California High School Proficiency Exam California High School Proficiency Exam Language Mechanics 3

Question 1

Which sentence contains a run-on error?

Accepted Answer

She was tired she went to bed early.

Answer

'She was tired she went to bed early' is a run-on because two independent clauses are fused without punctuation or a conjunction.

Question 2

Which of the following is a sentence fragment?

Accepted Answer

Because it was raining outside.

Answer

'Because it was raining outside' is a fragment because the dependent clause has no independent clause to complete the thought.

Question 3

Which sentence uses parallel structure correctly?

Accepted Answer

She likes reading, swimming, and running.

Answer

Parallel structure requires all items in a series to use the same grammatical form—here, all gerunds ending in -ing.

Question 4

Which sentence is a compound sentence?

Accepted Answer

He ran down the street, and she followed him.

Answer

A compound sentence contains two independent clauses joined by a coordinating conjunction such as 'and.'

Question 5

Which sentence contains a misplaced modifier?

Accepted Answer

Maria saw a rainbow walking to school.

Answer

In 'Maria saw a rainbow walking to school,' the modifier 'walking to school' appears to describe the rainbow rather than Maria.

California High School Proficiency Exam Practice Test