Test Prep Test Prep Certifications PRAXIS-WRITING-SECTION Questions & Answers

• Question 81:

  Determine whether the underlined portion of the sentence below is correct or whether it needs to be revised. Choose the correct option.

  Lindsey knows that the reason people dislike her is because of her being a Philadelphia Phillies fan.

  A. is because of her being a

  B. is because she is a

  C. is that she is a

  D. is her being a

  E. is that of her being a

  Correct Answer: C

  Explanation: "is because of her being a", "is her being a", and "is that of her being a" all use "being" incorrectly. "is because she is a" is redundant and therefore not concise: you don't need to say "the reason" and "because," one or the other will do.

• Question 82:

  Determine whether the underlined portion of the sentence below is correct or whether it needs to be revised. Choose the correct option.

  Fraternities are a great way to make friends and learn important lessons of loyalty and compassion.

  A. are a great way to make friends and

  B. is a great way to make friends and

  C. will have been a great way to make friends and

  D. will be a great way to make friends and

  E. is a great way to make friends however

  Correct Answer: A

  Explanation: The original sentence is correct as written. There is no need to change the verb form or tense.

• Question 83:

  Determine whether the underlined portion of the sentence below is correct or whether it needs to be revised. Choose the correct option.

  There are many reasons to see I Heart Huckabees, Jason Schwartzman's performance being one reason.

  A. Huckabees, Jason Schwartzman's performance being one reason.

  B. Huckabees, Jason Schwartzman's performance is only one of them.

  C. Huckabees; Jason Schwartzman's performance, for one.

  D. Huckabees, the performance of Jason Schwartzman is one of them.

  E. Huckabees, including Jason Schwartzman's performance.

  Correct Answer: E

  Explanation: "Huckabees, Jason Schwartzman's performance being one reason" has "being" and is redundant to boot. "Huckabees, Jason Schwartzman's performance is only one of them" and "Huckabees, the performance of Jason Schwartzman is one of them" are run-ons. "Huckabees; Jason Schwartzman's performance, for one" is semicolon misuse: the semicolon is not followed by an independent clause.

• Question 84:

  Determine whether the underlined portion of the sentence below is correct or whether it needs to be revised. Choose the correct option.

  Jewelry is an accessory used by members of all classes including watches, necklaces and earrings.

  A. Jewelry is an accessory used by members of all classes including watches, necklaces and earrings.

  B. Jewelry, including watches, necklaces and earrings, is an accessory used by members of all classes.

  C. Jewelry, including watches, necklaces and earrings, are an accessory used by members of all classes.

  D. Jewelry is accessorized by members of all classes including watches, necklaces and earrings.

  E. Jewelry is an accessory used by members of all classes which includes watches, necklaces and wearing earrings.

  Correct Answer: B

  Explanation: The problem with this sentence is the misplacement of the clause that describes jewelry. By placing "...including watches, necklaces, and earrings." after "classes" the reader gets the impression that the classes involves different types of jewelry. By moving the clause, choice "Jewelry, including watches, necklaces and earrings, is an accessory used by members of all classes" and choice "Jewelry, including watches, necklaces and earrings, are an accessory used by members of all classes" improve the sentence. However, choice "Jewelry, including watches, necklaces and earrings, are an accessory used by members of all classes" commits the error of using a plural form of "to be" (i.e. are) to refer to a collective noun like jewelry that demands a singular verb (i.e. is). Only choice "Jewelry, including watches, necklaces and earrings, is an accessory used by members of all classes" places the clause correctly after "jewelry" and ensures that the verb agrees with the subject.

• Question 85:

  Determine whether the underlined portion of the sentence below is correct or whether it needs to be revised. Choose the correct option.

  A growing technology trend is to merge multiple devices with complimentary functions such as a phone, music player and the scheduling features of a planner.

  A. the scheduling features of a planner.

  B. and a planner with scheduling features.

  C. and scheduling features.

  D. scheduling features.

  E. a planner.

  Correct Answer: E

  Explanation: It is informative to include the details about a planner's features, it should be accompanied by the features of a phone and a music player if that is the way the sentence is being written. Therefore, choices "the scheduling features of a planner", "and a planner with scheduling features", "and scheduling features" and "scheduling features" are incorrect. Choice "and a planner with scheduling features" and "and scheduling features" even add "and" again making the sentence read "...music player and and..." which is clearly wrong. Be careful; the test wants to catch you off guard. Only choice "a planner" is direct and maintains parallelism.

• Question 86:

  Determine whether the underlined portion of the sentence below is correct or whether it needs to be revised. Choose the correct option.

  Learning a new language can be difficult for people after one reaches a certain age; abilities needed to retain and apply new linguistic information deteriorate with time.

  A. after one reaches a certain age

  B. after they reach a certain age

  C. after they reaches certain ages

  D. after it reaches a certain age

  E. after you reach a certain age

  Correct Answer: B

  Explanation: The underlined portion of this sentence is wrong because the sentence refers to people in general. Because a plural third person form of a pronoun is needed (because of the reference to "people"), "one" ,"it", and "you" are all inappropriate responses. Choice "after one reaches a certain age", "after it reaches a certain age" and "after you reach a certain age" are all incorrect. Choice "after they reach a certain age" is better than choice "after they reaches certain ages" because of the implied logic. People can reach a defined age; it is odd to say that multiple people are simultaneously reaching multiple ages -what is certain then? It's almost an oxymoron to say certain ages in this context, although it is perfectly fine in other situations (i.e. This board game is only for people of certain ages). Yet the more defining difference is the singular verb form of choice "after they reaches certain ages" (i.e. reaches) mistakenly in place of the plural verb form of choice "after they reach a certain age" (i.e. reach).

• Question 87:

  Determine whether the underlined portion of the sentence below is correct or whether it needs to be revised. Choose the correct option.

  Most of my favorite movies contain slapstick humor, however physical comedy is not the only way to make me laugh.

  A. slapstick humor, however physical comedy is not

  B. slapstick humor, but physical comedy is not

  C. slapstick humor, and physical comedy is not

  D. slapstick humor; physical comedy is not

  E. slapstick humor, but it is not physical comedy that is

  Correct Answer: B

  Explanation: "slapstick humor, however physical comedy is not" is a run-on: "however" is NOT a conjunction. "slapstick humor, and physical comedy is not" and "slapstick humor; physical comedy is not" are missing contrast. "slapstick humor, but it is not physical comedy that is" is not at all concise.

• Question 88:

  Determine whether the underlined portion of the sentence below is correct or whether it needs to be revised. Choose the correct option.

  In countries such as China the government is recognizing the advantages of a capitalist market rather than communism and adjust economic policy accordingly.

  A. capitalist market rather than communism and adjust

  B. capitalist market rather than Communism and adjust

  C. capitalist market rather than a communist market and adjust

  D. capitalist market rather than a communist market and adjusting

  E. Capitalistic market nor a Communist market and adjusting

  Correct Answer: D

  Explanation: The problem with this sentence is in parallel structure. The test is very particular about being consistent about the forms of words used. So specifically since the sentence refers to a capitalist market, then the sentence must refer to a communist market -- not communism, which is an ideology rather than a market system in this context. Only choices "capitalist market rather than Communism and adjust", "capitalist market rather than a communist market and adjusting" and "Capitalistic market nor a Communist market and adjusting" remain. Choice "Capitalistic market nor a Communist market and adjusting" commits terrible capitalization (neither "capitalist" nor "communist") mistakes and structure errors (where does the "nor" fit in? It does not.) Only choice "capitalist market rather than Communism and adjust" and choice "capitalist market rather than a communist market and adjusting" remain now, but "capitalist market rather than Communism and adjust" mistakenly capitalizes communism and does not change "adjust" to match the parallel verb (i.e. recognizing). Choice "capitalist market rather than a communist market and adjusting" uses the right adjective forms of capitalism and communism, does not make capitalization errors and maintains parallel sentence structure.

• Question 89:

  Determine whether the underlined portion of the sentence below is correct or whether it needs to be revised. Choose the correct option.

  A consummate gentleman, Stefan's etiquette and social grace was unmatched.

  A. Stefan's etiquette and social grace was unmatched.

  B. Stefan's etiquette and social grace were unmatched.

  C. Stefan's etiquette as well as his social grace were unmatched.

  D. Stefan possessed unmatched etiquette and social grace.

  E. Stefan's social grace was matched only by his etiquette.

  Correct Answer: D

  Explanation: "Stefan's etiquette and social grace was unmatched", "Stefan's etiquette and social grace were unmatched", "Stefan's etiquette as well as his social grace were unmatched", and "Stefan's social grace was matched only by his etiquette" are all dangling modifiers. Choice "Stefan's etiquette and social grace was unmatched" has a verb agreement problem, too.

• Question 90:

  Determine whether the underlined portion of the sentence below is correct or whether it needs to be revised. Choose the correct option.

  During the summer, many students go away to summer camps that teach them skills about camaraderie, perseverance and integrity.

  A. summer many students go away to summer camps that teach them skills about camaraderie, perseverance and integrity.

  B. Summer many students go away to summer camps that teach them skills about camaraderie, perseverance and integrity.

  C. summer many students go away to camps that teach them skills about camaraderie, perseverance and integrity.

  D. summer many students go away to summer camps that teach them skills about camaraderie, perseverance and maintaining integrity.

  Correct Answer: C

  Explanation: Only choice "summer many students go away to camps that teach them skills about camaraderie, perseverance and integrity" corrects the redundancy error in this sentence of writing "...summer camps..." after already stating that this event occurs "During the summer..." Choice "summer many students go away to summer camps that teach them skills about camaraderie, perseverance and integrity", "Summer many students go away to summer camps that teach them skills about camaraderie, perseverance and integrity" and "summer many students go away to summer camps that teach them skills about camaraderie, perseverance and maintaining integrity" suffer such redundancy. Choice "summer many students go away to summer camps that teach them skills about camaraderie, perseverance and maintaining integrity" also breaks the list's parallelism (values such as camaraderie and perseverance that should be followed simply by "integrity").