Grammar and Usage Conventions
"Jim's brand new sports car skidded to a stop in the driveway."
In the quote above, which words represent a verb phrase?
A. Jim's brand new sports car
B. skidded to a stop
C. in the driveway
D. None of the above
What is: B. skidded to a stop
Which word has the more positive connotation?
Inexpensive or Cheap
What is: Inexpensive
Select the word that best completes the sentence given below:
"The football team we are playing the Friday hasn't lost a game yet, making them a(n) _____ opponent."
A. acceptable
B. formidable
C. credible
D. reasonable
What is B. formidable
Which of the following would be an example of informational writing?
A. A story about an evil queen.
B. A newspaper report about a local fair.
C. A presentation to convince the school board to change the school start time.
D. A poem about a struggling friendship
What is: B. A newspaper report about a local fair
When a narrative is interrupted by a scene that occurred earlier in time, the scene is known as:
A. exposition
B. foreshadowing
C. flashback
D. rising action
What is: C. flashback
Which of the following is a sentence fragment?
A. Roger was late for class.
B. When Ryleigh went home.
C. After Brianna took her test, she drew a picture.
D. Because of the thunderstorm, the game was cancelled.
What is: B. When Ryleigh went home.
"Old news" is an example of which type of figurative language?
A. metaphor
B. simile
C. onomatopoeia
D. oxymoron
What is: D. oxymoron
"When Sara felt alone, she struggled to feel better about herself, but when she began to make friends at school, her personality began to ______."
A. exult
B. maneuver
C. flourish
D. descend
What is: C. flourish
What pattern of organization does the author use in the passage below?
Jayden wondered why he wasn't able to stay awake during class recently. The more he thought about it, the more he realized he was probably spending too much time playing this video games at night before going to bed.
A. Problem and solution
B. Compare and contrast
C. Cause and effect
D. Order of importance
What is: C. Cause and effect
Which of the following is a claim for an argument?
A. Classrooms should have tables instead of desks to promote more student collaboration.
B. I personally like being in a classroom with tables.
C. Most classrooms have rows of desks.
D. Have you ever been in a classroom where group work was encouraged?
What is: A. Classrooms should have tables instead of desks to promote more student collaboration.
The dog, which came from the local animal shelter, dug holes in the yard. In the quote above, "which came from the local animal shelter" functions as a(n)
A. independent clause
B. dependent clause
C. relative clause
D. verbal phrase
What is: B. dependent clause
The rain sounded like small pellets falling onto the roof.
Which type of figurative language does the sentence above use?
A. metaphor
B. simile
C. hyperbole
D. personification
What is: B. simile
"Chad didn't feel like celebrating when he woke up this morning, but when all his friends surprised him with a a party for his birthday, he felt more _____."
A. jovial
B. melancholy
C. laconic
D. random
What is: A. jovial
Trash build-up in the local parks is a serious problem. Local service groups, however, can make a difference by just spending an hour each week picking up trash.
A. Problem and solution
B. Compare and contrast
C. Cause and effect
D. Order of importance
What is: A. Problem and solution
Which of the following maintains a formal style and objective tone?
A. The folks enrolled at the local university helped them do some research.
B. The students of the prestigious institution participated in a unique research study.
C. The kids at the best college in town were part of an experiment.
D. The college kids helped with research.
What is: B. The students of the prestigious institution participated in a unique research study.
Complete the sentence: "The twins' mother enjoyed going to the store and ______."
A. buy matching outfits for the sisters.
B. bought matching outfits for the sisters.
C. will buy matching outfits for the sisters.
D. buying matching outfits for the sisters.
What is D: buying matching outfits for the sisters.
When Martin Luther King Jr. begins his famous "I Have a Dream" speech with the words "Five score years ago," he is making a(n) _______ to a speech made by Abraham Lincoln.
What type of figurative language should be placed in the blank?
What is: allusion
"My appetite was _____ after going without food for two days."
A. voracious
B. quenched
C. tumultuous
D. wretched
What is: A. voracious
Which transition would be appropriate in the passage below?
The Rams won every game in the regular season and seemed poised to win the championship. The Patriots, ____, didn't win every game, but they played each game with heart and strategy.
A. for example,
B. consequently
C. however
D. in fact
What is: C. however
An argumentative thesis statement must do all of the following EXCEPT?
A. Make a claim
B. Be debatable
C. Be an opinion
D. State a fact
Identify the problem with this sentence: "Smith forgot to feed the dog, his mom was disappointed."
A. comma splice
B. run on
C. sentence fragment
D. faulty parallelism
What is: A. comma splice
A _______ is a dictionary definition of a word, and a _______ is meaning associated with the word outside of its dictionary definition.
The main character of the story is known as the_____.
A. antagonist
B. foil
C. protagonist
D. narrator
What is: C. protagonist
What organizational structure would you use if you were writing a guide on how to recycle?
A. Problem and solution
B. Compare and contrast
C. Cause and effect
D. Order of importance
What point of view does the author use in the passage below?
Jack wondered if Sarah knew what secrets he held from his childhood. She didn't seem to treat him any differently, but still he wondered.
A. Third person objective
B. First person
C. Third person omniscient
D. Third person limited.
What is: D. third person limited