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Parts of Speech
Sentence Fix-up
Literary Terms
Word ID
Potpourri
100
In 1807, the crew of a Baltimore ship the Canton saw an English ship sinking at sea.
Which word is a preposition?
A. Canton
B. the
C. at
D. sinking
C. at
100
What is the correct way to edit the underlined part of Sentence 4?
4From my three brothers rooms come no sounds of showers or morning rituals.
A. brother’s rooms
B. brothers’ rooms
C. brothers’s rooms
D. Best as it is
What is
B. brothers' rooms
100
The best example of alliteration is
A. The tiniest star in the night
B. Many miles I have travelled
C. HSA testing causes great distress
D. A good book is like a gift.
What is
B. Many miles I have travelled
100
Read the following line from Charles Kurault's memoir.
They are words that still give me a little thrill of importance all these years later. I did my twelve-year-old best to growl them like a veteran.
Kuralt most likely uses the word growl instead of say to suggest that he is
A. angry and impatient with the clerk
B. uncertain about how to treat older people
C. acting immaturely to get the clerk’s attention
D. trying to sound older and more experienced
What is
D. trying to sound older and more experienced
100
Which of these is an incomplete sentence that should be revised?
A. The White House, the home of the President of the United States, is unique.
B. Every president’s family adapting the White House to its own lifestyle.
C. In the early 1900s, the horse stables were converted to a garage.
D. Other Presidents have added a bowling alley, a golf putting green, and a jogging track.
What is
B. Every president's family adapting the White House to its own lifestyle.
200
Read the sentence to find a grammar error.
One of the students prefer standing on his head instead of taking the HSA.
The type of grammar error in this sentence is...
A. subject/verb agreement
B. run-on sentence
C. incomplete sentence
D. misplaced modifier
What is
A. subject/verb agreement
200
Which of these is an incomplete sentence that should be revised?
A. Sometime around the age of four or five, Blake playing his family’s pump organ.
B. Noticing his interest in music, his parents enrolled him in piano lessons.
C. Among these shows was one of his more famous, “Shuffle Along.”
D. He lived to be one hundred years old and died on February 12, 1983.
What is
A. Sometime around the age of four or five, Blake playing his family’s pump organ.
200
Mood is
A. the feeling and atmosphere of writing
B. the attitude of a writer
C. the message of a piece
D. the rhyme of a poem
What is
A. the feeling and atmosphere of writing
200
Which of these phrases from Charles Kurault's "Wanderlust" best communicates a positive tone?
A. wondered where the roads went
B. wrapped in a cloud of companionship
C. places I had trouble imagining
D. entered contests with travel as a prize
What is
B. wrapped in a cloud of companionship
200
Read what Jim wrote about his birthday.
The extra number had weight, like a muscle, and Jim hefted it like a prize.
The comparisons in the sentence suggest that Jim feels his birthday represents all of the following EXCEPT
A. authority
B. generosity
C. strength
D. value
What is
B. generosity
300
Read this sentence from an article about the Titanic.
This combination of stress, cold, and structural imperfections may have caused the ship to snap apart like shattering glass.
The subject of the sentence is
A. combination
B. stress
C. cold
D. imperfections
What is
A. combination
300
Choose the BEST revision of the following sentence.
The Mane High School Lions have won only two games, and they have their fans’ support, and opponents respect them.
A. Although the Mane High School Lions have won only two games, they have their fans’ support and their opponents’ respect.
B. Because they are respected by opponents and supported by fans, the Mane High School Lions, they have won only two games.
C. Although they have fans supporting them and they have opponents respecting them, the Mane High School Lions, have won only two games.
What is
A. Although the Mane High School Lions have won only two games, they have their fans’ support and their opponents’ respect.
300
A person can best find theme by
A. looking at the first paragraph of a story
B. Figuring out a main idea and then deciding what the author wants to say about it.
C. Reading a few sentences at the end of a story
D. Skimming a story to find main words
What is
B. Figuring out a main idea and then deciding what the author wants to say about it.
300
Read this part of the story Winter Hibiscus.
“You what?” Her mother stared at her incredulously.
The word incredulously most likely means
A. with joy
B. with fear
C.with disbelief
D. with sympathy
What is
C. with disbelief
300
Jessica used information from an Internet site about famous Marylanders in an essay. All of these would be included in the bibliographic citation for the Internet site EXCEPT
A. the title of the article
B. the Internet site address
C. the title of the Internet site
D. the number of related links
What is
D. the number of related links
400
Read this sentence from Winter Hibiscus.
As if oblivious to the cold, her mother was still out in the vegetable garden, digging up the last of the onions with a rusty trowel.
Which word is used as the subject of the sentence?
A. cold
B. mother
C. garden
D. onions
What is
B. mother
400
Choose the most clear and effective revision of the sentence.
Set in Baltimore, Laura Lippman’s mystery novels offer the reader interesting details about city life as well as having suspenseful plots.
A. Laura Lippman’s mystery novels, offering a reader interesting details about city life, are set in Baltimore as well as having suspenseful plots.
B. Laura Lippman’s mystery novels, which are set in Baltimore, offer a reader interesting details about city life as well as suspenseful plots.
C. Laura Lippman’s mystery novels, having suspenseful plots, offer a reader interesting details about city life, and they are set in Baltimore.
What is
B. Laura Lippman’s mystery novels, which are set in Baltimore, offer a reader interesting details about city life as well as suspenseful plots.
400
Which word best describes the tone of these lines from an essay?
And perhaps I, the parent, needed...oh, who knows? All I really know is that the fireflies appreciated my effort that night.
A. apologetic
B. instructive
C. mournful
D. satisfied
What is
D. satisfied
400
From Fireflies in the Garden:
Here come real stars to fill the upper skies,
And here on earth come emulating flies...
In line 2, the word emulating means the speaker believes the fireflies are
A. imitating the stars
B. entering the skies
C. making soft sounds
D. changing their shape
What is
A. imitating the stars
400
Read this sentence from an essay.
When the wave dug into the sand, it formed a brown tube or a golden one.
In this sentence, the pronoun it refers to
A. the wave B. the sand C. a brown tube D. a golden one
What is
A. the wave
500
Read this sentence from an essay.
About forty miles into the pedal, I arrived at the first “town.”
Which word group is NOT used as a modifier in this sentence?
A. About forty miles
B. into the pedal
C. I arrived
D. at the first “town”
What is
C. I arrived
500
What is the correct way to edit this sentence from a student's draft?
When he wanted to make a snake, he looked at many pictures of snakes and then said, “Spoons!”
A. said spoons.
B. said, Spoons!
C. said “Spoons”!
D. Best as it is
What is
D. Best as it is
500
The best example of assonance is
A. Aimlessly wandering in the halls
B. Sending signals to someone
C. Impending and adding
D. I long for sonerous songs
What is
D. I long for sonerous songs
500
Read this sentence from an essay.
The strip of cliff pulverized into sand is Sandy’s.
The author most likely uses pulverized instead of crumbled to
A. point out the beauty of the ocean
B. identify the location of the beach
C. emphasize the power of the waves
D. describe the shape of the shoreline
What is
C. emphasize the power of the waves
500
Read this sentence from an essay.
The waitress brought a paper placemat and a paper napkin and took my order, and I paged through the paper.
In this sentence, how are the underlined words used?
A. both as nouns
B. both as modifiers
C. first as a noun, then as a modifier
D. first as a modifier, then as a noun
What is
D. first as a modifier, then as a noun