ParaPro Assessment Test Grammar and Mechanics (Conventions of Standard English) — Questions and Answers
Question 1: Which sentence uses correct subject-verb agreement?
- The list of supplies are on the table.
- Each of the students were given a worksheet.
- Neither the teacher nor the aides was available.
- The teacher and her aide are preparing the lesson. (Correct answer)
Correct answer: The teacher and her aide are preparing the lesson.
When two subjects are joined by 'and,' the verb is plural. 'The teacher and her aide are' is correct. In the other sentences, the true subject is singular and requires a singular verb.
Question 2: Which sentence is punctuated correctly?
- We will visit the museum on friday, march 5.
- We will visit the museum on Friday, March 5. (Correct answer)
- We will visit the museum on Friday March 5.
- We will visit the museum on friday March 5.
Correct answer: We will visit the museum on Friday, March 5.
Days of the week and months are proper nouns and must be capitalized. A comma separates the day of the week from the date.
Question 3: Which pronoun correctly completes the sentence? 'Every student must bring _____ own pencil.'
- their
- his or her (Correct answer)
- our
- its
Correct answer: his or her
'Every student' is singular, so the pronoun must be singular. 'His or her' is the formally correct singular pronoun reference. (In formal written English tested on the ParaPro, 'his or her' is preferred over 'their' with a singular antecedent.)
Question 4: Identify the correctly spelled word in the following group:
- recieve
- accomodate
- necessary (Correct answer)
- occured
Correct answer: necessary
'Necessary' is correctly spelled (one 'c', two 's'). 'Receive' follows the i-before-e rule after certain letters; 'accommodate' has two c's and two m's; 'occurred' has two r's.
Question 5: Which sentence contains a comma splice error?
- The students finished the test, and they handed it in.
- The students finished the test; they handed it in.
- The students finished the test, they handed it in. (Correct answer)
- The students finished the test before handing it in.
Correct answer: The students finished the test, they handed it in.
A comma splice occurs when two independent clauses are joined with only a comma. Option C joins two complete sentences ('The students finished the test' and 'they handed it in') with just a comma, which is an error.
Question 6: Which revision corrects the dangling modifier in this sentence? 'Running down the hall, the bell rang.'
- Running down the hall, and then the bell rang.
- The bell rang while running down the hall.
- Running down the hall, the students heard the bell ring. (Correct answer)
- The bell was ringing and the students ran down the hall.
Correct answer: Running down the hall, the students heard the bell ring.
The participial phrase 'Running down the hall' must logically modify the subject of the main clause. Only option C makes the students (not the bell) the ones running down the hall.
ParaPro Assessment Test Grammar and Mechanics (Conventions of Standard English)
Which sentence uses correct subject-verb agreement?