CTBS Writing and Composition 2 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: Which sentence contains a clear main idea supported by specific evidence?
- Dogs are better than cats because of many reasons.
- Some animals make good pets.
- Dogs make excellent pets because they are loyal, trainable, and provide companionship. (Correct answer)
- Pets can be a lot of work for their owners sometimes.
Correct answer: Dogs make excellent pets because they are loyal, trainable, and provide companionship.
This sentence states a clear main idea (dogs make excellent pets) and supports it with three specific reasons (loyal, trainable, companionship).
Question 2: A student writes: 'My favorite food is pizza. Pizza is round. I eat pizza on Fridays.' What is the biggest weakness of this paragraph?
- The sentences are too long and complex.
- The paragraph lacks a clear topic sentence.
- The sentences do not develop or support a central idea. (Correct answer)
- The paragraph has too many different ideas.
Correct answer: The sentences do not develop or support a central idea.
Although all three sentences are about pizza, they offer unrelated facts and do not work together to support or develop a central idea or argument.
Question 3: Which revision corrects the run-on sentence: 'Maria finished her homework she went outside to play'?
- Maria finished her homework. she went outside to play.
- Maria finished her homework, and she went outside to play. (Correct answer)
- Maria finished, her homework she went outside to play.
- Maria finished her homework she, went outside to play.
Correct answer: Maria finished her homework, and she went outside to play.
Adding a comma and the coordinating conjunction 'and' correctly joins the two independent clauses into a proper compound sentence.
Question 4: What does it mean to 'revise' a piece of writing?
- To check for spelling and punctuation errors only
- To recopy the draft neatly without making changes
- To improve the content, organization, and clarity of the writing (Correct answer)
- To choose a topic and brainstorm ideas
Correct answer: To improve the content, organization, and clarity of the writing
Revision involves making improvements to the content, structure, word choice, and clarity of a draft, which is different from proofreading for mechanical errors.
Question 5: Which of the following is the best example of descriptive writing?
- You should always wear sunscreen when you go to the beach.
- The history of the beach as a vacation destination spans centuries.
- Last summer I went to the beach and had fun.
- The salty breeze carried the sound of crashing waves across the warm, golden sand. (Correct answer)
Correct answer: The salty breeze carried the sound of crashing waves across the warm, golden sand.
This sentence uses sensory details (salty, crashing, warm, golden) to paint a vivid picture, which is the hallmark of descriptive writing.
Question 6: A student wants to write a narrative about a memorable event. Which element is MOST important to include?
- Statistics and data supporting the event's importance
- A sequence of events told from a specific point of view (Correct answer)
- Arguments for why the reader should agree with the writer
- A definition of all unfamiliar vocabulary words
Correct answer: A sequence of events told from a specific point of view
Narrative writing tells a story using a sequence of events from a specific point of view, which distinguishes it from other writing types like persuasive or expository.
Question 7: Which word in this sentence is an example of figurative language? 'The wind whispered secrets through the trees.'
- trees
- through
- whispered (Correct answer)
- wind
Correct answer: whispered
The word 'whispered' is an example of personification, a type of figurative language that gives a non-human thing (the wind) a human action (whispering).
CTBS Writing and Composition 2
Which sentence contains a clear main idea supported by specific evidence?