Texas Civil Service Exam Grammar and Writing Skills 3 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: Which sentence correctly uses 'who' vs. 'whom'?
- Who did the supervisor assign to the task? (Correct answer)
- The officer whom responded first was commended.
- Whom is responsible for filing the daily log?
- To who should the complaint be addressed?
Correct answer: Who did the supervisor assign to the task?
In this question, 'who' is the object of 'did assign,' but the inverted structure makes 'who' correct as the subject substitute here — the standard rule applies: use 'whom' only when it functions as an object.
Question 2: Which sentence contains a misplaced modifier?
- The officer carefully documented the scene.
- She only works the night shift on Fridays.
- He nearly drove 200 miles to reach the conference. (Correct answer)
- The supervisor quietly reviewed the new policy.
Correct answer: He nearly drove 200 miles to reach the conference.
'Nearly' is misplaced; it should read 'He drove nearly 200 miles' to modify the distance, not the verb.
Question 3: Select the sentence that uses parallel structure correctly.
- The officer must document incidents, to file reports, and submitting evidence.
- The officer must document incidents, file reports, and submit evidence. (Correct answer)
- The officer must documenting incidents, filing reports, and to submit evidence.
- The officer must to document incidents, file reports, and submitting evidence.
Correct answer: The officer must document incidents, file reports, and submit evidence.
Parallel structure requires that items in a series use the same grammatical form; here all verbs are in the base form.
Question 4: Which word is spelled correctly?
- accomodation
- recieve
- judgement
- surveillance (Correct answer)
Correct answer: surveillance
'Surveillance' is the correct spelling; common misspellings include 'surveilance' or 'surveliance.'
Question 5: Which sentence demonstrates correct use of an apostrophe?
- The departments policy was updated last week.
- The department's policy was updated last week. (Correct answer)
- The departments' policy was updated last week.
- The department policy's was updated last week.
Correct answer: The department's policy was updated last week.
A singular possessive noun takes an apostrophe followed by 's' to show ownership.
Question 6: Choose the sentence with the correct use of 'affect' vs. 'effect.'
- The new policy will effect all employees immediately.
- What affect will the budget cuts have on staffing?
- The supervisor hoped to effect positive change in the unit. (Correct answer)
- The loud noise did not effected the officer's concentration.
Correct answer: The supervisor hoped to effect positive change in the unit.
'Effect' can be used as a verb meaning 'to bring about,' as in 'to effect change,' which is correct here.
Question 7: Which sentence correctly uses a colon?
- The officer needed: a flashlight, handcuffs, and a radio.
- There are three requirements for the position: experience, training, and references. (Correct answer)
- She submitted: the report before midnight.
- The supervisor asked for: the incident log.
Correct answer: There are three requirements for the position: experience, training, and references.
A colon is used after a complete independent clause to introduce a list or explanation.
Texas Civil Service Exam Grammar and Writing Skills 3
Which sentence correctly uses 'who' vs. 'whom'?