Clerical Exams CLERICAL Proofreading 2 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: Which of the following sentences contains a spelling error?
- The committee will convene on Thursday to discuss the budget.
- The new proceedure requires all forms to be submitted electronically. (Correct answer)
- Please ensure that all documents are filed in alphabetical order.
- The supervisor approved the revised schedule for next week.
Correct answer: The new proceedure requires all forms to be submitted electronically.
"Proceedure" is a misspelling; the correct spelling is "procedure."
Question 2: In the sentence 'The office recieved twelve applications for the clerical position,' what error is present?
- Subject-verb disagreement
- Incorrect number format
- A misspelled word (Correct answer)
- Missing punctuation
Correct answer: A misspelled word
"Recieved" violates the i-before-e rule and should be spelled "received."
Question 3: Which revision correctly fixes this sentence? 'Each of the employees need to submit their timesheets by Friday.'
- Each of the employees needs to submit their timesheets by Friday.
- Each of the employees need to submit his timesheets by Friday.
- Each of the employees needs to submit his or her timesheet by Friday. (Correct answer)
- Each of the employee needs to submit their timesheets by Friday.
Correct answer: Each of the employees needs to submit his or her timesheet by Friday.
"Each" is singular and requires "needs" and the singular pronoun "his or her" with "timesheet."
Question 4: A proofreader finds the phrase 'the affect of the new policy' in a memo. What correction should be made?
- Change "affect" to "effect" (Correct answer)
- Change "the" to "an"
- Change "of" to "on"
- No correction is needed
Correct answer: Change "affect" to "effect"
As a noun meaning result or impact, the correct word is "effect," not "affect."
Question 5: Which of the following contains a punctuation error?
- The clerk filed the reports; however, two were incomplete.
- The department's policy states: employees must badge in daily. (Correct answer)
- The manager asked, "Has the mail been sorted yet?"
- Dear Ms. Alvarez,
Correct answer: The department's policy states: employees must badge in daily.
After a colon introducing a complete sentence in formal writing, the first word should be capitalized, but more critically the sentence lacks proper quotation or formatting to set off the rule.
Question 6: While proofreading a form letter, you notice the sentence: 'We look forward to recieve your completed application.' What should be corrected?
- Change "look" to "looks"
- Change "recieve" to "receive" (Correct answer)
- Change "completed" to "complete"
- Change "your" to "you're"
Correct answer: Change "recieve" to "receive"
"Recieve" is misspelled; the correct form following the i-before-e rule is "receive."
Clerical Exams CLERICAL Proofreading 2
Which of the following sentences contains a spelling error?