Proofreading & Editing Proofreading Assessment 2 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: Which sentence contains a dangling modifier?
- Running through the park, the dog chased the squirrel. (Correct answer)
- Running through the park, Sarah saw a squirrel.
- The dog, running through the park, chased the squirrel.
- Sarah ran through the park and saw a squirrel.
Correct answer: Running through the park, the dog chased the squirrel.
In the first sentence, 'Running through the park' modifies 'the dog,' but the dog isn't the one running — Sarah is, making it a dangling modifier.
Question 2: Identify the error in this sentence: 'The committee have reached their decision.'
- Comma splice
- Subject-verb agreement error
- No error — collective nouns take plural verbs in American English (Correct answer)
- Incorrect pronoun case
Correct answer: No error — collective nouns take plural verbs in American English
In American English, collective nouns like 'committee' typically take singular verbs ('has'), but this is a style preference, not a hard error in all dialects.
Question 3: Which word is misspelled?
- Accommodate
- Occurrence
- Supercede (Correct answer)
- Necessary
Correct answer: Supercede
'Supersede' is the correct spelling — it comes from the Latin 'supersedere,' not 'supercede.'
Question 4: Which sentence uses the semicolon correctly?
- She loves coffee; and tea.
- He finished early; however, he stayed to help. (Correct answer)
- They went to the store; buying milk and eggs.
- The car; which was red, needed repairs.
Correct answer: He finished early; however, he stayed to help.
A semicolon correctly joins two independent clauses, and conjunctive adverbs like 'however' are preceded by a semicolon and followed by a comma.
Question 5: Which sentence contains a split infinitive?
- She decided to leave early.
- He wanted to quickly finish the report. (Correct answer)
- They agreed to postpone the meeting.
- We planned to attend the conference.
Correct answer: He wanted to quickly finish the report.
A split infinitive occurs when an adverb is placed between 'to' and the verb, as in 'to quickly finish.'
Question 6: What is the error in: 'Between you and I, the project was poorly managed.'
- Incorrect preposition
- Wrong pronoun case — should be 'me' (Correct answer)
- Passive voice misuse
- No error
Correct answer: Wrong pronoun case — should be 'me'
After prepositions like 'between,' object pronouns are required, so 'me' is correct, not 'I.'
Question 7: Which sentence correctly uses a hyphen?
- She is a well known author.
- The well-known author signed books. (Correct answer)
- He well-known wrote the novel.
- The author, well known, signed books.
Correct answer: The well-known author signed books.
Compound modifiers before a noun are hyphenated ('well-known author'), but not when used predicatively ('The author is well known').
Proofreading & Editing Proofreading Assessment 2
Which sentence contains a dangling modifier?