Answers
- c. The semicolon in this sentence should be a colon, choice c. Remember that a semicolon separates two independent clauses, so the parts of the sentence on both side of a semicolon must be able to stand alone. The other underlined parts of the sentence are correct as is.
- d. The verb tense that says have been suggests that an action is still going on. Because Roosevelt had been the president before, it would be more appropriate to say that he had been president for two terms already. Even if you weren't sure why the verb tense, choice d, was wrong, perhaps you were able to identify that it sounded strange.
- b. The Philippines, although it ends with –s, is a singular noun. That is because it is one country. Therefore, every verb about the Philippines must be in agreement and also be singular. The word are should be is.
- a. The word overdue means past due, like a library book could be overdue. The word overdo means go too far, which is the meaning the sentence is suggesting. Therefore, choice a is the correct answer. Word usage problems can be tricky. But if you notice that the other underlined sections do not contain an error, you can be sure that choice a must be correct.
- d. The word state is singular. Therefore, every verb about that subject must also be singular. The word produce is plural, so there is an error in subject-verb agreement in the underlined section for choice d.
- a. Two independent clauses cannot be separated by a comma. The underlined comma in this sentence could be replaced by a period or a semicolon. The pronoun its is possessive and refers to the continent, so choice b is correct. The plural verb have refers to the quantities of snow and ice, which are also plural—so choice c is correct as well.
- a. The word quick is intended to describe how the construction workers were working. It is describing a verb. Therefore, the word is an adverb. Most adverbs end in -ly. This is no exception. The word quick should be quickly, which is why choice a is correct.
- b. All of the action in this sentence occurred in the past, and no other action is being described as taking place at another time. Therefore, you do not need the perfect tense of the verb had resigned. You can simply remove the word had to put the verb tense in the simple past tense, which would be correct.
- c. The word by is always a preposition, choice c. It tells about a relationship between words, such as the degree to which the tilt of the tower was reduced. By itself the word by does not describe, or modify, other words, so choices a and b are wrong. It does not describe an action, so choice d is not correct either.
- c. The word wheelchair appears early in the sentence, but the subject can often appear toward the end of a sentence. All of the action in this sentence relates to one person, choice a, who must therefore be the subject of the sentence.
- a. What action did George W. Bush perform? He moved. Therefore, moved is the action. A word that describes an action is a verb.
- b. There are many nouns in this sentence. However, there is only one subject. Don't assume that the subject must appear in the first part of a sentence. Look to see who or what the verbs are referring to. The bungee jumpers were arrested. The bungee jumpers inspired others. It was the bungee jumpers' jump in 1979. The subject is the four bungee jumpers, choice b.
- a. The word they is a replacement for the many residents of Washington, D.C. That means it is a pronoun. The word they is always a pronoun.
- b. The simple predicate is the verb that tells what the subject did. While it is true that Benjamin Franklin invented many things, the sentence does not use the verb invent Therefore, choice a is not correct. The sentence says that Franklin was one of the most creative thinkers. The simple predicate of the sentence is was, choice b.
- c. When a base word ends in an unstressed short vowel sound and a consonant, the consonant must be repeated when a suffix is added. Therefore, the base word deter should become deterred when in the past tense, choice c.
- a. Almost all words that start with a end in –ance rather than -ence. The word acceptence should be spelled acceptance, so choice a is correct.
- c. The word independant should be spelled independent, so choice c is correct.
- d. The word lumpy ends in -y. Therefore, to add a suffix, the y needs to be replaced be an i. The correct spelling of the word that means more lumpy is lumpier, choice d.
- d. Oscar's essay demonstrates correct usage of semicolons, so choice a is not correct. There are no agreement errors in either verb tense or noun-pronouns, so choices b and c are not correct either. Several commas are misused in the essay, so the teacher should spend time reviewing comma usage with the student, choice d.
- b. The word him is a pronoun that stands for something else. However, it is unclear whether the word refers to Oscar or Mr. Thomas in the story. The dog's owner put him to work, so the pronoun must refer to the dog, Oscar, choice b.
- c. Look at the sub-headers of section II. It mentions high school and college. While "Middle School" may seem like it belongs, the header must cover the information about in the section. "High School" and "College" are not covered by "Middle School," so choice a is not correct. The information in choices b and d are details that do not cover all the information in the section. The best possible heading is "Sports during Academics," choice c, because it covers both high school and college.
- b. The header for section III is "Professional Career," so every bit of information in that section should be about the baseball player's professional career. The information in choices a, c, and d happened either before or after his career. Choice b is therefore correct.
- a. Pete's outline covers the life of a professional baseball player from his childhood through his long career and retirement. You need to find the sentence that provides the best summary. Only the statement in answer choice a gives a general enough statement to match all the information in the outline.
- c. Yoshi is telling his readers to use whole wheat or multigrain bread. Then he says that it is much healthier. You need to figure out which word helps connect those thoughts. Try placing each of the words from the answer choices into the sentences. Yoshi suggests using whole wheat or multigrain bread because it is healthier than white bread, choice c.
- d. There are two steps here that Yoshi wants to combine into one step. To connect any two steps, you can use the word and, so choices a and b are not correct. The direction in choice d is much easier to understand than in choice c, so choice d is correct.
- b. Yoshi's essay shows how to make a grilled cheese sandwich. To find the sentence which would fit best at its beginning, you need to choose the sentence that best sums up what the essay is about. The sentence in choice b does that the best.
- d. A persuasive piece of writing tries to convince a reader of something. Nothing in the first three sentences is trying to convince the reader of anything. The fourth sentence, however, is trying to convince the reader that it is very important to hire new police officers. That means choice d is correct.
- a. To find the sentence that is trying to teach a reader how to do something, look for words that seem like they could be taken from an instruction manual. The first sentence, choice a, seems to be trying to teach someone how to make a model volcano, so it is the correct choice.
- c. Plural nouns that are possessive get an apostrophe after the -s. The student should write about the rabbits' home.
- d. At atlas contains maps of geographic areas. Therefore, an atlas, choice d, would be the best source for a student to learn which states share a border with another state.
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From Praxis II: ParaPro Test Prep. Copyright © 2010 by LearningExpress, LLC. All Rights Reserved.
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