NYC - Civil Service Exam Civil Service Written Expression and Grammar 1

Question 1

Which sentence is written correctly?

Accepted Answer

Neither the supervisor nor the employees were informed of the change.

Answer

When using 'neither...nor,' the verb agrees with the subject closest to it. Since 'employees' (plural) is closest, the plural verb 'were' is correct.

Question 2

Which sentence uses the apostrophe correctly?

Accepted Answer

The department's policy requires all staff to submit their reports by Friday.

Answer

'Department's' correctly shows singular possession with an apostrophe before the 's', and 'their' is the correct possessive pronoun — not 'they're' (a contraction) or 'there' (a location).

Question 3

Select the sentence that is free of a dangling modifier.

Accepted Answer

While reviewing the file, the clerk decided to close the case.

Answer

In option C, the subject 'the clerk' logically performs the action 'reviewing the file.' In the other options, the implied subject of the introductory phrase does not match the subject of the main clause, creating a dangling modifier.

Question 4

Which word correctly completes the sentence? 'The memo was addressed to _____ will be attending the training session.'

Accepted Answer

whoever

Answer

'Whoever' is correct because it functions as the subject of the dependent clause 'will be attending the training session.' The entire clause acts as the object of the preposition 'to,' but within its own clause, 'whoever' is a subject, not an object.

Question 5

Which sentence uses commas correctly?

Accepted Answer

The officer, who had been on duty since midnight, submitted the report before noon.

Answer

Option B correctly uses commas to set off the nonessential relative clause 'who had been on duty since midnight.' The other options insert commas incorrectly between a subject and verb or between a conjunction and its clause.

NYC - Civil Service Exam Practice Test

NYC - Civil Service Exam Practice Test

NYC - Civil Service Exam Civil Service Written Expression and Grammar 1