ProfessorToadMaster723
1. Editing Sentences for Errors – Part 1 Directions: The…
1. Editing Sentences for Errors – Part 1
Directions: The following is a narrative paragraph about the origins of an influential African American entrepreneur. Carefully read the paragraph sentence by sentence. Then, to complete the paragraph with correct grammar, click on the blank lines below and choose the correct answers from the dropdown menus.
Oprah Winfrey: An Unlikely Path to Success
(1) Oprah Winfrey is often cited as one of the most powerful women in America: women love her, men respect her, and many people choose (their/her/his or her) favourite books and products based on her advice. (2) Winfrey earned her success through hard work and incredible talent, and she overcame many (obstacles’/obstacles/obstacle’s) to do so. (3) Her childhood was neither glamorous (but also/nor/or) easy. (4) She was born on January 29, 1954, in Kosciusko, Mississippi. (5) Winfrey was raised by her grandmother until she was (6 years old, at which time/6 years old.When/6 years old. At which time) Winfrey moved with her mother to Milwaukee. (6) Winfrey suffered abuse at home and ran away. (7) She was then sent to live with her father in Nashville. (8) At the age of 19, Winfrey (begin/began/begun) her career as a radio reporter in Nashville, and two years later she (becoming/became/become) a news reporter and anchor for the local television station. (9) In 1984, when she was 30 years old, Winfrey moved to Chicago to take over a failing local talk (show;in less/show in less/show, in less) than a year, she made a previously unpopular program into one of the most popular(shows/show/show’s) on television. (10) Winfrey’s/Winfreys’/Winfreys) newly popular program(was renamed/was rename/is renamed) , and The Oprah Winfrey Show was born. (11) She has expanded her popularity to create media empire that includes her own production studio (the first ever owned by an African American woman), a magazine, and a cable network; in addition, (she has established/she have established/she has establish) countless charities with her fortune. (12) Whether we (enjoyed or dislike/enjoy or dislike/enjoys or disliked) Winfrey’s show,we/they/he or she may learn from her story that hard work reallydone/does/do pay off.
2. Editing Sentences for Errors – Part 2
Directions: Complete the paragraph with correct grammar. Then answer the questions that follow it.
Animal Love: Romance in the Animal Kingdom
(1) Sometimes people(complain/complains/complaining) that it is easy to get stuck in traditional gender roles within a romantic relationship. (2) Maybe(every people/some people/one people) can learn something from the unusual and creative “dating” habits of various animals. (3) In the animal world, some females(dominating/dominates/dominate)their partners, others(leave/to leave/leaving)all the work to the males, and still others(lived/ live/living) and procreate without any males at all. (4) When they mate, angler fish form parasitic relationships in which the females dominates the males. (5) When a male meets a female that interests him, he not only bites her body(or becomes permanently attached/but also permanently attaches/and permanently attaching)his mouth to her skin; the male’s bloodstream actually becomes connected to the female’s. (6) A female angler fish(provide/provides/provided) nourishment for a male long enough for them to reproduce, and then she cuts off his food supply. (7) Each(males/male) of this species eventually wastes away. (8) Sea horses, on the other hand, leave all the work to the males. (9) When male and female sea horses reproduce,(it/he or she/they) interact face to face, and the female simply passes her eggs to the male. (10) The male sea horse then does the rest of the work: he keeps the eggs in a pouch, carries them around with him, and(eventually/eventual) gives birth, contractions and all. (11) The female sea horse abandons the male, she does not have anything to do with the offspring. (12) Finally, the(fascinatingly/fascinating)Cnemidophorus uniparens species of North American lizard has female-only families. (13) There are no males in this(species.Instead/species instead/species, instead), female lizards reproduce asexually but act out mating with each other and(make/to make/making) a lizard community that has no males at all. (14) It seems that the animal world produces examples of diverse relationships. (15) From which humans could learn a lot.
1. Sentence 4 has a subject-verb agreement error. To correct this sentence, you must change the word(dominates/form/mate) to(dominate/forms/mates)
2. Sentence 11 (contains a comma splice/contains a noun error/is a fragment). To correct this sentence, insert a semicolon between the words (male/not) and(she/have) .
3. Sentence 15 (contains a comma splice/is a fragment/is a run-on) . The best way to correct this sentence is to(combine sentences 14 and 15/delete the word which/change the word which to that) .
3. Editing Sentences for Errors – Part 3
Directions: The following paragraph has many errors. Carefully read it, sentence by sentence. Then answer the questions that follow. Click [This sentence] in each question to see the referenced sentence in the passage.
A Story of Unusual Origins
11People’s origins do not have to dictate the outcome of our lives. 22Award-winning writer Jeannette Walls is an example of this statement she tells the story of her unusual and difficult childhood in her autobiography, The Glass Castle. 33Her parents were romantic adventurous and eccentric people. 44Whereas many people settle down to raise their children, the Walls family was always on the run from bill collectors, the author spent her childhood travelling from town to town in the American Southwest, often sleeping in the car. 55Walls idolized her father even though he was, by some peoples standards, a failure. 66While he was often drunk and violent he was a dreamer and an inventor who promised his children that one day they would be rich. 77He told his children that he would build them a glass castle where they lived in luxury. 88Walls’s mother an artist preferred creating masterpieces to taking care of her children. 99The four Walls children had to fend for themselves; they were often extreme hungry and did not have proper clothing. 1010In the first pages of her book, Walls recalls when her dress catching on fire as, at the age of three, she cooked herself a hotdog on the stove. 1111As her story progresses the authors memories range from sad to frightening to embarrassing.1212Eventually, Walls saved money and moved to New York City, where she pursued an education, got married, and found success as a journalist. 1313Her parents followed her to New York, where they preferred to live on the streets as homeless people. 1414Walls’s story is one of incredible personal strength and hope for all who have had to overcome the challenges of a difficultly childhood.
1. [This sentence] People’s origins do not have to dictate the outcome of our lives. has an error. This sentence(has a subject-verb agreement error/incorrectly uses an adjective/incorrectly uses a pronoun). You must change the word(people’s/outcome/our) to(their/her/its) .
2. [This sentence]Award-winning writer Jeannette Walls is an example of this statement she tells the story of her unusual and difficult childhood in her autobiography, The Glass Castle. is a run-on sentence. To correct this error, replace the comma with a semicolon between the words (difficult/statement/the) and (story/childhood/she) .
3. [This sentence] Her parents were romantic adventurous and eccentric people. lacks commas to separate items in a list. The correct version of the sentence is this:
Image transcription text
Her parents were romantic, adventurous and, eccentric people. Her parents were romantic adventurous and
eccentric people. Her parents were romantic, adventurous, and eccentric people.
4. [This sentence]Whereas many people settle down to raise their children, the Walls family was always on the run from bill collectors, the author spent her childhood travelling from town to town in the American Southwest, often sleeping in the car.(is an introductory phrase/contains a comma splice/is a direct quotatio). To correct this sentence, insert a period between the words (collectors/southwest/town) and (the/often/in) and capitalize the first word of the new sentence.
5. [This sentence] Walls idolized her father even though he was, by some peoples standards, a failure. has (an apostrophe error/a prepositional error/an adjective or adverb error) . To correct this sentence, change the word(people’s/peoples’/peoples) to(people’s/peoples’/peoples) .
6. In [This sentence] While he was often drunk and violent he was a dreamer and an inventor who promised his children that one day they would be rich., the subordinating conjunction is the word (that/while/often) . In this sentence, the subordinate clause goes(before/after) the independent clause; therefore, a comma(is necessary/ is not necessary) after the word violent.
7. To make the verbs in [This sentence] He told his children that he would build them a glass castle where they lived in luxury. parallel, change the word lived to (would live/living/to live) .
8. In [This sentence] Walls’s mother an artist preferred creating masterpieces to taking care of her children., commas must enclose the appositive word or phrase. An appositive is a noun or noun phrase that identifies or renames the noun (or noun phrase) next to it. To correct this sentence, insert commas around the word (mother/masterpieces/an artist) , which is the appositive.
9. [This sentence] The four Walls children had to fend for themselves; they were often extreme hungry and did not have proper clothing. . To correct this error, change the word(proper/extreme/fend)to(properly/extremely/fended) .
10. [This sentence] In the first pages of her book, Walls recalls when her dress catching on fire as, at the age of three, she cooked herself a hotdog on the stove.has an error in the use of the past tense. To correct this error, change the (word recalls to recalling/word cooked to cooking/word catching to caught) .
11. Select the correct revision of [This sentence] As her story progresses the authors memories range from sad to frightening to embarrassing..
a. As her story progresses, the authors memories range from sad to frightening, to embarrassing.
b.As her story progresses, the author’s memories range from sad, to frightening, to embarrassing.
c.As her story progresses the authors’ memories range from sad, to frightening to embarrassing.
12. Which of the following statements are true? Check all that apply.
a.Sentence 13 is correct in the paragraph above.
b.In sentence 14, the word difficultly should be difficult.
c.Sentence 12 incorrectly uses commas to separate items in a list.
d.In sentence 13, the word parents should be parent’s.
