Civil Service Verbal Reasoning Test Spelling and Punctuation 2

Question 1

Which sentence uses an apostrophe correctly?

Accepted Answer

The dog's bone was buried in the garden.

Answer

'The dog's bone' correctly places the apostrophe before the 's' to show singular possession.

Question 2

Which sentence is punctuated correctly?

Accepted Answer

It's a lovely day today.

Answer

'It's' is the contraction of 'it is', and an apostrophe replacing the missing letter is required here.

Question 3

Choose the correctly punctuated sentence.

Accepted Answer

The report, which was submitted late, caused delays.

Answer

The non-restrictive clause 'which was submitted late' adds extra information and must be enclosed by commas on both sides.

Question 4

Which sentence uses a semicolon correctly?

Accepted Answer

He was tired; however, he continued working.

Answer

A semicolon is correctly used before a conjunctive adverb such as 'however' to connect two independent clauses.

Question 5

Select the sentence with correct punctuation.

Accepted Answer

Please bring the following: pens, paper and a calculator.

Answer

A colon is the correct punctuation after 'following' to introduce an explicit list of items.

Civil Service Verbal Reasoning Practice Test