Sentences and Paragraphs Errors Practice Test

by

Sentences and Paragraphs Errors Practice Test

DIRECTIONS: Read and answer the following questions. You will be asked to recognize and correct errors so that the sentences or short paragraphs follow the conventions of standard written English. You may write in your test booklet as needed to take notes. You should reread relevant parts of the sentences or paragraphs, while being mindful of time, before marking the best answer for each question.

1. What is the best way to combine the sentences?

(1) Scientists now believe that Jupiter may have as many as seventy-nine moons.
(2) One of Jupiter’s moons is named Io.
(3) Io has the greatest number of active volcanoes in the solar system.

(A) Io, which is one of Jupiter’s moons, has the greatest number of active volcanoes in the solar system, and scientists now believe that Jupiter may have as many as seventy-nine moons.

(B) Scientists now believe that Jupiter may have as many as seventy-nine moons, and one of them is named Io, which has the greatest number of active volcanoes in the solar system.

(C) Scientists now believe that Jupiter may have as many as seventy-nine moons, including one named Io, which has the greatest number of active volcanoes in the solar system.

(D) Io, a moon with the greatest number of active volcanoes in the solar system, is one of Jupiter’s moons, and scientists now believe that Jupiter may have as many as seventy-nine moons.

View Answer
Answer: C CORRECT. The sentence is the best way to combine these sentences because it uses a complex sentence to present ideas clearly and precisely, and it shows the relationship between the ideas in the three sentences. The sentence starts by stating the number of moons scientists now believe Jupiter to have and then specifies that one of those moons is named Io. The dependent clause “which has the greatest number of active volcanoes in the solar system” immediately follows the word “Io” to provide additional information about the moon. A dependent clause contains a subject (“which,” referring to “Io”) and a verb (“has”) but is not a complete sentence on its own.

2. Which revision corrects the error in sentence structure in the paragraph?

In September 2016 the National Museum of African American History and Culture opened as part of the Smithsonian Institution, the museum is already the Smithsonian’s third most popular site. Experts say that they expect this newest Smithsonian facility to welcome nearly 4 million visitors a year. The museum features more than 30,000 objects, including Muhammad Ali’s boxing gloves and a dress sewn by Rosa Parks. A commemorative copy of the Emancipation Proclamation, written in 1863 during the presidency of Abraham Lincoln, is also on display at the museum.
  • (A) Institution, and the
  • (B) year, and the
  • (C) objects, which include
  • (D) Proclamation, which was written
View Answer
Answer: A CORRECT. The first sentence is a run-on sentence because both clauses—“In September 2016 the National Museum of African American History and Culture opened as part of the Smithsonian Institution” and “the museum is already the Smithsonian’s third most popular site”—are independent clauses, and independent clauses should not be combined without the use of a conjunction and a comma. The revision in this option adds the word “and” before the comma, which corrects the run-on.

3. Read this sentence.

The Appalachian Trail is a really long trail that a lot of people do each year.

Which revision of the sentence uses the most precise language?

  • (A) The Appalachian Trail is an extremely long trail that millions of people do each year
  • (B) The Appalachian Trail is a 2,200-mile trail that more than a million people hike each year.
  • (C) The Appalachian Trail is a 2,200-mile trail that two million people hike each year.
  • (D) The Appalachian Trail is a lengthy trail that a couple million people do each year.
View Answer
Answer: C The length of the trail (2,200 miles), the specific number of people who hike the trail each year (two million), and the action of the visitors (hiking) are clear and precise in this revision of the sentence.

4. Which edit should be made to correct this sentence?

In 1962 the agile athletic Wilt Chamberlain became the first and only professional basketball player in the United States to score 100 points in a single game.
  • (A) Insert a comma after agile
  • (B) Insert a comma after first
  • (C) Insert a comma after only
  • (D) Insert a comma after States.
View Answer
Answer: A The sentence in the box needs a comma to separate the coordinate adjectives. Coordinate adjectives describe characteristics of the same noun or subject and are connected with a comma or “and.” This option is the only one that places a comma where it is needed, between the coordinate adjectives “agile” and “athletic.”

5. Which pair of revisions need to be made in this paragraph?

1) When coal was used to heat homes, it frequently left soot stains on the walls. (2) Brothers Cleo and Noah McVicker, who owned a cleaning product company created a doughy substance to help people remove this soot. (3) Over time, as natural gas becomes more common, people had little need for soot cleansers, and the McVickers’ family company struggled to stay in business. (4) Then one day Joe McVicker, Cleo’s son, learned that his sister-in-law had been using the substance for art projects in her classroom, so he remarketed the product as the toy known today as Play-Doh.

 

(A) Sentence 1: Delete the comma after homes.
Sentence 3: Change becomes to became.

(B) Sentence 1: Delete the comma after homes.
Sentence 4: Change remarketed to had remarketed.

(C) Sentence 2: Insert a comma after company.
Sentence 3: Change becomes to became

(D) Sentence 2: Insert a comma after company.
Sentence 4: Change remarketed to had remarketed.

View Answer
Answer: C This option is the only choice that revises the errors in both sentence 2 and sentence 3. In sentence 2, a comma needs to follow the word “company” to set off the phrase “who owned a cleaning product company.” A comma is necessary because the phrase is a nonrestrictive clause: the phrase provides extra information about Cleo and Noah McVicker’s line of work, but the phrase is not necessary in order to understand the meaning of the sentence. The second error is in sentence 3, which incorrectly shifts the verb into the present tense. The clause “as natural gas becomes more common” should be “as natural gas became more common.”

6. Read this sentence.

The Colosseum in Rome, Italy which is considered one of the “new” Seven Wonders of the World, is the largest amphitheater ever built and could hold more than 50,000 spectators

Which edit should be made to correct the sentence?

  • (A) Delete the comma after Rome
  • (B) Insert a comma after Italy.
  • (C) Delete the comma after World
  • (D) Insert a comma after built.
View Answer
Answer: B The question asks for the correction needed for an error in the sentence. The sentence needs a comma to set off the clause “which is considered one of the ‘new’ Seven Wonders of the World,” because the clause is not essential to the meaning of the sentence (nonrestrictive clause). Option B is correct because it places a comma where it is needed, after “Italy,” to set off the nonrestrictive clause that follows. Option A is incorrect because when a name has more than one element, a comma is used to separate the elements for clarity. Option C is incorrect because it would remove the comma at the end of the nonrestrictive clause, which should be set off by commas at the beginning and the end. Option D is incorrect because a comma after “built” would separate the phrase “could hold more than 50,000 spectators,” which is a dependent clause that uses the subject from the main clause and so needs to stay connected to the rest of the sentence.”

7. Read this sentence.

To promote their club, a bake sale will be sponsored by members of the debate team on Wednesday.

How should the sentence be revised?

(A) To promote their club, on Wednesday a bake sale will be sponsored by members of the debate team.

(B) On Wednesday to promote their club, a bake sale will be sponsored by members of the debate team.

(C) To promote their club, members of the debate team will sponsor a bake sale on Wednesday.

(D) Members of the debate team, on Wednesday to promote their club, will sponsor a bake sale.

View Answer
Answer: C The question asks for the correct revision of the sentence in the box. The sentence is incorrect because, as written, the phrase “to promote their club” refers to the closest noun to the phrase, which is “a bake sale,” and that does not match logically. Option C is correct because the revision has the phrase “to promote their club” clearly modifying “members of the debate team” and adds the idea that the bake sale is on Wednesday to the end of the sentence. Option A and Option B are incorrect because the revisions do not fix the error that “to promote their club” modifies “a bake sale.” Option D is incorrect; while the revision clarifies that “to promote their club” relates to the “members of the debate team,” the rest of the sentence is poorly written because the insertion of “on Wednesday to promote their club” in the middle of the sentence interrupts the main clause, “Members of the debate team will sponsor a bake sale.”

8. Read this paragraph.

(1) Devon spent several hours preparing for an upcoming audition for a play at the community theater. (2) First he did vocal exercises to practice his diction and projection so that his words would carry clearly throughout the large auditorium. (3) Then he studies the text of the monologue to better understand the emotions, and motivations of the character he plans to portray. (4) Finally he recited his monologue in front of a mirror many times, making slight adjustments and improvements to his performance each time.

How should the paragraph be revised?

(A) Sentence 1: Change spent to had spent, AND insert a comma after play.

(B) Sentence 2: Change did to does, AND insert a comma after projection.

(C) Sentence 3: Change studies to studied, AND delete the comma after emotions

(D) Sentence 4: Change recited to recites, AND delete the comma after times.

View Answer
Answer: C The question asks for the necessary revisions to the paragraph. Option G is correct because the errors appear in sentence 3 of the paragraph. The word “studies” is in the present tense, but it should be changed to “studied” to match the past tense established in the paragraph (“spent,” “recited”). Additionally, the comma after the word “emotions” needs to be removed because the words “emotions and motivations” are part of a group (series) of two elements, and when there are only two elements in a series, a comma is not used. Option E is incorrect because sentence 1 does not need to be revised. The word “spent” is correct in the past tense, and there is no need to insert a comma after the word “play.” Option F is incorrect because sentence 2 does not need to be revised. The word “did” is correct as written in the past tense, and there is no comma needed after the word “projection” because “so” is not functioning as a conjunction but rather as part of the conjunction phrase “so that,” which does not take a comma. Option H is incorrect because sentence 4 does not need to be revised. The word “recited” is correct as written in the past tense, and the comma after “times” is needed in order to separate the modifying phrase “making slight adjustments and improvements to his performance each time” from the main clause.”

9.  Which revision corrects the error in sentence structure in the paragraph?

The land on Earth has not always been separated into the seven continents, at one time a massive supercontinent, known as Pangaea, covered one-third of Earth’s surface. Additionally, the supercontinent was surrounded by ocean waters called Panthalassa, much of which were in Earth’s Southern Hemisphere. Geologists believe that the supercontinent split apart over millions of years because of the movement of the tectonic plates that form Earth’s crust. In fact, experts predict that over the next 250 million years the movement of the plates will cause the seven continents to merge into a supercontinent again.
  • (A) continents. At
  • (B) surface; additionally,
  • (C) Panthalassa. Much
  • (D) crust, in fact,
View Answer
Answer: A. CORRECT.The first sentence of the paragraph is a run-on because both clauses—”The land on Earth has not always been separated into the seven continents” and “at one time a massive supercontinent, known as Pangaea, covered one-third of Earth’s surface”—are independent clauses. Independent clauses are complete sentences, and two complete sentences should not be combined with just a comma. The revision is correct because it separates the two sentences by placing a period where it is needed after “continents” and by capitalizing the word “At.”

10. Read this sentence.

The Appalachian Trail is a really long trail that a lot of people do each year.

Which revision of the sentence uses the most precise language?

  • (A) The Appalachian Trail is an extremely long trail that millions of people do each year.
  • (B) The Appalachian Trail is a 2,200-mile trail that more than a million people hike each year.
  • (C) The Appalachian Trail is a 2,200-mile trail that two million people hike each year.
  • (D) The Appalachian Trail is a lengthy trail that a couple million people do each year.
View Answer
Answer: C The length of the trail (2,200 miles), the specific number of people who hike the trail each year (two million), and the action of the visitors (hiking) are clear and precise in this revision of the sentence.”