Editing Test 7

Locate the ten sentence-skills mistakes in the following passage. The mistakes are listed in the box below. As you locate each mistake, write the number of the word group in the space provided. Then, in the space between the lines, edit and correct each mistake.

1 fragment ____ , 1 run on_____, 1 mistake in verb tense_____, 1 nonparallel structure_____, 1 dangling modifier_____, 1 mistake in pronoun point of view_____, 1 missing comma after introductory material_____, 2 missing quotation marks_____, 1 missing apostrophe____

1The greatest of my everyday fears is technology. 2Beginning when I couldn’t master bike riding and

extending to the present day. 3Fear kept me from learning to operate a jigsaw, start an outboard motor,

or even using a simple tape recorder. 4 I almost didn’t learn to drive a car. 5 At age sixteen, Dad lifted

the hood of our Chevy and said, All right, your’re going to start learning to drive. 6 Now, this is the

distributor . . .7 When my eyes glazed over, he shouted, Well, I’m not going to bother if youre not

interested! 8 Fortunately, the friend who later taught me to drive skipped what goes on under the hood.

9 My most recent frustration is the digital camera, I would love to take professional-quality pictures, but

all the buttons and tiny electronic menus confuse me. 10 As a result, my unused camera is hidden away

on a shelf in my closet. 11 Just last week, my sister gives me a beautiful digital watch for my birthday. 12

I may have to put it on the shelf with the camera—the alarm keeps going off, and you can’t figure out how to stop it.

Editing Test 8

Locate the ten sentence-skills mistakes in the following passage. The mistakes are listed in the box below. As you locate each mistake, write the number of the word group in the space provided. Then, in the space between the lines, edit and correct each mistake.

2 fragments_____ 2 apostrophe mistakes____

1 run-on____  ____  ___

1 mistake in subject-verb agreement_____ 3missing commas____  _____  _____

1nonparallel structure_____

1 Most products have little or nothing to do with sex a person would never know that by looking at ads’. 2 A television ad for a headache remedy, for example shows the product being useful because it ends a womans throbbing head pain just in time for sex 3 Now she will not say “Not tonight, honey” 4 Another ad features a detergent that helps a single woman meet a man in a laundry room. 5 When it comes to products that do relate to sex appeal advertisers often present more obvious sexuality. 6 A recent magazine ad for women’s clothing, for instance, make no reference to the quality of or how comfortable are the company’s clothes. 7 Instead, the ad features a picture of a woman wearing a low-cut sleeveless T-shirt and a very short skirt. 8 Her eyes are partially covered by semi-wild hair. 9 And star seductively at the reader. 10 A recent television ad for perfume goes even further. 11 In this ad, a boy not older than twelve reaches out to a beautiful woman. 12 Sexily dressed in a dark room filled with sensuous music. 13 With such ads, it is not wonder that young people seem preoccupied with sex.