AP Style Editing (US English) Quiz # 2

Read the following sentence and select the option that illustrates the best course of action for an editor to take.

Happiness has always and will always be an elusive element in my life.

Choose the series of adjectives that best completes the following sentence.

We have no doubt that the senator's meeting of goodwill with our arch rival will be accompanied by clandestine deal for lucrative building contracts and talk of future collaborations

Read the following passage and identify the punctuation error it contains.

I asked Jamie if she had read Zinn's A People's History of the United States.

 "Yes," she replied, "and I must say it's the most eye-opening history book I've read in some time."

Read the following passage and select the option that illustrates the best course of action for an editor to take.

1)So the guy breaks into our house, steals our stuff and

2)then slips on the ice in the driveway on his way out,

3)breaking his ankles. And guess what? He hit us with a

4)personal injury suite. Isn

5)tragedy of justice you ever heard of?

Read the following passage and select the option that illustrates the best course of action for an editor to take.

1)Why, Helen wondered, did I ever show my face in Troy?

2)There's been nothing but infighting, death and destruction

3)— not to mention the cost of launching those thousand

4)ships. My choice is clear: I'm moving to Cleveland.

Choose the series of verb forms that best completes the following passage.

Our voyage would have been a different and much duller experience _________ for the family of dolphins that _________ the ship from Mallorca to Malta.

Read the following sentence and identify the type of grammar or usage error it contains.

The differences in the two committees had finally reached an insurmountable level; each wanted to delve in the problem more deeply, but neither wanted to cooperate among the other.

Read the following sentence and identify the type of error it contains.

Although the critic did not like so-called chick flicks, she had to admit that "The Devil Wears Prada" was far away the best film of the genre she

Read the following passage and identify the style error it contains.

Of the two control groups, a significant number of those in Group A scored 74%, which was higher than the median score of 66% of those in group B. Both groups had similar standard deviations of 8.3% and 7.9%, respectively.

Read the following sentence and choose the option that shows the part of the sentence that should be edited to eliminate redundancy.

The board said it would postpone its decision about appointing a superintendent until later.

Read the following passage and select the option that illustrates the best course of action for an editor to take.

Outsourcing our accounting and collections tasks has really laid credence to our company. Our customers now perceive us to be bigger than we are and are certainly put hard to ignore their outstanding invoices.

Choose the series of verb forms that best completes the following passage.

If Sen. Hannibal ________ control his anger just a touch more, he ________ find that people react to him more positively.

Read the following sentence and identify the style error it contains.

253 students attended the rally on Nov. 23. Of those present, 56 percent belonged to the freshman class, 12 percent to the sophomore class and two percent to the junior class.

Read the following passage (options) and select the line that contains an error in grammar or usage.

Read the following passage and select the line that contains a grammar or usage error.

Choose the series of words or phrases that best completes the following sentence.

________ agreed that ________ of our precautions would be useless once the temperature dropped to _________.

Choose the editing option that best corrects the underlined part of the following sentence.

It's easy to see that the coach has still not decided whether to contest the final score, despite brooding over it for quite some time.

Read the following passage and identify the punctuation error it contains.

Delilah's 20-page tale of derring do delighted the dignitaries who stamped their feet in approval. Reading from a dais draped in crepe, she felt like a modern day Scheherazade.

Choose the series of words or phrases that best completes the following passage.

Through the complete failure of all our _________ events, we have learned that _______ is extremely difficult. Perhaps we should consider hiring a professional _________ to help us.

All but one of the following sentences require editing to correct passive voice, wordiness or redundancy. Consider the underlined phrases, and then select the sentence that does NOT require editing.

Read the following passage and select the option that illustrates the best course of action for an editor to take.

1)Even though Alison spends a lot of time complaining,

2)bemoaning her fate and wishing that her circumstances

3)are not quite so reduced, we are pretty sure that she is

4)grateful for everything she has.

Choose the editing option that best corrects the underlined part of the following sentence.

To maintain a healthy body and mind, one must exercise, eat fruits and vegetables and refrain from cigarettes and drinking alcohol.