Revising an essay primarily involves

1. The topic sentence of each paragraph should support the

A. topic sentence of the following paragraph.

B. title.

C. thesis.

D. conclusion.

2. If one or more paragraphs in an essay lack adequate explanations or supporting details, you can

A. delete sentences that don't support the topic sentence.

B. use a transitional phrase to link it to another paragraph that includes more details.

C. revise the topic sentence so that fewer details are needed to support it.

D. use who, what, when, where, why, and how questions to generate the details you need.

3. Which of the following is a good rule to follow when proofreading an essay?

A. Ask your best friend to scan your essay.

B. Use only the computer's spell-check and grammar-check functions to be sure you catch any errors.

C. Scan the essay twice, once for organization and once for surface errors.

D. Read the essay aloud to hear where words are missing or awkward phrasings or grammatical errors occur.

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

A. Short sentences tend to move ideas quickly.

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

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

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

5. Which of the following sentences uses a coordinating conjunction in a compound sentence?

A. My aunt, who usually behaves like a queen, was suddenly asking—no, begging—for help.

B. The budget payment is much higher than we anticipated, but the price of heating oil has skyrocketed this year.

C. Out in the yard, the children shouted loudly and threw silly insults at each other.

D. We fired our old housekeeper, who we thought had stolen Grandma's rings; we later regretted it.

6. Which of the following compound sentences uses a coordinating conjunction to explain how ideas are related in terms of contrast or opposition?

A. Cosima didn't want to stop at the store on her way home from work, but she knew she needed cat food.

B. Texting while driving is a major cause of accidents, so even if you receive a text, it's safer not to respond.

C. We'll either go to our parents' house for dinner this weekend or make an excuse to cancel.

D. Artie switched to a Windows phone, and all his friends were shocked.

7. Revising an essay primarily involves

A. adding, eliminating, or reorganizing key elements.

B. correcting surface errors.

C. devoting more time to planning.

D. narrowing the topic.

8. Which of the following is a compound sentence?

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

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

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

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

9. What is the purpose of varying the order of subjects, verbs, and modifiers in different sentences within a paragraph?

A. To provide necessary evidence to support a thesis

B. To indicate emphasis where it's needed

C. To supply background detail for readers unfamiliar with a topic

D. To support the topic sentence

10. Which punctuation mark should you use in a compound sentence that includes a conjunction?

A. Comma

B. Period

C. Colon

D. Semicolon

11. In order to demonstrate that one idea is less important than another, which type of sentence will Bernice use?

A. Simple

B. Compound

C. Complex

D. Compound-complex

12. Which of the following sentences contains one or more strong, active verbs?

A. Having been away in London for two years, Conrad was happy to see Denise.

B. It was believed by some that Conrad's father had been a war hero.

C. Conrad trembled with anxiety and anticipation as he pressed Denise's doorbell.

D. The phone directory was hastily searched by Conrad

13. As you're revising an essay, you write down several sentences to describe your intended readers. Why should you do this?

A. To make sure you're writing what you know, not what you believe

B. To see if your essay is directed toward its intended audience

C. To ensure that your essay will entertain the audience

D. To ensure that you're instructing your audience adequately

14. Which of the following sentences shows an example of parallel verbs?

A. Once the game was over, Jim had to be running home and eat dinner.

B. Once the game was over, Jim had to run home in order to eat his dinner.

C. Once the game was over, Jim had to run home and dinner was ready.

D. Once the game was over, Jim had to run home and eat dinner.

15. One way to ensure that your title accurately reflects the content of your essay is to

A. rephrase your conclusion.

B. mine your thesis for key words.

C. restate the title in the introduction.

D. use a transitional word or phrase.

16. In the process of revision, your main objective should be to

A. explain your essay's purposes.

B. clarify your ideas.

C. demonstrate correct grammar.

D. establish proper tone.

17. Which type of learners would benefit by checking whether their thesis and topic sentences are clearly stated when revising their essays?

A. Concrete

B. Abstract

C. Pragmatic

D. Verbal

18. Choosing a good reviewer for your writing means finding someone who

A. is a close friend and will give you a positive review.

B. knows everything about writing and will find every mistake.

C. will concentrate on your ideas and how well you support them.

D. concentrates on correcting your spelling and grammar errors.

19. Which of the following sentences uses parallelism effectively?

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

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

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

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

20. To compose strong, compelling sentences, avoid using

A. clauses as modifiers.

B. short, simple sentences.

C. dependent clauses.

D. forms of the verb to be.