1. Which of the following figures of speech uses words such as...

1. Which of the following figures of speech uses words such as like or as to make a direct comparison between to dissimilar things? 

   

  A. Cliché

  B. Metaphor

  C. Simile

  D. Personification

2. Both Ada and Phil are evaluating their thesis statements, topic sentences, and evidence. If Ada finds that her essay doesn't have a thesis statement identifying the topic of the essay, she will reread the essay to determine the main point of the essay. If Phil finds that his essay lacks evidence to support his thesis statement, he will do additional research to find substantial evidence. Who is correctly evaluating and revising his or her essay? 

   

  A. Neither Ada nor Phil

  B. Only Ada

  C. Only Phil

  D. Both Ada and Phil

 

3. While the term _____________ refers to the specific dictionary definition of a word, ___________ refers to its implied or suggested meaning. 

   

  A. connotation, denotation

  B. denotation, connotation

  C. classification, implication

  D. signification, inference

4. Which of the following sentences demonstrates a subject-verb-modifier pattern? 

   

  A. Shelly served dinner after spending hours preparing the meal.

  B. Shelly, after spending hours preparing the meal, served dinner.

  C. Because she'd spent hours preparing the meal, Shelly, a stickler for following recipes, finally served dinner.

  D. After spending hours preparing the meal, Shelly served dinner.

 5. Choose the sentence that correctly uses parallelism. 

   

  A. It was both a very long lecture and very boring.

  B. The world will little note, nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here.

  C. Phillip and his friends found the concert offensive, and they also thought it was embarrassing.

  D. In her English Composition class, Emma learned to read essays critically and she appreciated academic writing.

6. Compound sentences are made up of _______ independent clause(s) and no dependent clauses. 

   

  A. two or more

  B. no more than one

  C. no

  D. at least three

 

7. What is the sequence of components in the following sentence?

Listless and depressed by vistas of snow and gray skies, Dieter left the cabin and walked toward the frozen pond.

   

  A. Modifier, subject, verb

  B. Modifier, subject, modifier, verb

  C. Subject, modifier, verb

  D. Subject, verb, modifier

8. Which statement about sentence lengths in a written piece is true? 

   

  A. Short sentences tend to move ideas quickly.

  B. Varying sentence type has no appreciable effect on relative sentence length.

  C. Regardless of the sentence type, the audience tends to read at its own pace.

  D. In spite of their name, compound-complex sentences are usually shorter than compound or complex sentences.

 

9. Which of the following sentences uses a metaphor? 

   

  A. Whenever she's hungry, my cat howls like a banshee.

  B. Rafael looked as startled as a deer in headlights.

  C. My boss is a tornado.

  D. My old car gulps gasoline.

 10. Which of the following sentences uses parallelism effectively? 

   

  A. The large plant-eating dinosaurs were quite slow, rather stupid, and extremely hungry.

  B. Laura spent all her time gardening and arranging flowers, when she wasn't in a shoe store to shop.

  C. The Red Sox fans screamed, yelled, and were applauding wildly.

  D. The report was good because it was factual and offered many details.

11. How many independent clauses are included in a simple sentence? 

   

  A. One

  B. Three

  C. Two

  D. None

12. Which of the following is the correct form of punctuation to use when using a conjunctive adverb to create a compound sentence? 

   

  A. Comma

  B. Semicolon

  C. Dash

  D. Colon

13. In which sentence does the italicized word have a negative connotation? 

   

  A. Jack, who is the most outspoken member of the group, led the opposition to the new rule.

  B. Although she had worked hard in high school, Ruth found the college courses challenging.

  C. Matthew was a scrawny kid, but he grew up strong.

  D. Jenna's green eyes and dark eyelashes gave her an exotic look.

14. Pablo insists that a conclusion should reinforce the thesis statement. Patrice says that the conclusion should follow logically from the introduction. Who is correct? 

   

  A. Neither Pablo nor Pam is correct.

  B. Only Pam is correct.

  C. Only Pablo is correct.

  D. Both Pablo and Patrice are correct.

15. 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

16. Which of the following is an evaluation tool using questions and answers that lead to effective essay revision strategies? 

   

  A. Flowchart

  B. Graphic organizer

  C. Thesis

  D. Outline

17. Which of the following is a compound sentence? 

   

  A. Because Viceroy Butterflies migrate over very great distances, tracking them is a challenge to entomologists.

  B. Butterflies and hummingbirds feed on the nectar of flowering plants.

  C. Because fraud is so common in some corporations, regulatory agencies are overworked.

  D. Corporate fraud is becoming more common in the United States, and the civil courts are being stretched to their limits.

18. Mindful of the importance of varying sentence length in a paragraph or essay, Spiro sometimes chooses to use _______ sentences to demonstrate relationships between equally important ideas. 

   

  A. compound-complex

  B. compound

  C. simple-compound

  D. complex

19. While reviewing an essay, what should be your main purpose in applying questions of who, what, when, where, and why? 

   

  A. To clarify your topic sentences

  B. To compare your thesis statement with your conclusion

  C. To be sure your evidence provides sufficient detail

  D. To organize your evidence

20. Eliminating unnecessary adverbs such as very, really, or extremely can help make a sentence more 

   

  A. concise.

  B. compound.

  C. figurative.

  D. simple.