CALT Syntax and Sentence Structure 4

Question 1

Which sentence demonstrates a garden-path sentence that causes parsing difficulty?

Accepted Answer

The horse raced past the barn fell.

Answer

Garden-path sentences like 'The horse raced past the barn fell' initially lead readers down an incorrect parse before requiring reanalysis.

Question 2

What syntactic operation moves a wh-word to the front of a question in English?

Accepted Answer

Wh-movement

Answer

Wh-movement is the syntactic operation that fronts interrogative words (who, what, where) to the beginning of questions in English.

Question 3

In the sentence 'It was the teacher who called,' what structure is being used?

Accepted Answer

It-cleft construction

Answer

An it-cleft construction uses 'it + be + focus element + relative clause' to emphasize a particular constituent.

Question 4

Which term describes a clause that can stand alone as a complete sentence?

Accepted Answer

Independent clause

Answer

An independent clause contains a subject and predicate and expresses a complete thought, allowing it to stand alone as a sentence.

Question 5

A student writes: 'Running to class, my backpack fell.' What error does this sentence contain?

Accepted Answer

Dangling modifier

Answer

A dangling modifier occurs when a participial phrase lacks a clear, logical subject that matches the main clause subject.

CALT - Certified Academic Language Therapist Practice Test