Example of Exam #2

I. Agreement:

Instructions: Choose the answer that correctly identifies the proper use of agreement.

1. Each of the four men a) was b) were shot once in the upper body–three in the head, one in the neck.

2. Neither the Gores nor the Clintons a) has b) have ever revealed what was really going on.

3. The Democrat Party, forever talking about a) its b) their desire to put a woman on the ticket, is not very proficient at putting women in positions from which they can easily make that jump.

4. His administration's accomplishments in his first term, as well as an ambitious vision of where he wanted to take the country, a) comprise b) comprises the bulk of the speech he will give.

5. The prosecutor said there a) is b) are ample case law, supported by a recent U.S. Supreme Court decision, that youths under 7 years old cannot be prosecuted on felony charges.

6. As critical questions for radical social and political theory move to the forefront of debate, so a) do b) does the understanding the intersection of race, class and gender.

7. The spirit of campaign financing laws a) seem b) seems stretched beyond past the point of recognition.

8. The Center for Presidential Studies at Texas A&M University, in an even-handed and rather succinct analysis, offered a) their b) its observations on the current controversy.

9. Two senior members of the Congressional Black Caucus a) has b) have introduced a bill to require the Attorney General to undertake a two-year study of traffic stops in which race is a factor.

10. A number of state polls, including California and Maryland, a) shows b) show Bradley far behind Gore.

11. None of the state's grazing lands a) has b) have been fenced.

12. The number of people who commit violent crimes a) appear b) appears to be dwindling.

13. Half of the crimes in this category a) lands b) land in a district attorney's office for a plea bargain.

14. Jeff Thompson is one of those suppliers who a) elude b) eludes the Drug Enforcement Administration.

15. Among the southern states holding primaries last month a) was b) were Bush's home state of Texas.

II. CASE: Instructions:

Select the choice that correctly completes each sentence.

16. Assistant Army Secretary Joseph Westphal, the agency's civilian overseer, and Lt. Gen. Joe Ballard, a) it's b) its top military officer, argued that their organization should take on more work.

17. It was the Puritans a) who b) whom originally set up publicly financed and controlled schools.

18. Shortly afterward, Gov. Bruce Babbitt announced that it was a) he b) him whom the public wanted.

19. A Navy captain a) who b) whom had never lived in Arizona wanted to move there and run for Congress.

20. Magic said, "I told him, ‘You know a) we b) us people working with kids need you in the business world. I don't want kids to think of you only as the greatest basketball player ever.’"

21. Magic is outfitting people a) who b) whom couldn't otherwise afford them with computers and technology.

22. Mary Ellen Doyle is a painter a) who's b) whose use of light and space is influenced by Paul Cezanne.

23. Shenker's paintings are packed with figures and faces of the men, women and children a) who b) whom perished during Stalinism, the Second World War and the Holocaust.

24. Kathie Lee Gifford is an irrepressible spirit a) who b) whom is always seeking out fresh challenges.

25. Authors say the three a) study’s b) studys' c) studies' findings indicate a larger problem exists.

26. "People are engaged in a campaign," she said a) "Their b) "They're not engaged in tossing in the towel."

27. Bradley aides said a) him b) his dropping out now would be more damaging than going forward.

28. Many were sympathetic to delegates, whom they recognized for being as dedicated as a) them b) they.

29. Marcia Aronoff, a) whom b) who Bradley picked as his chief of staff,was frustrated with the media.

30. McCain hopes a) whoever b) whomever comes to town will stop and talk to him.

III. Sentence Construction Errors

Instructions: Study the following sentences to determine whether they contain a grammatical error. If you think a sentence has an error, select from the choice of errors offered. If you think the sentence is correct as written, select answer d, no error.

31. To a seasoned political consultant such as Smith, who happened to know Arizona, this made little sense.

1. change "who" to "whom"
2. eliminate comma after "Smith" and "Arizona"
3. both a) and b)
4. no error
   
   

32. McCain met Cohen, who had just arrived in the Senate in 1979, on an official trip and he persuaded the young Republican senator to request a seat on the Armed Services Committee.

1. eliminate comma after "Cohen" and "1979"
2. insert a comma before "and"
3. both a) and b)
4. no error

33. A few years later, Tully would be driven from his job in disgrace after it was revealed that he had fabricated his military record.

1. Rewrite sentence to eliminate passive voice
2. Insert comma after "disgrace"
3. both a) and b)
4. no error

34. A story of one candidate's deceit convinced the state's best-read political columnist to expose him as a fraud.

1. "best-read" should be replaced by "best read"
2. change candidate's to candidates'
3. "convinced" should be replaced with "persuaded"
4. no error

35. That year, 1984, the politically-active women at the Democratic National Convention in San Francisco were euphoric.

1. "politically-active" should be replaced by "politically active"
2. put a comma after "women"
3. eliminate commas around "1984"
4. no error

36. The Democrats carried only one state–Mondale's home state of Minnesota–and even in Ferraro's normally Democratic New York, voters failed to rally to the cause.

1. Move "only" to before "carried"
2. remove comma after New York
3. replace dash after "state" with a colon and the dash after "Minnesota" with a comma
4. no error

37. After suffering unspeakable horrors, the paintings show that human beings are resilient creatures, capable of embracing life.

1. rewrite sentence to eliminate passive voice
2. because of a dangling modifier, the independent clause must be rewritten
3. both a) and b)
4. no error

38 The art critic's comments implied that Meyers's paintings on Mylar look like three-dimensional versions of an Agnes Martin grid, glowing with low-level radioactivity.

1. "three-dimensional" should be replaced with "three dimensional"
2. replace "implied" with "inferred"
3. Meyers’s should be Meyers’
4. no error

39. Bradley will address the nation in a four-minute, 20-second ad to be aired nationally at 10:54 p.m. Thursday on CBS after "48 Hours."

1. replace "four-minute" with "four minute"
2. replace "20-second" with "20 second"
3. insert comma after "CBS"
4. no error

40. In some ways, the critics gave her an identity: The Embattled Kathie Lee.

1. remove comma after "ways"
2. replace the colon with a comma
3. both a) and b)
4. no error

41. The anti-spending Taxpayers for Common Sense presented their 1998 report, which criticizes over $6 billion worth of river navigation work, port-deepening initiatives, flood control structures and beach-building efforts.

1. "their" should be replaced with "its"
2. "over" should be replaced with "more than"
3. both a) and b)
4. no error)

42. In recent weeks, the Army Corps of Engineers has been under investigation by federal regulators for allegedly rigging a study that supported a billion-dollar expansion of barge locks on the upper Mississippi river.

1. insert comma after "upper"
2. replace "study that" with "study, which"
3. rewrite sentence to eliminate passive voice
4. no error

43. If you know someone who wants to apply for that nursing job, she should call for an application.

1. "who" should be replaced with "whom"
2. "she" should be replaced with "he or she"
3. both a) and b)
4. no error

44. In 1996, Clinton was justifiably criticized for failing to push fast-track negotiating authority for trade agreements since he didn't want to alienate organized labor in an election year.

1. "fast-track" should be "fast track"
2. "since" should be replaced with "because"
3. put a comma before "since"
4. no error

45. Speaking this morning at an adult health care center in Huntington Park, a largely Mexican American community outside Los Angeles, Bradley took less shots at Gore.

1. remove commas after "Park" and "Angeles"
2. eliminate the reference to race
3. "less" should be replaced with "fewer"
4. no error

IV. Punctuation :

Instructions: Select the incorrectly punctuated sentence or d) if all are correct..

46.

1. They pointed to Gore's promise of a law against racial profiling, his support for affirmative action, and his work toward universal health coverage, which Gore did not mention until Bradley made it an issue.
2. "On a number of positions, the vice president has moved much closer to Bill, which we regard as a good thing for the Democratic Party," said Rick Wright.
3. To recast itself in a more eco-sensitive light, the Army Corps of Engineers, a 200-year-old federal agency best known for building massive locks, dams and levees along America's rivers, has made changes.
4. all are correct

47.

1. So far, environmental groups have used legal maneuvers to keep the bulldozers at bay.
2. Bruce, I've been spending eight to 10 months a year with suitcase in hand; so I know there is support for preservation out there.
3. Babbitt sees the end of this millennium as an opportunity to conserve America's dwindling open spaces, which are increasingly being overrun by urban sprawl, unchecked road building, and logging.
4. all are correct

48.

1. Today, he rails against the establishment, but 18 years ago, McCain presented himself as a knowledgeable Washington insider and frenetically worked to become the establishment candidate.
2. "I know how Washington works," he stated, "I am no stranger to the ways of Washington."
3. Like most returning POWs, he was revered as a war hero, was in demand to speak and was pursued by the GOP to run for office.
4. all are correct

49.

1. Now Congress has to decide whether it wants to continue to be part of the problem, or part of the solution.
2. At last week's hearing, Sen. Ron Wyden declared that "the time has come for some member of Congress to commit political heresy" and oppose a big project in his home district.
3. When asked about his new tone, Bradley said, "I don't think that I have been off the high road."
4. all are correct

50.

1. "We're still in the race, we're working hard and I'm feeling really good," Bradley said.
2. Also today, Bradley's campaign began airing four black-and-white ads featuring Bradley, and in some cases voters, talking about the principles on which his campaign is based.
3. Press secretary Eric Hauser described the style of the ads as: "very edgy."
4. all are correct

51.

1. "The corps is out of control, it needs a major overhaul," said Steve Ellis.
2. If everybody had health care, if every child had a good teacher, if we made sure we took the money out of politics, the country would soar.
3. No plant on Earth inspires more awe than giant sequoias, those cathedrals of antiquity that remind humans of their brevity.
4. all are correct

52.

1. In fact, whatever one might say about Clinton's veracity about his private life, when it came to the economy, he absolutely kept his word, following through to an uncommon degree on campaign promises.
2. The reality is probably more subtle: Clinton is so full of paradoxes that Americans have nearly given up the idea of having a single opinion about him.
3. "He degraded virtually everything he touched: the White House, the Oval Office, the staff, the Cabinet, the country, the legal process," says conservative William Bennett, author of The Book of Virtues.
4. all are correct

53.

1. "I knew immediately, as soon as I heard her tone, that it was a huge and terrible mistake," Mack recalled.
2. When his father died unexpectedly on March 22, the move was delayed.
3. Of course, the last time Tennessee was a perceived underdog at home, it beat the U.S. national team.
4. all are correct

54.

1. "Part of the complication of Clinton's case lies in his character and, as a result, also in the institutional legacy of the Clinton presidency," Bert A. Rockman and Colin Campbell wrote.
2. Kathie Lee Gifford announced yesterday that she's going to hang it up as co-host of "Live With Regis and Kathie Lee" after 15 years on the daytime talk show.
3. This time she really means it, unlike all those years when she let float rumors that she might call it quits.
4. all are correct

55.

1. From Southern California's deserts to the red rock canyons of Utah, the rangelands under debate make up much of the wide-open country that has come to define the West.
2. A nine-month investigation, published by the Mercury News in November, found that taxpayers lost $108 million last year on federal grazing programs.
3. The report found that large corporations and millionaires, such as hotel mogul Barron Hilton, benefit the most from below-market grazing fees and other rules.
4. all are correct

V. WORD CHOICE

Instructions: Select the correct answer.

56) He tried desperately to a) persuade b) convince the jury that his client was innocent.

57) Because he was a) anxious b) eager to make a good impression, he took extra care with his appearance.

58) My grandfather told me that the local hardware store is a) accepting b) excepting applications.

59) If Bill had a choice, he would never give his employees a a) compliment b) complement.

60) The manager is frustrated with his employee’s a) continuous b) continual tardiness.

61) With every passing day, Cole gave his sister a) less b) fewer reasons to include him in her activities.

62) The firefighter wanted to know a) if b) whether everyone was out of the burning building.

63) The general is always making a) allusions b) illusions to the number of military secrets he knows.

64) The senator tried to a) imply b) infer in the press announcement that his colleague was dishonest.

65) Good luck finding a U2 ticket for a) under b) less than 50 dollars.

VI. SPELLING

Instructions: Please select the incorrect spelling among the choices for each question. If all spellings in a question are correct, select answer e, all are correct.

66. a) hemorrhage     b) oppressive     c) dumfound     d) conscientious       e) all are correct

67. a) stationery     b) obscene     c) presumptuous     d) harass           e) all are correct

68. a) concurred     b) abscess     c) khaki     d) adolesent               e) all are correct

69. a) foreign     b) facetious     c) occurred     d) broccoli            e) all are correct

70. a) secession     b) maneuver     c) negligable     d) believe                  e) all are correct

To see the answers to this example exam, turn the page.