TSI Sentence Revision and Editing 2 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: Which revision best corrects the comma splice: "The lab closed early, the students finished their experiments at home"?
- The lab closed early; the students finished their experiments at home. (Correct answer)
- The lab closed early, the students finished, their experiments at home.
- The lab closed early the students finished their experiments at home.
- The lab closed early, the students, finished their experiments at home.
Correct answer: The lab closed early; the students finished their experiments at home.
A semicolon correctly joins two independent clauses without a coordinating conjunction.
Question 2: Choose the sentence with correct subject-verb agreement.
- Each of the players bring a water bottle.
- Each of the players brings a water bottle. (Correct answer)
- Each of the players are bringing a water bottle.
- Each of the players have brought a water bottle.
Correct answer: Each of the players brings a water bottle.
"Each" is singular and requires the singular verb "brings."
Question 3: Which revision fixes the dangling modifier: "Walking to school, the rain soaked my jacket"?
- Walking to school, my jacket was soaked by the rain.
- The rain, walking to school, soaked my jacket.
- Walking to school, I got my jacket soaked by the rain. (Correct answer)
- Walking to school the rain soaked my jacket.
Correct answer: Walking to school, I got my jacket soaked by the rain.
The modifier must describe a person who can walk, so "I" must follow it.
Question 4: Which word choice is correct: "The new policy will ____ how we file reports"?
- affect (Correct answer)
- effect
- affects
- effected
Correct answer: affect
"Affect" is the verb meaning to influence, which fits this sentence.
Question 5: Select the most concise revision: "Due to the fact that it was raining, we stayed inside."
- Due to the fact that it rained, we stayed inside.
- Because it was raining, we stayed inside. (Correct answer)
- On account of the fact it was raining, we stayed inside.
- In light of the rain happening, we stayed inside.
Correct answer: Because it was raining, we stayed inside.
"Because" replaces the wordy phrase "due to the fact that" cleanly.
Question 6: Which sentence uses parallel structure correctly?
- She likes hiking, swimming, and to bike.
- She likes to hike, swimming, and biking.
- She likes hiking, swimming, and biking. (Correct answer)
- She likes hike, swim, and biking.
Correct answer: She likes hiking, swimming, and biking.
All three items use the same -ing gerund form for parallelism.
Question 7: Choose the correct pronoun: "Neither the manager nor the employees finished ____ task."
- his
- their (Correct answer)
- its
- her
Correct answer: their
With "nor," the pronoun agrees with the nearer subject "employees," which is plural.
TSI Sentence Revision and Editing 2
Which revision best corrects the comma splice: "The lab closed early, the students finished their experiments at home"?