CPW Editing and Revision Techniques 5 ā Questions and Answers
Question 1: A writer finds they have written: 'The committee has made a decision to postpone the meeting.' The best revision for concision is:
- 'The committee decided to postpone the meeting.' (Correct answer)
- 'A decision was made by the committee to postpone.'
- 'The committee has decided on postponement of the meeting.'
- 'The meeting will be postponed by the committee's decision.'
Correct answer: 'The committee decided to postpone the meeting.'
'Has made a decision to' is a nominalization; replacing it with the verb 'decided' is more direct and concise.
Question 2: Which of the following best describes the 'given-new contract' in sentence revision?
- Every sentence must begin with a conjunction
- Place familiar information at the start of a sentence and new information at the end (Correct answer)
- New paragraphs should always introduce a new character or concept
- The thesis statement must appear first in every paragraph
Correct answer: Place familiar information at the start of a sentence and new information at the end
The given-new contract guides readers by anchoring each sentence in known information before introducing unfamiliar content.
Question 3: When revising a document for tone, which action is most appropriate if the target audience is a senior executive?
- Replace all technical terms with colloquial language
- Remove hedging language and replace with confident, direct assertions (Correct answer)
- Add more exclamation points to show enthusiasm
- Increase sentence length to demonstrate thoroughness
Correct answer: Remove hedging language and replace with confident, direct assertions
Executive audiences expect clear, confident writing; hedging language ('it seems,' 'perhaps') undermines the document's authority.
Question 4: A writer notices that three consecutive paragraphs all begin with the subject 'The study.' The best revision strategy is to:
- Delete two of the three paragraphs
- Vary the sentence openings by restructuring syntax or reordering information (Correct answer)
- Replace 'The study' with 'It' in all but the first instance
- Add a subheading before each paragraph
Correct answer: Vary the sentence openings by restructuring syntax or reordering information
Restructuring sentence openingsāusing transitional phrases, inverted syntax, or foregrounding different elementsāeliminates monotonous repetition.
Question 5: What does it mean to 'tighten' a paragraph during revision?
- Add more evidence and examples to support the main point
- Remove redundant words, phrases, and sentences without losing meaning (Correct answer)
- Increase the paragraph's sentence count to at least five
- Standardize all verb tenses to the simple past
Correct answer: Remove redundant words, phrases, and sentences without losing meaning
Tightening removes verbal padding so every word earns its place, making the paragraph denser and more impactful.
Question 6: Which of the following is the primary purpose of a style sheet maintained by a copyeditor?
- To record formatting preferences such as font and margins
- To track document-specific decisions about spelling, hyphenation, and usage for consistency (Correct answer)
- To list all sources cited in the document
- To outline the document's argument for the author's reference
Correct answer: To track document-specific decisions about spelling, hyphenation, and usage for consistency
A copyeditor's style sheet logs every discretionary choice made during editing so those decisions are applied consistently throughout the document.
Question 7: A sentence reads: 'It is important that the writer should proofread carefully.' Which revision most effectively eliminates both the expletive opener and the redundant modal?
- 'Writers should proofread carefully.' (Correct answer)
- 'It is important for the writer to proofread.'
- 'Careful proofreading is something that is important.'
- 'The writer must proofread carefully and with importance.'
Correct answer: 'Writers should proofread carefully.'
Replacing 'It is important that the writer should' with 'Writers should' drops the expletive 'it is' construction and eliminates the redundant 'should' that follows 'important that.'
CPW Editing and Revision Techniques 5
A writer finds they have written: 'The committee has made a decision to postpone the meeting.' The best revision for concision is: