TSI - Texas Success Initiative Sentence Revision and Editing Questions and Answers

Question 1

Read the following sentence: The city council, after a long and contentious debate, they finally approved the new zoning ordinance. Which of the following revisions is the most effective?

Accepted Answer

The city council, after a long and contentious debate, finally approved the new zoning ordinance.

Answer

The original sentence contains a redundant pronoun ('they'). The subject of the sentence is 'The city council,' so the pronoun 'they' is unnecessary and makes the sentence grammatically incorrect. The correct revision removes the redundant pronoun, creating a clear and concise sentence.

Question 2

Which of the following sentences is grammatically correct?

Accepted Answer

The committee has submitted its report to the board of directors.

Answer

This sentence correctly uses a singular verb ('has') to agree with the collective noun 'committee.' The pronoun 'its' also correctly refers to the singular 'committee.' The other options contain errors: A has a subject-verb agreement error ('manager... was'), B has a subject-verb agreement error ('Each... is'), and C contains a dangling modifier ('the bus' was not running down the street).

Question 3

Read the following sentences: The historic theater was a beloved landmark. It was demolished to make way for a new shopping mall. Which is the best way to combine these two sentences?

Accepted Answer

Although the historic theater was a beloved landmark, it was demolished to make way for a new shopping mall.

Answer

This option correctly uses the subordinating conjunction 'Although' to show the contrast between the theater's status as a beloved landmark and its demolition. This creates a complex sentence that clearly expresses the relationship between the two ideas. Option A is a comma splice, Option C is a sentence fragment, and Option D is grammatically incorrect.

Question 4

Which revision best corrects the error in the following sentence? Having studied for weeks, the final exam was still surprisingly difficult.

Accepted Answer

Even after studying for weeks, I found the final exam to be surprisingly difficult.

Answer

The original sentence contains a dangling modifier. The phrase 'Having studied for weeks' does not logically modify 'the final exam' (the exam didn't study). The corrected sentence clarifies who performed the action of studying ('I'), thus fixing the modification error and creating a logical sentence.

Question 5

Select the best version of the underlined part of the sentence. The naturalist explained that the migration of monarch butterflies, a journey that can span thousands of miles, are one of the most fascinating phenomena in the animal kingdom.

Accepted Answer

is one of the most fascinating phenomena

Answer

The subject of the verb is 'migration' (singular), not 'butterflies' (plural). Therefore, the singular verb 'is' is required to agree with the subject. The word 'phenomena' is the correct plural form of 'phenomenon.'

TSI Practice Test

TSI Practice Test

TSI - Texas Success Initiative Sentence Revision and Editing Questions and Answers