ABLE Core Knowledge 3 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: Which sentence demonstrates correct subject-verb agreement?
- Neither the manager nor the employees was informed.
- Neither the manager nor the employees were informed. (Correct answer)
- Neither the manager nor the employees are informed.
- Neither the manager nor the employees is informed.
Correct answer: Neither the manager nor the employees were informed.
When using 'neither/nor,' the verb agrees with the subject closest to it — 'employees' is plural, so 'were' is correct.
Question 2: What is the definition of 'inference' in reading comprehension?
- Restating the author's exact words
- Drawing a conclusion based on evidence and reasoning (Correct answer)
- Identifying the main topic of a passage
- Locating specific facts in a text
Correct answer: Drawing a conclusion based on evidence and reasoning
An inference is a logical conclusion drawn from textual evidence combined with the reader's prior knowledge.
Question 3: Which sentence contains a dangling modifier?
- Running quickly, Maria caught the bus.
- Running quickly, the bus was caught by Maria. (Correct answer)
- Maria, running quickly, caught the bus.
- After running quickly, Maria caught the bus.
Correct answer: Running quickly, the bus was caught by Maria.
In 'Running quickly, the bus was caught by Maria,' the participial phrase incorrectly modifies 'the bus' instead of the person running.
Question 4: What is the meaning of the word 'ambiguous'?
- Perfectly clear and direct
- Open to more than one interpretation (Correct answer)
- Strongly opinionated
- Unnecessarily wordy
Correct answer: Open to more than one interpretation
'Ambiguous' describes language or situations that can be understood in more than one way, creating uncertainty.
Question 5: Which organizational pattern presents events in the order they occurred?
- Cause and effect
- Compare and contrast
- Chronological order (Correct answer)
- Problem and solution
Correct answer: Chronological order
Chronological order arranges information sequentially from earliest to latest event, often using signal words like 'first,' 'then,' and 'finally.'
Question 6: In grammar, what is an antecedent?
- A word that follows and describes a noun
- The noun or noun phrase a pronoun refers to (Correct answer)
- A prefix added before a root word
- A synonym used to avoid repetition
Correct answer: The noun or noun phrase a pronoun refers to
An antecedent is the word or phrase that a pronoun replaces or refers back to in a sentence or paragraph.
Question 7: Which sentence uses an apostrophe correctly?
- The dogs' leashes were tangled together. (Correct answer)
- The dogs leashes' were tangled together.
- The dog's leashes were tangled together when multiple dogs were present.
- The dogs leashes were tangled together.
Correct answer: The dogs' leashes were tangled together.
'Dogs'' with the apostrophe after the 's' correctly shows plural possessive — the leashes belonging to multiple dogs.
ABLE Core Knowledge 3
Which sentence demonstrates correct subject-verb agreement?