which of the following is correctly punctuated

ATI TEAS 7

English TEAS Practice Test

1. Which of the following is correctly punctuated?

A. The artist Prince, whose death shocked America in April of 2016, was one of the most successful musical artists of the last century.
B. The artist Prince, whose death shocked America in April of 2016, was one of the most successful musical artists of the last century.
C. The artist Prince—whose death shocked America in April of 2016—was one of the most successful musical artists of the last century.
D. The artist Prince, whose death shocked America in April of 2016, was one of the most successful musical artists of the last century.

Correct answer: B

Rationale: The correct punctuation in this case is to use a comma (,) to set off the nonrestrictive clause 'whose death shocked America in April of 2016.' This clause provides additional information about the artist Prince without changing the essential meaning of the sentence. Choice A has a semicolon (;) which is incorrect as it separates two closely related independent clauses. Choice C uses em dashes (—) which are incorrect as they should be used for emphasis or to set off information. Choice D uses a colon (:) which is incorrect as it introduces a list or an explanation, not additional information about the artist Prince. Therefore, the correctly punctuated sentence is: 'The artist Prince, whose death shocked America in April of 2016, was one of the most successful musical artists of the last century.'

2. What kind of error is present in the following sentence? "The project requires researching, writing a report, and presenting findings."

A. Parallelism
B. Sentence fragment
C. Misplaced modifier
D. Subject-verb agreement

Correct answer: A

Rationale: The correct answer is A: Parallelism. The sentence contains a parallelism error in the list of actions required for the project. In a series or list, all elements should be in the same grammatical form. In this sentence, 'researching' and 'writing' are in gerund form, but 'presenting' is in infinitive form. To ensure parallel structure, all items in the list should be in the same form. Therefore, the corrected version should read, "The project requires researching, writing a report, and presenting findings." Choices B, C, and D are incorrect. There are no sentence fragments, misplaced modifiers, or subject-verb agreement errors in the original sentence.

3. Which of the following sentences correctly uses a semicolon?

A. I have a big test tomorrow; I can't go out tonight.
B. I have a big test tomorrow; I can't go out tonight.
C. I have a big test tomorrow; and I can't go out tonight.
D. I have a big test tomorrow; but I can't go out tonight.

Correct answer: A

Rationale: The correct use of a semicolon is to join two closely related independent clauses. Choice A is the only option that correctly uses a semicolon to connect two independent clauses: 'I have a big test tomorrow' and 'I can't go out tonight.' Choice B incorrectly uses a comma instead of a semicolon. Choice C adds an unnecessary 'and' after the semicolon, which disrupts the correct punctuation usage. Choice D introduces a contradictory conjunction 'but' after the semicolon, which is not necessary for the given context. Therefore, the correct answer is A.

4. Which of the following examples correctly uses quotation marks?

A. “Where the Red Fern Grows” was one of my favorite novels as a child.
B. Though he is famous for his roles in films like “The Great Gatsby” and “Titanic,” Leonardo DiCaprio has never won an Oscar.
C. Sylvia Plath’s poem, “Daddy,” will be the subject of this week’s group discussion.
D. “The New York Times” reported that many fans are disappointed in some of the trades made by the Yankees this off-season.

Correct answer: A

Rationale: The correct use of quotation marks in choice A is to enclose the title of a book, 'Where the Red Fern Grows,' indicating that it is a specific title that should be distinguished from the rest of the sentence. Choice B incorrectly uses quotation marks for movie titles, which should be italicized or underlined. Choice C correctly uses quotation marks for the title of a poem. Choice D has an extra space before the opening quotation mark, which is incorrect.

5. What is the third-person singular, present tense form of the verb 'paint' in the sentence 'The artist paints breathtaking landscapes'?

A. painted
B. paints
C. painting
D. painter

Correct answer: B

Rationale: The correct answer is 'B' because in the present tense, the third-person singular form of the verb 'paint' is 'paints.' When conjugating verbs, it is essential to match the verb form with the subject. 'Paints' is the correct form for the third-person singular subject 'artist' in this sentence. Choices 'A,' 'C,' and 'D' are incorrect. 'A' is in the past tense, 'C' is a gerund form, and 'D' is a noun, not a verb form, which does not match the tense and subject in the sentence.