Compass Writing Skills Practice Test 3
Determine whether the underlined portion of the sentence below is correct or whether it needs to be revised. J̲e̲w̲e̲l̲r̲y̲ ̲i̲s̲ ̲a̲n̲ ̲a̲c̲c̲e̲s̲s̲o̲r̲y̲ ̲u̲s̲e̲d̲ ̲b̲y̲ ̲m̲e̲m̲b̲e̲r̲s̲ ̲o̲f̲ ̲a̲l̲l̲ ̲c̲l̲a̲s̲s̲e̲s̲ ̲i̲n̲c̲l̲u̲d̲i̲n̲g̲ ̲w̲a̲t̲c̲h̲e̲s̲, ̲n̲e̲c̲k̲l̲a̲c̲e̲s̲ ̲a̲n̲d̲ ̲e̲a̲r̲r̲i̲n̲g̲s̲.
The problem with this sentence is the misplacement of the clause that describes jewelry. By placing “...including watches, necklaces, and earrings.” after “classes” the reader gets the impression that the classes involves different types of jewelry. By moving the clause, choice B and choice C improve the sentence. However, choice C commits the error of using a plural form of “to be” (i.e. are) to refer to a collective noun like jewelry that demands a singular verb (i.e. is). Only choice B places the clause correctly after “jewelry” and ensures that the verb agrees with the subject.
Determine whether the underlined portion of the sentence below is correct or whether it needs to be revised. There are many reasons to see I Heart H̲u̲c̲k̲a̲b̲e̲e̲s̲, ̲J̲a̲s̲o̲n̲ ̲S̲c̲h̲w̲a̲r̲t̲z̲m̲a̲n̲'s̲ ̲p̲e̲r̲f̲o̲r̲m̲a̲n̲c̲e̲ ̲b̲e̲i̲n̲g̲ ̲o̲n̲e̲ ̲r̲e̲a̲s̲o̲n̲.
The correct answer is E (A has “being” and is redundant to boot. B and D are run-ons. C is semicolon misuse: the semicolon is not followed by an independent clause.)
Determine whether the underlined portion of the sentence below is correct or whether it needs to be revised. Fraternities a̲r̲e̲ ̲a̲ ̲g̲r̲e̲a̲t̲ ̲w̲a̲y̲ ̲t̲o̲ ̲m̲a̲k̲e̲ ̲f̲r̲i̲e̲n̲d̲s̲ ̲a̲n̲d̲ learn important lessons of loyalty and compassion.
The original sentence is correct as written. There is no need to change the verb form or tense. Choice A is correct.
Determine whether the underlined portion of the sentence below is correct or whether it needs to be revised. Lindsey knows that the reason people dislike her i̲s̲ ̲b̲e̲c̲a̲u̲s̲e̲ ̲o̲f̲ ̲h̲e̲r̲ ̲b̲e̲i̲n̲g̲ ̲a̲ Philadelphia Phillies fan.
The correct answer is C (A, D, and E all use “being” incorrectly. B is redundant and therefore not concise: you don’t need to say “the reason” and “because,” one or the other will do.)
Determine whether the underlined portion of the sentence below is correct or whether it needs to be revised. A̲ ̲s̲h̲o̲c̲k̲i̲n̲g̲l̲y̲ ̲i̲n̲d̲e̲l̲i̲b̲l̲e̲ ̲m̲o̲m̲e̲n̲t̲ I remember exactly where I was and what I was doing when I found out that Kurt Cobain had died.
The correct answer is C (A, B, D, and E all have dangling modifier errors, because they aren’t describing what comes after the comma. Indelible means not able to be erased; you wouldn’t say that about a person in this context.)
Determine whether the underlined portion of the sentence below is correct or whether it needs to be revised. A̲ ̲s̲h̲o̲c̲k̲i̲n̲g̲l̲y̲ ̲i̲n̲d̲e̲l̲i̲b̲l̲e̲ ̲m̲o̲m̲e̲n̲t̲ I remember exactly where I was and what I was doing when I found out that Kurt Cobain had died.
The correct answer is C (A, B, D, and E all have dangling modifier errors, because they aren’t describing what comes after the comma. Indelible means not able to be erased; you wouldn’t say that about a person in this context.)
Determine whether the underlined portion of the sentence below is correct or whether it needs to be revised. Since the work force is becoming increasingly competitive in light of technological advances and outsourcing, t̲h̲e̲r̲e̲f̲o̲r̲e̲, ̲i̲t̲ ̲i̲s̲ ̲e̲v̲e̲n̲ ̲m̲o̲r̲e̲ ̲b̲a̲s̲i̲c̲ ̲f̲o̲r̲ ̲s̲t̲u̲d̲e̲n̲t̲s̲ ̲t̲o̲ ̲c̲o̲m̲p̲l̲e̲t̲e̲ ̲h̲i̲g̲h̲ ̲s̲c̲h̲o̲o̲l̲ ̲a̲n̲d̲ ̲a̲t̲t̲a̲i̲n̲ ̲a̲t̲ ̲l̲e̲a̲s̲t̲ ̲a̲ ̲b̲a̲c̲h̲e̲l̲o̲r̲’s̲ ̲d̲e̲g̲r̲e̲e̲.
This sentence is a run-on sentence and can be fixed with the deletion of one word: “therefore.” By beginning with a conjunction such as “Since” the sentence already has a descriptive clause in motion and just needs to be followed by a succinct (brief) statement of what the background of the first clause was describing. All of the choices except choice E use this erroneous second conjunction (i.e. therefore, moreover, but, so), so they must be eliminated. Choice E is grammatically sound.
Determine whether the underlined portion of the sentence below is correct or whether it needs to be revised. Study the ancient fighting art of Hapkido and you will learn to avoid directly matching y̲o̲u̲r̲ ̲s̲t̲r̲e̲n̲g̲t̲h̲ ̲a̲g̲a̲i̲n̲s̲t̲ ̲y̲o̲u̲r̲ ̲o̲p̲p̲o̲n̲e̲n̲t̲'s̲.
The correct answer is A (B doesn’t say what’s being matched with what. C, D, and E all have some sort of parallelism error.)
Determine whether the underlined portion of the sentence below is correct or whether it needs to be revised. Plenty of high school students s̲p̲e̲n̲d̲ ̲t̲h̲e̲i̲r̲ ̲t̲i̲m̲e̲ ̲i̲n̲v̲o̲l̲v̲e̲d̲ ̲i̲n̲ ̲t̲h̲e̲ ̲c̲o̲m̲m̲u̲n̲i̲t̲y̲ ̲b̲y̲ ̲w̲o̲r̲k̲i̲n̲g̲ ̲w̲i̲t̲h̲ ̲p̲e̲e̲r̲s̲, ̲y̲o̲u̲n̲g̲ ̲c̲h̲i̲l̲d̲r̲e̲n̲ ̲a̲n̲d̲ ̲a̲l̲s̲o̲ ̲h̲e̲l̲p̲i̲n̲g̲ ̲s̲e̲n̲i̲o̲r̲ ̲c̲i̲t̲i̲z̲e̲n̲s̲.
By breaking the parallelism (continuity of a pattern, in this case), the underlined portion of this sentence must be changed. By simply changing “also helping senior citizens” to “senior citizens” the list is clearly discussing people in the community from various age groups. Each other choice besides D uses incorrect pronouns (i.e. his) and/or parallel structure (i.e. also helping senior citizens).
Determine whether the underlined portion of the sentence below is correct or whether it needs to be revised. M̲c̲C̲a̲r̲t̲h̲y̲i̲s̲m̲ ̲w̲a̲s̲ ̲a̲n̲ ̲i̲d̲e̲o̲l̲o̲g̲y̲ ̲a̲n̲d̲ ̲a̲n̲ ̲a̲p̲p̲l̲i̲e̲d̲ ̲p̲u̲r̲s̲u̲i̲t̲ ̲t̲h̲a̲t̲ ̲a̲r̲o̲s̲e̲ ̲i̲n̲ ̲t̲h̲e̲ ̲m̲i̲d̲d̲l̲e̲ ̲o̲f̲ ̲t̲h̲e̲ ̲t̲w̲e̲n̲t̲i̲e̲t̲h̲ ̲c̲e̲n̲t̲u̲r̲y̲ ̲a̲n̲d̲ ̲t̲a̲r̲g̲e̲t̲e̲d̲ ̲c̲o̲m̲m̲u̲n̲i̲s̲t̲s̲ ̲i̲n̲ ̲t̲h̲e̲ ̲U̲n̲i̲t̲e̲d̲ ̲S̲t̲a̲t̲e̲s̲ ̲s̲t̲a̲t̲e̲ ̲d̲e̲p̲a̲r̲t̲m̲e̲n̲t̲.
The original choice is wrong strictly for the lack of capitalization of “State Department.” Choice B complicates problems more than A by deleting certain words that turn the sentence into a run-on sentence. Choice C fails to capitalize “State Department” (it needs to be capitalized because it is a proper noun—the United States State Department, not just “a state department”). Although choice D corrects the capitalization error, it changes “was” to “will be,” which is an illogical verb tense (i.e. future) because later in the sentence it is stated that the ideology arose “in the middle of the twentieth century,” which has already passed. Choice E corrects the capitalization error and leaves the sentence as it is. Sometimes just minor changes are needed!