English Expert Q&A

Each of the following sentences states what you are trying to persuade someone to do. Beneath each sentence are four reasons that attempt to convince this person that he or she should take this particular course of action. Select the reason that seems irrelevant, illogical, or untrue. If you wanted to persuade someone to support the construction of a new nuclear power plant, you could say that nuclear energy

A) will solve all of America's problems.
B) is a safe, reliable source of power.
C) keeps citizens' heating and cooling costs low.
D) doesn't pollute the environment.

Read the paragraph below and answer the questions that follow.
(1) The federal minimum wage should be increased to at least $15.00 per hour. (2) First of all, this increase will help families who are living in poverty. (3) Not only will it provide these people with a fairer and more decent rate of pay for their labor, but it will also decrease their need for welfare, food stamps, and other forms of government support. (4) Increasing the minimum wage may also stimulate job growth. (5) According to one study published by the Fiscal Policy Institute, employment in small businesses grew faster in states that boosted their minimum wage above the federal minimum than in states requiring only the federal minimum. (6) This report also found that total job growth was faster in the states with higher minimum wages. (7) That may be because workers who earn more can spend more, which stimulates the economy.
How many arguments support the topic sentence?

A) two
B) three
C) four

Read the paragraph below and answer the questions that follow.
(1) Amateur stargazing is an interesting and rewarding hobby. (2) Exploring astronomy builds knowledge about our amazing universe. (3) It's an inexpensive pastime, too. (4) All that's needed is a telescope, a book about how to understand what you're looking at, and maybe a membership in an astronomical club. (5) Studying the night sky is free! (6) That's why astronomy is also a great family activity. (7) In fact, looking at the heavens may awaken a love of science in children. (8) Plus, those who star-gaze long enough might even make an important discovery. (9) After all, many amateur astronomers have discovered comets, asteroids, and other heavenly bodies. (10) In 2005, for example, two amateur sky-watchers in New Zealand discovered a new planet 15,000 miles from Earth using only a backyard telescope.
Select the number of the topic sentence in the paragraph above.

A) Sentence 1
B) Sentence 2
C) Sentence 3

Each of the following sentences tells what you are trying to persuade someone to do. Beneath each sentence are four reasons that attempt to convince the reader that he or she should take this particular course of action. Select the reason that seems irrelevant, illogical, or untrue. If you wanted to convince someone that your town or city is a great place to live, you could say that

A) your town offers many employment opportunities.
B) you have lived there all of your life, so it's obviously a wonderful place to be.
C) the crime rate is low.
D) your town offers many different recreational activities.

Each of the following plans for an essay contains a thesis statement and several topic sentences in scrambled order. Select the letter of the answer that numbers the topic sentences in each group according to an order that makes sense. Thesis statement: The history of European contact with the Karaja Indians of Brazil is one of violence and exploitation.
Topic sentences:
____ The Karaja, exposed to European diseases during the nineteenth century, were reduced in numbers by 90 percent.
____ During the eighteenth century, the bandeirantes led attacks on Karaja villages to get slaves.
____ Since the turn of the twentieth century, Brazilian pioneers have increasingly used Indian territory as grazing land.

A) 3, 2, 1
B) 1, 3, 2
C) 2, 1, 3

Identify the cause and the effect contained in each of the following statements. President Harry Truman dropped atomic bombs on Japan in 1945 to end World War II and save American lives.

A) Cause: President Harry Truman dropped atomic bombs on Japan in 1945 Effect: World War II ended and American lives were saved
B) Cause: World War II ended and American lives were saved Effect: President Harry Truman dropped atomic bombs on Japan in 1945

Read the paragraph below and answer the questions that follow.
(1) Soda may be one of America's favorite beverages, but many experts now believe that drinking soda is bad for our health. (2) Because soda is high in calories but offers no nutritional value, it contributes to weight gain and obesity. (3) The sugar and acid in soda can cause unhealthy tooth decay. (4) Even sugar-free drinks may cause health problems because, as some studies have indicated, artificial sweeteners may increase the risk for cancer and other diseases. (5) Other research has shown that drinking soda is harmful to bones. (6) The phosphorus in soda causes bones to lose calcium. (7) As a result, they weaken and break more easily.
How many causes or effects does the writer present?

A) one
B) four
C) seven

Select the letter of the correct pronoun for the blank in each of the following sentences. The University Judiciary Board, composed of twelve undergraduate students, reached ____ decision on the date rape case.

A) their
B) its
C) his or her

For the following sentences, select the letter of the incorrect past tense verb in each group. Despite such challenges, on March 13, 2012, a Siberian research institute with access to mammoth remains signed an agreement with one of the world's most controversial geneticists, Hwang Woo-Suk of South Korea. They sayed that they would clone a mammoth together.

A) signed
B) sayed

Select the answer that joins each pair of simple sentences with conjunctions or conjunctive adverbs correctly and is punctuated correctly. Stephen cleans the kitchen and bathroom once a week.
They always look cluttered and messy.

A) Stephen cleans the kitchen and bathroom once a week, so they always look cluttered and messy.
B) Stephen cleans the kitchen and bathroom once a week; however, they always look cluttered and messy.
C) They always look cluttered and messy, although Stephen cleans the kitchen and bathroom once a week.

Find the complete subject and the complete verb in each of the following sentences. Then select the letter of the answer that contains both the subject and the verb. Bananas are an excellent source of potassium and magnesium.

A) Bananas, are
B) Bananas, source
C) Bananas, potassium, magnesium

In each of the following sentences, a blank space appears where a verb should be. Select the letter of the verb that agrees with the subject of the sentence. Whenever my family ____ to a baseball game, we all ____ hot dogs and pretzels.

A) go, gets
B) goes, get

For the following questions, select the letter of the answer that correctly identifies each type of prewriting. My Best Friend
My best friend Robin. We met junior year, Sherman High School. A very caring person, has many friends because she's sympathetic to other people's problems. A really good listener. She's smart makes good grades. Got a scholarship. Nursing student, I know she'll be a good one ⎯ nurses have to be good at helping people, and Robin is great at that. Cares about animals, would be a good veterinarian if she doesn't become a nurse.
This prewriting is an example of

A) focused freewriting.
B) brainstorming.
C) clustering.
D) asking questions.
E) keeping a journal.

Identify each of the following statements as true or false.
Careful documentation of information gathered from outside sources will help prevent plagiarism.

Select the letter of the correct answer for each of the following question(s) . Which of the following is not a characteristic of a good summary?

A) It includes the author, title, and source of the original.
B) It's shorter than the original.
C) It includes your opinions about the ideas in the original source.

Identify each of the following statements as true or false.
Information from outside sources is usually interesting but does not help support an essay's main points.

For each pair of sentences below, select the letter of the option that provides the best sentence variety. Which answer choice provides the best sentence variety?

A) For instance, one house served as a recording studio, and another was a business office.
B) One house served as a recording studio. Another was a business office.

Below is a source followed by passage(s) from student papers. If the student has summarized, directly quoted, or indirectly quoted the source correctly, select "Correct." If you believe the source is incorrectly summarized or plagiarized, select "Incorrect."
"In May, scientists in the Gulf of Mexico began tracking plumes of methane and oil droplets drifting up to 30 miles from the broken [BP oil] well, at depths of 3,000 to 4,000 feet. One of those scientists was University of Georgia biogeochemist Mandy Joye, who has spent years studying hydrocarbon vents and brine seeps in the deep Gulf. She found a plume the size of Manhattan, and its methane levels were highest she had ever measured in the Gulf. As bacteria feast on spilled oil and methane, they deplete the water of oxygen; at one point Joy found oxygen levels dangerously low for life a water layer 600 feet thick, at depths where fish usually live. Since waters in the deep Gulf mix very slowly, she said, such depleted zones could persist for decades."
⎯ Bourne, Joel. "The Gulf of Oil: The Deep Dilemma."
Green . Boston: Wadsworth, 2013. 100-112. Print.
Student version: The BP Oil Company's 2010 oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico was environmentally destructive. According to Joel Bourne, University of Georgia biogeochemist Mandy Joye found a plume the size of Manhattan, and its methane levels were highest she had ever measured in the Gulf. As bacteria feast on spilled oil and methane, they deplete the water of oxygen; at one point Joy found oxygen levels dangerously low for life a water layer 600 feet thick, at depths where fish usually live (110-111) .

A) Correct
B) Incorrect

The topic sentence below is followed by a brainstormed list of possible ideas for a paragraph. Decide which ideas support the topic sentence and should be kept and which ideas should be dropped. Select "keep" or "drop" for each idea. Topic sentence: Modern fireworks have their origins in tenth-century Chinese pyrotechnics.
A fireworks shell is a tube made of paper.

A) Keep
B) Drop

Read each of the following essay introductions. Select the method the writer used in each introduction. The essay below begins with a(n)
Almost all of us have heard of the Amish, the religious sect that separates itself from the world and rejects modern conveniences and advanced technology. We imagine people wearing hand-sewn clothing and living in homes without refrigerators, dishwashers, televisions, and telephones. However, the Amish have been buying and using cell phones for years. They also use in-line skates, power-operated grass cutters, and gas grills for barbecuing. The Amish employ such conveniences when they do not interfere with family life. Cell phones, for example, are kept outside the home and are used for business purposes only. The Amish people look at every modern-day convenience and accept it only if it works to bring together, not drive apart, members of the family and community.
⎯ Wired, January 1999,
Http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/7.01/amish.html

A) single-sentence thesis statement.
B) illustration.
C) contradiction.