Grammarly Certified Advanced Grammar and Language Specialist Editing and Proofreading Techniques 2 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: Which proofreading strategy involves checking one category of error at a time across the entire document?
- Parallel reading
- Isolated pass reading (Correct answer)
- Chunked editing
- Sequential scanning
Correct answer: Isolated pass reading
Making isolated passes—checking spelling in one pass, punctuation in another, and formatting in another—prevents the brain from overlooking errors when trying to monitor multiple things simultaneously.
Question 2: In copy editing, what does 'querying the author' mean?
- Returning the entire manuscript for a complete rewrite
- Leaving a comment or question for the author about a specific word, fact, or passage (Correct answer)
- Deleting questionable content and providing a written explanation
- Asking the publisher to clarify which style guide applies
Correct answer: Leaving a comment or question for the author about a specific word, fact, or passage
A query is a note left by the editor asking the author to clarify, verify, or reconsider a specific element rather than the editor making the decision unilaterally.
Question 3: What is the purpose of performing a 'cold read' during proofreading?
- Proofreading in a cool environment to maintain alertness
- Reviewing the document after stepping away from it to see it with fresh eyes (Correct answer)
- Having someone with no knowledge of the topic read the document
- Reviewing only the newly added or recently revised sections
Correct answer: Reviewing the document after stepping away from it to see it with fresh eyes
A cold read, performed after setting the document aside for a period of time, helps the proofreader approach the text fresh and catch errors that familiarity causes the brain to overlook.
Question 4: In traditional proofreading markup, what does the instruction 'stet' mean?
- Insert a space between the marked elements
- Let the original text stand; ignore the previous editorial mark (Correct answer)
- Set the text in a new typeface or style
- Move the marked sentence to a new location
Correct answer: Let the original text stand; ignore the previous editorial mark
'Stet' is a Latin proofreading term meaning 'let it stand,' used to cancel a previous editorial correction and restore the original text.
Question 5: For which editing task is the 'global search and replace' function most valuable?
- Correcting a consistently misspelled name or term throughout a document
- Replacing all formatting styles with new ones
- Finding every instance of a repeated grammatical error pattern
- Both correcting consistent misspellings and finding repeated error patterns (Correct answer)
Correct answer: Both correcting consistent misspellings and finding repeated error patterns
Global search and replace is most powerful for any error that appears repeatedly—whether a misspelled name, an incorrect term, or a consistent grammatical pattern—throughout a document.
Question 6: What does editing for 'parallel structure' in a list require?
- Ensuring each list item uses matching indentation and spacing
- Making sure each list item uses the same grammatical form (Correct answer)
- Verifying that each item in the list is approximately equal in length
- Confirming that items are arranged in alphabetical or chronological order
Correct answer: Making sure each list item uses the same grammatical form
Parallel structure requires that all items in a list use the same grammatical form—such as all gerunds, all infinitives, or all noun phrases—for clarity and readability.
Question 7: Which editing level would most appropriately address an essay's unclear or underdeveloped thesis?
- Proofreading
- Copy editing
- Developmental editing (Correct answer)
- Fact-checking
Correct answer: Developmental editing
Developmental editing addresses high-level concerns like argument strength, thesis clarity, and overall organizational structure, which are content issues beyond the scope of copy editing or proofreading.
Grammarly Certified Advanced Grammar and Language Specialist Editing and Proofreading Techniques 2
Which proofreading strategy involves checking one category of error at a time across the entire document?