ELAR Oral & Written Communication 5 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: Which sentence demonstrates correct use of parallel structure?
- She likes hiking, to swim, and running.
- She likes hiking, swimming, and running. (Correct answer)
- She likes to hike, swimming, and to run.
- She likes hike, swim, and to run.
Correct answer: She likes hiking, swimming, and running.
Parallel structure requires that items in a series use the same grammatical form; 'hiking, swimming, and running' all use the gerund (-ing) form.
Question 2: A speaker uses a rhetorical question during a debate. The primary purpose of this technique is to:
- Request a direct answer from the audience
- Introduce a new topic abruptly
- Provoke thought or emphasize a point without expecting a response (Correct answer)
- Acknowledge an opposing argument
Correct answer: Provoke thought or emphasize a point without expecting a response
A rhetorical question is used to make the audience think or to emphasize a point, not to receive a literal answer.
Question 3: Which of the following is the best example of an objective, formal tone in writing?
- I totally think the new law is the worst idea ever!
- The data suggests that the policy had a measurable impact on student performance. (Correct answer)
- You won't believe how bad the results turned out to be.
- Honestly, who even thought this plan would work?
Correct answer: The data suggests that the policy had a measurable impact on student performance.
A formal, objective tone avoids emotional language and first-person opinion, instead relying on evidence-based, neutral phrasing.
Question 4: When revising a draft, which of the following tasks is most associated with editing rather than proofreading?
- Correcting spelling errors
- Fixing punctuation mistakes
- Improving sentence structure and word choice for clarity (Correct answer)
- Checking for consistent capitalization
Correct answer: Improving sentence structure and word choice for clarity
Editing focuses on improving the quality of writing — such as sentence structure, clarity, and word choice — while proofreading catches surface-level errors.
Question 5: Which sentence correctly uses an appositive phrase?
- My brother, who is the oldest child, graduated last year. (Correct answer)
- My brother the oldest child graduated last year.
- My brother is the oldest child, graduated last year.
- My brother, the oldest child graduated last year.
Correct answer: My brother, who is the oldest child, graduated last year.
An appositive phrase renames or describes a nearby noun; it is correctly set off by commas as in 'who is the oldest child.'
Question 6: A student is asked to summarize a passage. Which of the following actions best demonstrates effective summarization?
- Copying key sentences word-for-word from the text
- Restating the main idea and key supporting points in the student's own words (Correct answer)
- Including every detail and example from the original passage
- Adding the student's personal opinion about the topic
Correct answer: Restating the main idea and key supporting points in the student's own words
Effective summarization involves identifying the main idea and key points and paraphrasing them concisely without copying the original text or adding personal opinion.
Question 7: Which of the following best explains why varying sentence length is important in written communication?
- It allows writers to use more vocabulary words.
- It creates rhythm, emphasis, and prevents monotony in the writing. (Correct answer)
- It makes the essay longer and more impressive.
- It ensures that every paragraph has an equal number of sentences.
Correct answer: It creates rhythm, emphasis, and prevents monotony in the writing.
Varying sentence length creates natural rhythm, highlights important ideas with short sentences, and prevents the writing from feeling flat or repetitive.
ELAR Oral & Written Communication 5
Which sentence demonstrates correct use of parallel structure?