Writing Skills Part

Which of the following would be an appropriate way to add variety to your sentences? A. Use questions and answers together. B. Add personal anecdotes. C. Use more close-up words. D. Make your sentences read like a spoken conversation. 2. Nelson's hobby is tinkering with small appliances. Tinkering with implies that Nelson is unskilled at his hobby. You want to change the flavor of this sentence to show that Nelson is, in fact, quite skilled at his hobby. Which of the following should you choose to replace tinkering with so that the reader gets the right idea? A. Selling B. Fiddling with C. Repairing D.Messing with 3. Anna is an exceptional young girl. Anna does any Job that needs to be done. To vary the sentence structure, which one of the following sentences should you insert in the blank? A. Anna is a hardworking and versatile person. B. Anna works hard every day of her life. C. Anna is always working hard at home. D. Have you noticed how hard she works? 4. Which of the following d irect quotations is punctuated properly? A. â€Å"Way to go, Sean,† the coach shouted. â€Å"That was a great run! † B. â€Å"Way to go, Sean,† the coach shouted. â€Å"That was a great run†! C. â€Å"Way to go, Sean†, the coach shouted. That was a reat run†! D. â€Å"Way to go, Sean†, the coach shouted. â€Å"That was a great run! † 5. When we speak of the flavor of a word, we're talking about the extra understood meanings that it carries in addition to its main meaning. These extra meanings are called denotations. ‚ ¬8. shadings. C. connotations. D. definitions. 6. A thesaurus is a book that's useful for finding A. synonyms. B. definitions. C. frequently misspelled words. D. famous persons. 7. Which is the best strategy to follow when you write a report or an essay? A. Get it right the first time and put it aside until it's due. B.Revise it over and over for at least hree or four years. C. Work on it over a seven-day p eriod and rewrite it at least twice. D. Write it in one sitting and revise it only once. 8. Find the sentence with the active voice. A. It was voted by the legislature to pass. B. I was told by the chairman that the bill was passed by the legislature. C. The bill was passed by the legislature. D. The chairman told me that the legislature passed the bill. 9. Of the following methods, the best way to increase your reading is by A. forcing yourself to read subjects you dislike. B. setting a goal to read five new pages every night. C. eading a new book every day. D. Joining a mail-order book club. 10 which ot the tollowing words is most likely to carry a connotation? A C. walk D. stride 1 1 . Of these four words, which one is most likely to have a negative flavor? A. Harangue B. Confound C. Meander D. Distract 12. Which of the following sentences is written in the passive voice? A. The effects of cyanide are well known. ‚ ¬8. Having left the building, Elvis never returned. C. I would not provoke that man if I were you. D. They considered their options. 13. Which one of the following sentences or phrases is most likely to be considered a clich ©?A. How dead is a dead doornail? B. Are you a man or a moose? C. Look before you leap. D. When in doubt, pout. 14. Which of the following sentences uses the best close-up words? A. Sara is pursuing a non-science degree. B. Sara is studying languages. C. Sara is studying French and German. D. Sara is pursuing a degree. 15. Which one of the following statements about making your writing fun to read is not correct? A. Direct quotations should be reserved for characters in stories. B. Give your writing a personal touch by showing that you're interested in your subject. C.The conversation you write must sound natural for the characters. D. An anecdote or humorous quotation is often more convincing than a strong argument. 16. When using direct quotations in your writing, which of the following should be placed outside th e set of quotation marks? A. Semicolon B. Question mark C. Comma D. Period 17. A clich © is a B. new C. worn-out D. wordy expression. A. foreign 18. Read the word in parentheses; then decide which of these sentences most effectively translates an abstract concept into a mental picture. A. (Sunrise) The rising sun transformed the canyon into bright stone and deep shadow.B. (Studious) Lucy ay on her bed reading a back issue of National Geographic. C. (Freedom) On her twenty-first birthday, Lola declared herself a woman. D. (Rumors) Whispers of doubt filled the empty halls like the reek of boiled cabbage. 19. An antonym is a word that's A. the same in meaning. B. pronounced the same. C. defined in a thesaurus. D. opposite in meaning. 20. What is the most important point in the following sentence? My sister, Emily, the tallest girl in her class, has many friends. A. Emily is the tallest girl in her class. B. My sister's name is Emily. C. Emily is my sister. D. Emily has many friends.