Download Practice_skills_test2

UPrep 1 Writing Skills Practice Test 2 (30 min)
Rev. July 15, 2014
Name: ____________________
_______ / 21 = ______%
NOTE: All sentences in this quiz tell a story about Brian’s experience last year.
Part A: Joining Sentences (1 mark per sentence)
For each of the following questions:
 Join the two sentences into one using the connectors in parentheses ( ).
 Write one sentence for each connector, for a total of 6 sentences.
 Make sure the new sentence is a full sentence.
 Make sure the new sentence has a similar meaning to the original sentences.
 Note: It is okay to change the order of the clauses.
/6
1. Brian drank too much water in a hurry; he threw it all up.
(because)
(therefore)
2. Brian’s negative emotions built up inside him. The reason was that he couldn’t tell anyone about the
Secret.
(as)
(for)
3. Skunks looked very cute in the comics and cartoons; they were very dangerous in real life.
(whereas)
(but)
Part B: Correcting Sentence Errors (1 mark per sentence)
/4
Each question contains a sentence error: Comma Splice, Run-On, Sentence Fragment (C-S, R-O, or S-F).
 Revise each sentence to make a correct sentence.
 You don’t need to re-write the sentence.
 Note: You may not just use a period (.) to correct the sentences.
1. Flying a plane was pretty easy, landing it was hard.
2. The very memorable day when he first ate real meat.
3. He needed real shelter that was the biggest problem.
4. All summer, Brian caught fish and ate berries, he learned to survive in the wild.
Practice Test 2 Rev. Su14
Part C. Finding and Correcting Sentence Errors (2 marks per error)
The following paragraph contains four (4) sentence errors (C-S, R-O, or S-F).
 Correct all four errors to make the sentences grammatically correct.
 There are often several acceptable ways to correct the problems.
 NOTE: You may not just correct these by adding only a period (.)
/8
There are many reasons why it’s a good idea for students to read novels. Firstly, one of the best ways of learning
new vocabulary. When students read novels that are written by native English speakers. They will encounter many
words that they don’t know, fortunately, there is usually a lot of context in novels to help them guess these words’
meanings. For instance, the students know the characters’ personalities that helps them to guess any words related to
the characters’ decisions, actions, and words. Also, if the novel is interesting, the students have a personal
involvement in these new words, which makes them easier to remember.
Part D: Production (1 mark per sentence)
/3
This term, we learned a variety of ways to combine clauses, such as
 sentence transition words
 subordinating conjunctions
 coordinating conjunctions
 punctuation (semi-colons, commas).
Write a personal email to a friend about the topic below. Your email must include three (3) different ways of
combining clauses to make a sentence. In the email, underline three sentences for your teacher to mark.
Topic: Tell your friend about a party you recently attended.
Practice Test 2 Rev. Su14
UPrep 1 Writing Skills Practice Test 2 (25 min)
ANSWER KEY
_______ / 21
Part A: Joining Sentences (1 mark per sentence)
/6
Deduct 1 mark:
 for illogical sentences
 if correction makes a C-S, R-O, or S-F
 if unnecessary words are retained(e.g., "the reason was" or "in spite of")
 if incorrect sentence results (e.g., "Because the reason was that he had a plan to save Peak from jail, J
flew back to NY.")
Deduct ½ mark:
 for problems with commas
 for incorrect capitalization
 if didn't follow instructions and wrote two sentences instead of 1
Deduct ¼ mark: (according to handout given to students at beginning of term)
 subject/verb agreement
 simple verb tenses (simple past, simple present)
 irregular verbs
Deduct 0 marks:
 if there are problems with punctuation spacing  just indicate to student
 if pronoun comes first and proper noun comes second. (e.g., Because he had a plan to save Peak from jail,
Josh flew back from NY.)  just indicate to student
 if unnecessary words are retained, but a correct sentence results (e.g., "Peak was only 14 years old, yet in
spite of this, he was a very experienced climber.")
1. Brian drank too much water in a hurry; he threw it all up.
(because) Because Brian drank too much water in a hurry, he threw it all up.
(therefore) Brian drank too much water in a hurry; therefore, he threw it all up.
2. Brian’s negative emotions built up inside him. The reason was that he couldn’t tell anyone about the Secret.
(as) Brian’s negative emotions built up inside him as he couldn’t tell anyone about the Secret.
(for) Brian’s negative emotions built up inside him, for he couldn’t tell anyone about the Secret.
3. Skunks looked very cute in the comics and cartoons; they were very dangerous in real life.
(whereas) Skunks looked very cute in the comics and cartoons, whereas they were very dangerous in real life.
Whereas skunks looked very cute in the comics and cartoons, they were very dangerous in real
life.
(but) Skunks looked very cute in the comics and cartoons, but they were very dangerous in real life.
Part B: Correcting Sentence Errors (1 mark per sentence)
Deduct ½ mark:
 if didn't follow instructions and used a period to correct sentences
 for capitalization error or comma errors
Deduct ¼ mark:
 subject/verb agreement
 simple verb tenses (simple past, simple present)
 irregular verbs
/4
Practice Test 2 Rev. Su14
Deduct 0 marks:
 If there are problems with punctuation spacing  just indicate to student
Note: There may be other acceptable corrections (but they must make sense).
1. Flying a plane was pretty easy, landing it was hard.
;
; on the other hand, / in contrast, / however,
, but / (,) whereas
2. The very memorable day when he first ate real meat.
The day (when/that) he first ate real meat was very memorable.
The / a very memorable day was when he first ate real meat.
It was a very memorable day when he first ate real meat.
3. He needed real shelter that was the biggest problem.
shelter, which was
That / The fact that he needed real shelter was
He needed real shelter, and that was the biggest problem.
4. All summer, Brian caught fish and ate berries, he learned to survive in the wild.
;
; therefore, / thus, / as a result, / consequently,
, so / and
Part C. Finding and Correcting Sentence Errors (2 marks per error)
Give 1 mark each:
 for locating the error
 for fixing it.
Notes:
 If more than 4 are “corrected,” mark only first
four corrections.
 There may be other acceptable corrections.
Deduct 1 mark:
 if person didn’t follow directions and
corrected the error with a period.
/8
Deduct ½ mark:
 for problems with commas
 for incorrect capitalization
Deduct ¼ mark:
 subject/verb agreement
 simple verb tenses (simple past, simple
present)
 irregular verbs
Deduct 0 marks:
 if there are problems with punctuation
spacing  just indicate to student
There are many reasons why it’s a good idea for students to read novels. Firstly, it is one of the best ways of
learning new vocabulary. when students read novels that are written by native English speakers, they will
encounter many words that they don’t know; fortunately, there is usually a lot of context in novels to help them
guess these words’ meanings. For instance, the students know the characters’ personalities, which / and that helps
them to guess any words related to the characters’ decisions, actions, and words. Also, if the novel is interesting,
the students have a personal involvement in these new words, which makes them easier to remember.
*Also correct:
For instance, the fact that the students know the characters’ personalities helps them to guess
For instance, knowing the characters’ personalities helps students to guess
Practice Test 2 Rev. Su14
Part D: Production (1 mark per sentence)
Topic: Tell your friend about a party you recently attended.
/3
Check that three different ways of combining clauses is demonstrated, for example:
Compound sentence with conjunction (check punctuation)
Compound sentence with semi-colon
Complex sentence with dependent clause first w/comma
Complex sentence with dep. clause last
Deduct 1 mark:
 for each sentence that is not on topic
 for illogical sentences
 if sentence contains a C-S, R-O, or S-F
Deduct ½ mark:
 for problems with commas
 for incorrect capitalization
 for the second time the same sentence
combining method is used
Deduct ¼ mark for errors in:
 subject/verb agreement
 simple verb tenses (simple past, simple
present)
 irregular verbs
More than 3 (or more) clauses:
 If a sentence has more than 3 clauses and
one of them has an error, student can still
get 1 mark if the other two are used
correctly.