Question 1

Instructions: The following sentences form an essay. Proofread them for consistency, parallelism, and concise language. Select the letter of the error in each sentence. Gradually, attitudes toward soap began to change and did not stay the same.

Accepted Answer

The phrase "began to change and did not stay the same" is repetitive and can be condensed into "changed." This improves the clarity and conciseness of the sentence.

Question 2

Instructions: The following sentences form an essay. Proofread them for consistency, parallelism, and concise language. Select the letter of the error in each sentence. Decades ago, researchers realized that high blood pressure is a cardiovascular danger signal and that it is a risk to the health of one s heart.

Accepted Answer

The sentence can be made more concise by eliminating redundancy. "Cardiovascular danger signal" can be replaced with "risk factor for cardiovascular disease" and "risk to the health of one's heart" can be shortened to "cardiac risk." The revised sentence would read: "Decades ago, researchers realized that high blood pressure is a risk factor for cardiovascular disease and cardiac risk."

Question 3

Instructions: The following sentences form an essay. Proofread them for consistency, parallelism, and concise language. Select the letter of the error in each sentence. Soap is used more and more. In the eleventh century, soap production in Italy and France rose dramatically.

Accepted Answer

The sentences lack consistency in tense, starting with present tense ("is used") and then shifting to past tense ("rose dramatically").

Question 4

Instructions: The following sentences form an essay. Proofread them for consistency, parallelism, and concise language. Select the letter of the error in each sentence. Medication can help with the most severe cases of hypertension, but the first line of defense, physicians agree, was to cut back on sodium.

Accepted Answer

The sentence lacks consistency in verb tense. "Can help" is in present tense, while "was" is in past tense. To maintain consistency, the sentence should read: "Medication can help with the most severe cases of hypertension, but physicians agree that the first line of defense is to cut back on sodium."

Question 5

Instructions: The following sentences form an essay. Proofread them for consistency, parallelism, and concise language. Select the letter of the error in each sentence. Others in the ancient world would not go near soap with a ten-foot pole.

Accepted Answer

The phrase "with a ten-foot pole" could be condensed to "would not touch soap." This would make the sentence more concise.

Question 6

Instructions: The following sentences form an essay. Proofread them for consistency, parallelism, and concise language. Select the letter of the error in each sentence. They used this soap for bathing and also to cleanse wounds.

Accepted Answer

The sentence lacks parallelism because the first part of the sentence uses "for bathing" and the second part uses "to cleanse wounds." Using parallel structures would make the sentence more clear and concise, for example: "They used this soap for bathing and for cleansing wounds."

Question 7

Instructions: The following sentences form an essay. Proofread them for consistency, parallelism, and concise language. Select the letter of the error in each sentence. Perhaps someday soon, researchers will have conclusive answers. For now, keeping sodium levels down is probably a good idea, particularly since there is no evidence that a low-sodium diet was harmful.

Accepted Answer

The answer of Instructions: The following sentences form an essay....

Question 8

Instructions: The following sentences form an essay. Proofread them for consistency, parallelism, and concise language. Select the letter of the error in each sentence. Doctors don t completely understand yet, but they think that high blood pressure puts a strain on blood vessels, causing them to tear and developing weak areas where plaque can gain an easy foothold.

Accepted Answer

The sentence lacks parallelism because it uses two different verb forms ("tear" and "developing") to describe the same action. Revising it to say "causing them to tear and develop weak areas" would be more parallel and concise.

Question 9

Instructions: The following sentences form an essay. Proofread them for consistency, parallelism, and concise language. Select the letter of the error in each sentence. In general, though, soap was sought after and many people wanted to get it.

Accepted Answer

The sentence can be written more concisely as "Soap was in high demand."

Question 10

Instructions: The following sentences form an essay. Proofread them for consistency, parallelism, and concise language. Select the letter of the error in each sentence. High blood pressure can also force small blood vessels to burst like an overstressed garden hose. If that happens in the brain, that malfunction is called a stroke the other major cardiovascular killer besides heart attacks, which many people die from as well.

Accepted Answer

The sentence can be made more concise by removing the repetition of "which many people die from as well".

Question 11

Instructions: The following sentences form an essay. Proofread them for consistency, parallelism, and concise language. Select the letter of the error in each sentence. One study concluded that reducing salt intake reduces high blood pressure in all people. But a study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association argued that people with normal blood pressure got no significant benefit from salt reduction. It didn t help them at all.

Accepted Answer

The sentence "It didn t help them at all" can be written more concisely as "It didn't help."

Question 12

Instructions: The following sentences form an essay. Proofread them for consistency, parallelism, and concise language. Select the letter of the error in each sentence. They thought it was a strange, odd, and a mystery.

Accepted Answer

The three adjectives listed do not have parallel structure. To make the sentence parallel, all three adjectives should follow the same pattern, such as "strange, odd, and mysterious" or "strange, odd, and inexplicable."

Question 13

Instructions: The following sentences form an essay. Proofread them for consistency, parallelism, and concise language. Select the letter of the error in each sentence. Unfortunately, it was so expensive in price that only royalty like kings and queens could afford it.

Accepted Answer

The sentence can be made more concise by removing "in price" since the word "expensive" already implies a high cost.

Question 14

Instructions: Select the part of the sentence that contains a grammar or punctuation error. Some culture believe that tattoos can protect against sickness and misfortune. People in other cultures use tattoos merely for decoration.

Accepted Answer

The word "culture" should be pluralized to "cultures" to match the subject of the sentence, which is "some" and "other" cultures.

Question 15

Instructions: The following sentences form an essay. Proofread them for consistency, parallelism, and concise language. Select the letter of the error in each sentence. By the middle of the nineteenth century, however, soap became the inexpensive common item that we use daily every day.

Accepted Answer

"every day" is redundant and can be replaced with just "daily."

Question 16

Instructions: The following sentences form an essay. Proofread them for consistency, parallelism, and concise language. Select the letter of the error in each sentence. It may be, but results from two recent studies differ on this point and do not agree.

Accepted Answer

The sentence could be made more concise by eliminating redundant phrases such as "differ on this point and do not agree," which essentially convey the same idea.

Question 17

Instructions: Select the part of the sentence that contains a grammar or punctuation error. Tattoos are permanent colored designs. That are made on the skin by puncturing the skin and inserting dyes into the holes.

Accepted Answer

The correct structure of the sentence should be "Tattoos are permanent colored designs that are made on the skin by puncturing the skin and inserting dyes into the holes." The word "that" should be placed after "designs" to form a complete sentence.

Question 18

Instructions: The following sentences form an essay. Proofread them for consistency, parallelism, and concise language. Select the letter of the error in each sentence. If cutting back on salt is good for people with hypertension, the good is for everyone else, too.

Accepted Answer

The answer of Instructions: The following sentences form an essay....

Question 19

Instructions: The following sentences form an essay. Proofread them for consistency, parallelism, and concise language. Select the letter of the error in each sentence. However, even as late as 1550, soap had not won over everyone. For instance, a German duchess gets angry when she receives a box of soap as a gift; she threw the messenger out of the palace.

Accepted Answer

The sentence does not maintain consistency in verb tense. "Had not won" is in past perfect tense, while "gets angry" is in present tense. It should be revised to "even as late as 1550, soap had not won over everyone. For instance, a German duchess got angry when she received a box of soap as a gift and threw the messenger out of the palace."

Question 20

Instructions: Select the part of the sentence that contains a grammar or punctuation error. Practiced at one time or another by most cultures, tattooing serve three main purposes.

Accepted Answer

The correct form should be "serves" to agree with the singular subject "tattooing."

Quiz 2: Writing Complete Sentences

Instructions: The following sentences form an essay. Proofread them for consistency, parallelism, and concise language. Select the letter of the error in each sentence. Gradually, attitudes toward soap began to change and did not stay the same.

Instructions: The following sentences form an essay. Proofread them for consistency, parallelism, and concise language. Select the letter of the error in each sentence. Soap is used more and more. In the eleventh century, soap production in Italy and France rose dramatically.

Instructions: The following sentences form an essay. Proofread them for consistency, parallelism, and concise language. Select the letter of the error in each sentence. Others in the ancient world would not go near soap with a ten-foot pole.

Instructions: The following sentences form an essay. Proofread them for consistency, parallelism, and concise language. Select the letter of the error in each sentence. They used this soap for bathing and also to cleanse wounds.

Instructions: The following sentences form an essay. Proofread them for consistency, parallelism, and concise language. Select the letter of the error in each sentence. In general, though, soap was sought after and many people wanted to get it.

Instructions: The following sentences form an essay. Proofread them for consistency, parallelism, and concise language. Select the letter of the error in each sentence. They thought it was a strange, odd, and a mystery.

Instructions: The following sentences form an essay. Proofread them for consistency, parallelism, and concise language. Select the letter of the error in each sentence. Unfortunately, it was so expensive in price that only royalty like kings and queens could afford it.

Instructions: Select the part of the sentence that contains a grammar or punctuation error. Some culture believe that tattoos can protect against sickness and misfortune. People in other cultures use tattoos merely for decoration.

Instructions: The following sentences form an essay. Proofread them for consistency, parallelism, and concise language. Select the letter of the error in each sentence. By the middle of the nineteenth century, however, soap became the inexpensive common item that we use daily every day.

Instructions: The following sentences form an essay. Proofread them for consistency, parallelism, and concise language. Select the letter of the error in each sentence. It may be, but results from two recent studies differ on this point and do not agree.

Instructions: Select the part of the sentence that contains a grammar or punctuation error. Tattoos are permanent colored designs. That are made on the skin by puncturing the skin and inserting dyes into the holes.

Instructions: The following sentences form an essay. Proofread them for consistency, parallelism, and concise language. Select the letter of the error in each sentence. If cutting back on salt is good for people with hypertension, the good is for everyone else, too.

Instructions: Select the part of the sentence that contains a grammar or punctuation error. Practiced at one time or another by most cultures, tattooing serve three main purposes.