TACHS Written Expression 2 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: A student writes: 'The movie was very very very exciting.' Which revision is most effective?
- The movie was exciting in every way.
- The movie was so exciting that the audience cheered at every twist. (Correct answer)
- The movie was very exciting and good.
- The movie's excitement was very clear.
Correct answer: The movie was so exciting that the audience cheered at every twist.
Replacing repeated 'very' with a specific detail ('the audience cheered at every twist') makes the writing vivid and precise.
Question 2: Which sentence demonstrates the most formal writing style appropriate for an essay?
- Kids should totally get more recess 'cause it's way more fun.
- Students would benefit greatly from additional recess time. (Correct answer)
- More recess would be awesome for everyone.
- Recess is great and stuff, you know?
Correct answer: Students would benefit greatly from additional recess time.
Formal writing avoids slang, contractions, and casual language — it uses precise vocabulary and complete sentences.
Question 3: In a persuasive essay, which element is most important for convincing the reader?
- Using colorful and dramatic language only
- Providing strong, specific evidence to support your claim (Correct answer)
- Writing as many paragraphs as possible
- Including personal stories only
Correct answer: Providing strong, specific evidence to support your claim
Strong evidence — facts, statistics, examples — is the foundation of persuasive writing and makes arguments credible.
Question 4: Which organizational structure is best for a TACHS essay comparing two books?
- Stream of consciousness
- Point-by-point comparison (Correct answer)
- Chronological narrative
- Problem-solution format
Correct answer: Point-by-point comparison
A point-by-point structure addresses one aspect of comparison at a time, making similarities and differences clear and organized.
Question 5: Which sentence contains wordiness that should be eliminated?
- She finished the report.
- Due to the fact that she was tired, she rested. (Correct answer)
- He ran three miles.
- The class ended at noon.
Correct answer: Due to the fact that she was tired, she rested.
'Due to the fact that' is wordy and can be replaced simply with 'because' — 'Because she was tired, she rested.'
Question 6: When revising an essay, a student should focus FIRST on:
- Fixing spelling errors
- Correcting punctuation marks
- Strengthening the content, structure, and clarity of ideas (Correct answer)
- Changing the font and formatting
Correct answer: Strengthening the content, structure, and clarity of ideas
Revision focuses on improving ideas, organization, and clarity before addressing sentence-level errors like spelling and punctuation.
TACHS Written Expression 2
A student writes: 'The movie was very very very exciting.' Which revision is most effective?