NYSTCE ATAS Writing and Grammar Conventions 5 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: Which sentence uses capitalization correctly?
- She visited the west coast last Summer.
- My favorite subject is english.
- We celebrated Thanksgiving in november.
- The principal spoke at the Board of Education meeting. (Correct answer)
Correct answer: The principal spoke at the Board of Education meeting.
'Board of Education' is a proper noun and is correctly capitalized here.
Question 2: Which sentence contains a misplaced modifier?
- Barking loudly, the dog woke the neighbors.
- The teacher graded the papers carefully.
- She almost drove her kids to school every day. (Correct answer)
- Covered in mud, the child ran to the bathroom.
Correct answer: She almost drove her kids to school every day.
'Almost' is misplaced — it modifies 'drove' but should modify 'every day,' suggesting she rarely drove them.
Question 3: Which version correctly corrects the comma splice: 'The students were tired, they had worked all day.'?
- The students were tired; they had worked all day. (Correct answer)
- The students were tired, and, they had worked all day.
- The students were tired: they had worked all day.
- The students were tired — they had worked all day.
Correct answer: The students were tired; they had worked all day.
A semicolon properly joins two independent clauses and corrects the comma splice.
Question 4: Which word correctly completes the sentence? 'The teacher will _____ the students' questions after the lesson.'
- altar
- alter
- address (Correct answer)
- adress
Correct answer: address
'Address' is the contextually and spelling-correct word for handling questions.
Question 5: Which sentence correctly uses a hyphen?
- She is a well known teacher in the district.
- The well-known teacher received an award. (Correct answer)
- The teacher is well-known in the district.
- She is well known-for her patience.
Correct answer: The well-known teacher received an award.
Compound modifiers like 'well-known' are hyphenated when they appear before the noun they modify.
Question 6: A student writes: 'The committee have made their decision.' Is this sentence correct?
- No — 'committee' is singular and should take 'has made its decision.' (Correct answer)
- Yes — collective nouns always take plural verbs.
- No — the sentence should read 'The committees has made their decision.'
- Yes — 'their' correctly refers to the group's members individually.
Correct answer: No — 'committee' is singular and should take 'has made its decision.'
In American English, collective nouns like 'committee' typically take singular verbs and singular pronouns.
Question 7: Which sentence uses 'affect' and 'effect' correctly?
- The noise had a negative affect on the students.
- Stress can effect a student's performance.
- The new policy will effect positive change.
- Poor sleep affects a student's ability to concentrate. (Correct answer)
Correct answer: Poor sleep affects a student's ability to concentrate.
'Affects' is correctly used here as a verb meaning to influence or have an impact on.
NYSTCE ATAS Writing and Grammar Conventions 5
Which sentence uses capitalization correctly?