D. knows everything about writing and will find every mistake.
11. Which of the following sentences is without any surface errors?
A. It's up to Georgia and I who drives the car, whether Celine likes it or not.
B. The town is located near just a few miles from lake Ontario.
C. I reluctantly gave the hamster to my cousin because I was afraid Teddy, my cat, would attack it.
D. Mr. Campbell gave copies of his novel to Ruth and me.
12. In the process of revision, your main objective should be to
A. clarify your ideas.
B. establish proper tone.
C. explain your essay's purposes.
D. demonstrate correct grammar.
13. Which sentence should be edited to eliminate its cliché?
A. Striding toward the barn in her red coverall and bucket hat, Gloria—tall and round—gave the impression of a charging silo.
B. The texture of the burlap was a cross between woven straw and a three-day beard.
C. The family was immensely relieved when Great-Aunt Martha's condition progressed from "critical" to "it looks like she'll live another 10 years."
D. I wanted to hire Dave, but a chain is only as strong as its weakest link.
14. A ______can be used for both organizing and revising an essay.
A. topic sentence
B. graphic organizer
C. verbal sketch
D. flowchart
15. Which of the following sentences contains a dependent clause?
A. Kicking and leaping, the three deer behaved like rambunctious rabbits.
B. The red sports car that was parked under the tree belongs to Alan.
C. Jared eagerly climbed into the boxing ring; he was on his back and out for the count in less than ten seconds.
D. Please clear the table and wash the dishes.
16. Which of the following sentences contains a redundancy?
A. Emily's sister gave birth to a pair of twins.
B. At no time did Tony indicate a willingness to admit defeat.
C. Chris had trouble working up even mild enthusiasm for Mike's plan.
D. Steve admired the partially completed stadium
17. Nathan argues that each paragraph in a narrative should support the author's thesis. Nan says that paragraphs in a narrative should illuminate some part of the action. Which one is correct?
A. Neither Nathan nor Nan is correct.
B. Both Nathan and Nan are correct.
C. Only Nathan is correct.
D. Only Nan is correct.
18. Which of the following sentences contains one or more strong, active verbs?
A. The phone directory was hastily searched by Conrad.
B. Conrad trembled with anxiety and anticipation as he pressed Denise's doorbell.
C. Having been away in London for two years, Conrad was happy to see Denise.
D. It was believed by some that Conrad's father had been a war hero.
19. Which of the following sentences uses a coordinating conjunction in a compound sentence?
A. Out in the yard, the children shouted loudly and threw silly insults at each other.
B. My aunt, who usually behaves like a queen, was suddenly asking—no, begging—
for help.
C. The budget payment is much higher than we anticipated, but the price of heating oil has skyrocketed this year.
D. We fired our old housekeeper, who we thought had stolen Grandma's rings;
we later regretted it.
20. Which of the following is a good rule to follow when proofreading an essay?
A. Ask your best friend to critique your essay.
B. Use the computer's spell-check and grammar-check functions to be sure you catch any errors.
C. Read the essay aloud to hear where words are missing or awkward phrasings or grammatical errors occur.
D. Scan the essay twice, once for organization and once for surface errors.
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