Sentence Skills
Stamp collecting being a hobby that is sometimes used in the schools to teach economics and social studies.
A. being a hobby that is
B. is a hobby because it is
C. which is a hobby
D. is a hobby
D. is a hobby
Much of the freight their trains carried in the early years were fruit grown in the San Joaquin valley.
A. (as it is now)
B. have been
C. are
D. was
D. was
Her poems often bore witness to what she called "the bond of live things everywhere," a bond she evoked through seemingly simple but precisely chosen words.
A. (as it is now)
B. called:
C. called—
D. called,
A. (as it is now)
Which sentence blurs the focus of this paragraph and should therefore be deleted?
(1) Amaya and John like to go to the beach. (2) Amaya is a vegetarian. (3) When they go, they bring their surfboards. (4) Hopefully, it is warm tomorrow, and they can go surfing.
Sentence 2
Family, injustice, being African American and female were Clifton's enduring themes.
A. (as it is now)
B. and being
C. and the subjects of
D. DELETE it
B. and being
For a snake, shedding their skin up to eight times a year is part of a natural process.
A. For a snake, shedding their skin
B. A snake’s shedding its skin
C. When a snake sheds its skin
D. To shed its skin, for snakes
B. A snake’s shedding its skin
Once upon a time, their was a princess who lived in a tower.
A. (as it is now)
B. they're
C. there
D. DELETE it
C. there
Though not the first nectarine—the fruit existed in China for two millennia; the Sun Grand was unique in being hardly enough to ship great distances.
A. (as it is now)
B. millennia. The
C. millennia—the
D. millennia) the
C. millennia—the
(1) The Italian Renaissance produced many great artists and sculptors. (2) Michelangelo created the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel. (3) Raphael created paintings for the Pope. (4) Leonardo da Vinci painted the Mona Lisa.
Which is the most logical placement for the sentence below?
The most famous artists were Michelangelo, Raphael, and Leonardo da Vinci.
A. after sentence 4
B. before sentence 1
C. after sentence 3
D. before sentence 2
D. before sentence 2
To glance at his watch, Daniel picked up his speed.
A. Glancing at his watch,
B. He glanced at his watch, and
C. To glance at his watch,
D. He glanced at his watch,
A. Glancing at his watch,
Painting, drawing and to sculpt are some of the techniques artists such as Picasso used to express themselves.
A. Painting, drawing and to sculpt
B. To paint, to draw, and sculpting
C. Painting, drawing, and sculpting
D. To paint, draw, and sculpting
C. Painting, drawing, and sculpting
There is nothing better then (1) waking up to the smell of freshly-brewed coffee. The exciting (2) smell really gets my blood pumping.
1. A. (as it is now) 2. A. (as it is now)
B. better than B. simulating
C. better C. dazzling
D. better to D. stimulating
1. B
2. D
A spider of this species was discovered in the Erg Chebbi. It is a sandy desert in southeastern Morocco.
A. Chebbi,
B. Chebbi—this being
C. Chebbi, and the Erg Chebbi is
D. Chebbi, the Erg Chebbi being
A. Chebbi,
Which sentence blurs the focus of this paragraph and should therefore be deleted?
(1) Today is my birthday. (2) I am going to have a party with my friends at the bowling alley. (3) I have a test next Tuesday in my World History class. (4) Hopefully, there will be a chocolate cake at the birthday party.
Sentence 3
If I want your opinion, I will ask for it.
Rewrite, beginning with
I won’t ask for your opinion: The next words will be
A. if I want it
B. when I want it
C. although I want it
D. unless I want it
D. unless I want it
When you cross the street in the middle of the block, this is an example of jaywalking.
A. When you cross the street in the middle of the block, this
B. You cross the street in the middle of the block, this
C. Crossing the street in the middle of the block
D. The fact that you cross the street in the middle of the block
C. Crossing the street in the middle of the block
Dickinson's last twenty years of letters—many over 1,500 words in length—reveals the breadth and depth of her connection to the world through a wide circle of correspondents.
A. (as it is now)
B. reveal
C. will of revealed
D. would of revealed
B. reveal
These spiders don't simply scurry across the sand on their many legs, like tumbling gymnasts, they propel themselves forward (or backward) in a series of quick flips.
A. (as it is now)
B. legs like tumbling gymnasts;
C. legs; like tumbling gymnasts,
D. legs like tumbling gymnasts,
C. legs; like tumbling gymnasts,
(1) Headaches can have several causes. (2) One obvious cause is stress. (3) Another cause is diet. (4) Some people get headaches because they are dependent on caffeine. (5) People have hectic lives and frequently have multiple stressors every day, like work, family, and money.
Which is the most logical placement for sentence 5?
A. where it is now
B. after sentence 1
C. after sentence 2
D. after sentence 3
C. after sentence 2
Which is the best version of the underlined portion of sentence 13 (reproduced below)?
Agile and athletic, C. rechenbergi rear up on their back legs and lash out when attacked—or it somersaults away, rolling like tumbleweed.
A. (as it is now)
B. it will somersault
C. they somersault
D. they were somersaulting
C. they somersault
Walking by the corner the other day, a child, I noticed, was watching for the light to change.
A. a child, I noticed, was watching
B. I noticed a child watching
C. a child was watching, I noticed,
D. there was, I noticed, a child watching
B. I noticed a child watching
Poet Remica Bingham called Clifton a "master of economy and minimalism." Of Clifton's ambitious lines, poet Kevin Young said, "There is a kind of quietude in that lowercase, but also a boldness of speech" that achieves a "powerful intimacy."
A. (as it is now)
B. spare
C. nuanced
D. vivid
B. spare
Here are three states that begin with M, Michigan, Mississippi, and Maine.
A. (as it is now)
B. M Michigan, Mississippi, and Maine.
C. M; Michigan, Mississippi, and Maine.
D. M: Michigan, Mississippi, and Maine.
D. M: Michigan, Mississippi, and Maine.
(1) Kim Brothers succeeded even in the face of the Great Depression of the 1920s and 30s because the company produced and sold the first commercially viable nectarines. (2) The nectarine is a hybrid fruit. (3) It combines peach and plum, with the taste and texture of the former and the smooth skin of the latter. (4) With the help of a staff horticulturalist, Kim Brothers developed and patented the "fuzzless peach" known as the Sun Grand nectarine.
Which is the most logical placement for sentence 2?
A. where it is now
B. after sentence 4
C. before sentence 4
D. before sentence 1
A. where it is now
I thought the dog lost it’s tail when the door slammed.
A. (as it is)
B. lost its tail
C. lost the tail
D. lost a tail
B. lost its tail