NYC - Civil Service Exam Civil Service Written Expression and Grammar 1 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: Which sentence is written correctly?
- Neither the supervisor nor the employees was informed of the change.
- Neither the supervisor nor the employees were informed of the change. (Correct answer)
- Neither the supervisor nor the employees has been informed of the change.
- Neither the supervisor nor the employees are being inform of the change.
Correct answer: Neither the supervisor nor the employees were informed of the change.
When using 'neither...nor,' the verb agrees with the subject closest to it. Since 'employees' (plural) is closest, the plural verb 'were' is correct.
Question 2: Which sentence uses the apostrophe correctly?
- The department's policy requires all staff to submit they're reports by Friday.
- The departments' policy requires all staff to submit their reports by Friday.
- The department's policy requires all staff to submit their reports by Friday. (Correct answer)
- The departments policy requires all staff to submit there reports by Friday.
Correct answer: The department's policy requires all staff to submit their reports by Friday.
'Department's' correctly shows singular possession with an apostrophe before the 's', and 'their' is the correct possessive pronoun — not 'they're' (a contraction) or 'there' (a location).
Question 3: Select the sentence that is free of a dangling modifier.
- Walking through the lobby, the new security cameras were noticed by the inspector.
- After reviewing the file, the case was closed by the clerk.
- While reviewing the file, the clerk decided to close the case. (Correct answer)
- To complete the application, a birth certificate is required by the office.
Correct answer: While reviewing the file, the clerk decided to close the case.
In option C, the subject 'the clerk' logically performs the action 'reviewing the file.' In the other options, the implied subject of the introductory phrase does not match the subject of the main clause, creating a dangling modifier.
Question 4: Which word correctly completes the sentence? 'The memo was addressed to _____ will be attending the training session.'
- who
- whom
- whoever (Correct answer)
- whomever
Correct answer: whoever
'Whoever' is correct because it functions as the subject of the dependent clause 'will be attending the training session.' The entire clause acts as the object of the preposition 'to,' but within its own clause, 'whoever' is a subject, not an object.
Question 5: Which sentence uses commas correctly?
- The officer filed the report, and, submitted it to the sergeant before noon.
- The officer, who had been on duty since midnight, submitted the report before noon. (Correct answer)
- The officer submitted the report before noon, but, did not notify the sergeant.
- The officer, submitted the report, and notified the sergeant, before noon.
Correct answer: The officer, who had been on duty since midnight, submitted the report before noon.
Option B correctly uses commas to set off the nonessential relative clause 'who had been on duty since midnight.' The other options insert commas incorrectly between a subject and verb or between a conjunction and its clause.
Question 6: Which sentence avoids a double negative?
- The applicant did not submit no additional documents with the form.
- The inspector couldn't find no violations during the routine check.
- The clerk did not receive any confirmation of the updated address. (Correct answer)
- The supervisor didn't have no record of the employee's request.
Correct answer: The clerk did not receive any confirmation of the updated address.
Option C uses the correct single negative construction 'did not receive any.' The other options each pair a negative verb ('did not,' 'couldn't,' 'didn't') with a negative indefinite ('no'), creating a grammatically incorrect double negative.
NYC - Civil Service Exam Civil Service Written Expression and Grammar 1
Which sentence is written correctly?