1. Unless directed otherwise by an instructor, the best approach to writing a response paper is to
A. critique the author’s writing style.
B. begin by reading responses other people have written.
C. focus on a key idea or a question raised by the essay to which you’re responding.
D. prepare by reading related essays.
2. In analyzing a piece of writing, take care to notice whether the author includes _______, ideas or principles expressed as fact without providing evidence to support it
A. omissions
B. denotations
C. quotations
D. assumptions
3. Reading the title, evaluating the author, and determining prior knowledge about the topic are
characteristics of what kind of reading?
A. Passive
B. Active
C. Achievement
D. Highlighted
4. Which of the following statements correctly identifies the difference between fact and opinion?
A. Facts can be verified while opinions can’t be proven true or false.
B. Facts put forward a particular position or agenda while opinion express feelings and beliefs.
C. Opinions rely on the associations and meanings of words, while facts depend on words’ connotations.
D. Facts make comparisons to create striking impressions, while opinions can’t be established definitely as true or false.
5. Which of the following sentences demonstrates the correct use of subject-verb agreement when an indefinite pronoun is the subject?
A. Each of the boys were looking for the library.
B. Everybody was shouting at the meeting.
C. Nobody were listening to the speaker.
D. Neither of us have checked our voicemail messages.
6. The term _______ refers to a construction in which two or more independent causes are joined by a comma but lack a coordinating conjunction.
A. complementary sentence
B. comma splice
C. prepositional clause
D. sentence fragment
7. Which statement about reading is true?
A. Print sources can be trusted.
B. You have to sort through material and evaluate what you need to know.
C. You can learn by reading a text once.
D. You ought to read all types of material the same way.
8. The main point of an article or essay is often referred to as a
A. topic sentence.
B. thesis statement.
C. summation.
D. annotation.
9. In the sentence, “Our new assistant is very efficient; however, she is often late getting to the office,” the word however is a/an
A. indirect object.
B. adjective.
C. preposition.
D. conjunctive adverb.
10. One way to correct a sentence fragment that begins with a subordinating word is to
A. add a helping verb.
B. insert a relative pronoun into the fragment.
C. join the fragment to another sentence.
D. revise the fragment to begin with an infinitive verb.
11. The _______ form of a verb should be used to distinguish between actions completed in the immediate past and actions completed before a specific time.
A. infinitive
B. simple past
C. irregular
D. past perfect
12. After reading an essay or other assigned material, you can enhance and clarify your understanding by creating a graphic organizer that tracks
A. your annotations.
B. unfamiliar words and phrases.
C. everything you’ve highlighted.
D. the key elements of the material.
13. A claim based on merely one or two specific examples but applied widely as an overall statement about a situation, topic, group, or even a single individual is commonly referred to as a/an
A. euphemism.
B. generalization.
C. omission.
D. overstatement.
14. What is the function of the body of an essay?
A. To support and explain the thesis
B. To narrow the topic
C. To capture the reader’s attention
D. To generate fresh ideas
15. Which of the following transitional expressions indicates a result or cause?
A. Therefore
B. Actually
C. All in all
D. However
16. Latisha is writing an essay on the subject of increasing the minimum wage, and wants to ensure that her essay will engage or entice readers. Which method of organization will most likely support her aim?
A. Spatial
B. Least-to-most
C. Chronological
D. Most-to-least
17. What type of information do you need to support your thesis statement?
A. Reports
B. Scientific research
C. Theory
D. Evidence
18. In a well-structured essay, each topic sentence should help to explain or support
A. the topic sentence of the next paragraph.
B. the concluding sentence of the previous paragraph.
C. the thesis.
D. the title.
19. The introduction to an essay should not only engage the reader’s attention, but also
A. present a call to action.
B. present your thesis statement and your approach.
C. state your conclusions about the topic.
D. defend your approach to the topic.
20. When a paragraph begins with a transition, the topic sentence is usually placed
A. immediately before the transitional sentence or sentences.
B. immediately after the example or evidence indicated by the transitional sentence.
C. at the end of the paragraph.
D. immediately after the transitional sentence or sentences.
21. Elliot has created a paragraph-by-paragraph outline that consists of a few key words or phrases this type of outline is known as a _______ outline.
A. graphical
B. scratch
C. simple
D. key word
22. As a strategy for narrowing the topic for an essay on animal medicine, Felecia imagines interviewing a veterinarian. Which method of generating ideas is she using?
A. Questioning
B. Visualizing
C. Brainstorming
D. Freewriting
23. When creating a formal outline, all items at the same level need to
A. support the topic or subtopic under which it is placed.
B. relate to the preceding topic or subtopic.
C. relate to the following topic or subtopic.
D. express a new thought or idea.
24. In evaluating a thesis statement, it’s important to bear in mind that it should
A. focus on at least two or three points.
B. be general rather than specific.
C. serve as an announcement regarding what the essay is about.
D. make an assertion.
25. Tressa likes to generate ideas and relationships about a topic by writing a central idea in the middle of a piece of paper and then surrounding it with related ideas connected to each other and the main idea with a series of lines or arrows. This approach is best described as
A. brainstorming.
B. freewriting.
C. mapping.
D. prewriting.
26. Please read the following paragraph. The sentences are numbered to help you respond to the question that follows.
(1) I never set out to become a Buddhist. (2) It happened by accident one afternoon when I stumbled into a lecture given by a Tibetan lama. (3) In fact, according to a Pew Research Study conducted a few years ago there are close to 500 million Buddhists worldwide. (4) The lama spoke so gently and thoughtfully about the need for compassion, especially in this day and age when violence is exploding everywhere, politics creates more problems than solutions, and more people seem to be interested in “selfies” than selflessness.
(5) I had always wanted to go to Tibet, though. (6) The lama spoke about his own experiences during the
invasion of his homeland, and how the sense of deep compassion he’d developed during his years of monastic training helped him to avoid feeling hatred toward the invaders.
Which of the sentences detracts from the unity of the paragraph?
A. 3 and 5
B. 3
C. 5
D. 5 and 6
27. As Felipe narrows his topic using the _______ method, he discovers that the topics change from words and phrases to statements of ideas.
A. questioning
B. analyzing
D. drafting
28. Using _______ to support your thesis enhances your credibility and demonstrates to readers that you’ve taken the time to investigate and become knowledgeable about the topic.
A. various assertions
B. examples drawn from personal experience
C. opinions offered by experts in the topic
D. a variety of evidence
29. As she thinks about an essay she is about to write on the effects of Super PACs on elections, L’Shaun will need to consider which of the following about her audience?
A. The length of time readers will commit to reading an essay
B. Their attitudes, beliefs, opinions, and biases
C. The medium through which the audience will read her essay
D. The genre expected by the audience
30. How many independent clauses are included in a simple sentence?
A. None
B. Three
C. One
D. Two
31. In the following sentence, which word is used as a coordinating conjunction?
Lisa and Mary were home on time, but Kim, Francine, and Penny weren’t going to make it.
A. and
B. on
C. were
D. but
32. Balancing a sentence through using words or phrases that have the same grammatical structure is known as
A. compound sentencing.
B. correlation.
C. subject-verb agreement.
D. parallelism
33. Which of the following is not a type of sentence?
A. Simple-compound
B. Complex
C. Compound-complex
D. Simple
34. A passive verb is
A. constructed from a form of the verb to be combined with a past participle.
B. the same as an intransitive verb.
C. always formed in the future tense
D. always formed in the past tense.
35. Which of the following sentences shows an example of parallel verbs?
A. Once the game was over, Jim had to run home and eat dinner.
B. Once the game was over, Jim had to be running home and eat dinner.
C. Once the game was over, Jim had to run home in order to eat his dinner.
D. Once the game was over, Jim had to run home and dinner was ready.
36. While the term _____________ refers to the specific dictionary definition of a word, ___________ refers to its implied or suggested meaning.
A. denotation, connotation
B. classification, implication
C. signification, inference
D. connotation, denotation
37. To evaluate your essay’s unity, it’s a good idea to examine its
A. organization.
B. background details.
C. thesis.
D. evidence.
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