OLNA - Online Literacy and Numeracy Assessment Writing: Punctuation and Grammar Questions and Answers

Question 1

Which of the following sentences uses commas correctly?

Accepted Answer

The tour guide, a cheerful and knowledgeable woman, pointed out several historical landmarks.

Answer

The phrase 'a cheerful and knowledgeable woman' is an appositive, which provides extra information about the noun 'tour guide'. Appositives must be set off from the rest of the sentence by commas.

Question 2

Read the following sentence: 'The citys main attraction, the old clock tower, is currently under repair.' Which word contains a punctuation error?

Accepted Answer

citys

Answer

The word 'citys' requires an apostrophe to show possession. Since the city possesses the main attraction, the correct form is 'city's'.

Question 3

Which sentence is grammatically correct and avoids a run-on error?

Accepted Answer

The storm raged all night. The power went out for three hours.

Answer

This option correctly separates two independent clauses (complete thoughts) into two distinct sentences using a full stop. The other options either create a comma splice (joining two independent clauses with only a comma) or a fused sentence (no punctuation between clauses).

Question 4

A student is writing a persuasive essay about school uniforms. Which sentence demonstrates the correct use of a colon?

Accepted Answer

There is one main reason to support school uniforms: they promote a sense of equality among students.

Answer

A colon is used correctly here to introduce an explanation or elaboration of the preceding independent clause. The first clause, 'There is one main reason to support school uniforms,' is a complete sentence that is explained by the clause following the colon.

Question 5

Which of the following sentences correctly uses an apostrophe to show a contraction?

Accepted Answer

They're planning to visit the museum tomorrow.

Answer

The word 'They're' is the correct contraction for 'They are'. 'Its' is possessive, 'Your' should be 'You're' (you are), and 'it's' (it is) is needed in the last option, not the possessive 'its'.

OLNA - Online Literacy and Numeracy Assessment Practice Test

OLNA - Online Literacy and Numeracy Assessment Practice Test

OLNA - Online Literacy and Numeracy Assessment Writing: Punctuation and Grammar Questions and Answers