ITBS - Iowa Test of Basic Skills Capitalization and Punctuation Questions and Answers

Question 1

Which of the following sentences uses capitalization correctly?

Accepted Answer

Last summer, my family and I went to see the Pacific Ocean.

Answer

Proper nouns, which include specific people, places, and things, must be capitalized. 'Pacific Ocean' is the specific name of an ocean and should be capitalized. In the other options, 'Christmas,' 'Washington, D.C.,' and 'spring' are incorrectly capitalized (seasons are not capitalized unless part of a proper name). 'Aunt Carol' is correct, but 'Spring' is not.

Question 2

Read the following sentence: 'Let's eat grandma!' Which punctuation mark is needed to change the meaning and make the sentence a safe suggestion?

Accepted Answer

A comma

Answer

A comma is needed for direct address. Placing a comma after 'eat' separates the person being spoken to ('grandma') from the action, changing the sentence to 'Let's eat, grandma!'. This makes it an invitation for grandma to eat, rather than a suggestion to eat her.

Question 3

Which sentence correctly uses an apostrophe to show possession?

Accepted Answer

That is my friend's new bicycle.

Answer

To show singular possession, you add an apostrophe followed by an 's' ('friend's'). 'Dogs's' is incorrect for a plural noun; it should be 'dogs''. 'Students' and 'cats' are plural nouns, so the apostrophe should come after the 's' to show possession (students', cats').

Question 4

In which sentence is punctuation used correctly?

Accepted Answer

I asked my mom, "Can we go to the park?"

Answer

Quotation marks are used to enclose a direct quote, and the punctuation (in this case, a question mark) goes inside the closing quotation mark. Option A incorrectly uses a colon after a verb. Option C confuses 'it's' (it is) with the possessive 'its'. Option D incorrectly uses a semicolon before a coordinating conjunction ('but'); a comma would be appropriate.

Question 5

Dr. Evans lives at 123 Main Street, Anytown, USA. When writing his title and address, which part contains a capitalization error?

Accepted Answer

123 Main street

Answer

The names of specific streets are proper nouns and should be fully capitalized. Therefore, 'Main Street' should be capitalized, not 'Main street'. Titles like 'Dr.', names of people, cities, and countries are all capitalized correctly.

ITBS - Iowa Test of Basic Skills Exam Practice Test

ITBS - Iowa Test of Basic Skills Exam Practice Test

ITBS - Iowa Test of Basic Skills Capitalization and Punctuation Questions and Answers