Texas Civil Service Exam Grammar and Writing Skills 4 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: Which sentence correctly distinguishes 'its' from 'it's'?
- The department updated it's records last quarter.
- Its important to submit reports on time.
- The agency revised its procedures after the audit. (Correct answer)
- The vehicle lost it's registration sticker.
Correct answer: The agency revised its procedures after the audit.
'Its' is the possessive pronoun showing the agency owns the procedures; 'it's' is a contraction of 'it is.'
Question 2: Which sentence uses the correct word form?
- The council accepted the resign of the director.
- The council accepted the resignation of the director. (Correct answer)
- The council accepted the resigning of the director.
- The council accepted the resigned of the director.
Correct answer: The council accepted the resignation of the director.
'Resignation' is the correct noun form meaning the act of formally leaving a position.
Question 3: Identify the sentence that avoids a comma splice.
- The suspect fled, the officer gave chase.
- The investigation concluded, the report was filed the next morning.
- The evidence was strong; therefore, the case proceeded to trial. (Correct answer)
- The witness arrived late, she missed the initial briefing.
Correct answer: The evidence was strong; therefore, the case proceeded to trial.
Using a semicolon followed by a conjunctive adverb and a comma correctly joins two independent clauses.
Question 4: Which of the following is a complete sentence?
- Because the officer completed all required training hours.
- Running through the downtown district before sunrise.
- The dispatcher received the call and immediately notified the unit. (Correct answer)
- Although the report was submitted on time and without errors.
Correct answer: The dispatcher received the call and immediately notified the unit.
This sentence has a subject ('the dispatcher') and a complete predicate with no dangling subordinating clause.
Question 5: Choose the option that correctly uses 'fewer' vs. 'less.'
- There were less officers on patrol during the holiday.
- The report contained less errors after revision.
- She has fewer experience than her colleague.
- Fewer complaints were filed this quarter than last. (Correct answer)
Correct answer: Fewer complaints were filed this quarter than last.
'Fewer' is used with countable nouns like 'complaints,' while 'less' is used with uncountable quantities.
Question 6: Which sentence correctly uses quotation marks?
- The officer said, "Please remain calm and step aside".
- The officer said, "Please remain calm and step aside." (Correct answer)
- The officer said, 'Please remain calm and step aside.'
- The officer said: "please remain calm and step aside."
Correct answer: The officer said, "Please remain calm and step aside."
In American English, the period is placed inside the closing quotation marks.
Question 7: Select the sentence that uses verb tense consistently.
- The officer arrived at the scene and begins questioning witnesses.
- She reviewed the file and submitted her recommendation. (Correct answer)
- He wrote the report and is submitting it to the captain.
- They gathered evidence and are presenting it to the jury.
Correct answer: She reviewed the file and submitted her recommendation.
Both verbs 'reviewed' and 'submitted' are in the past tense, maintaining consistency throughout the sentence.
Texas Civil Service Exam Grammar and Writing Skills 4
Which sentence correctly distinguishes 'its' from 'it's'?