LANGUAGE ARTS
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Grammar and Usage
In the following sentences, four
parts of each sentence are underlined. If you think any one of the underlined
parts is incorrect, choose the letter under that part as your answer. If you
think the sentence is correct as written, choose (E) as your answer. Please
note: read together, all of the sentences in this section make up a story.
1. Barack
Hussein Obama II was born on August 4 1961. No Error.
A: “August 4, 1961” The comma (,) is
missing.
2. president Obama is the
44th and current
leader of the United States. No
Error.
A: President must be capitalized.
PRESIDENT is capitalized when the word comes immediately before a person’s name
(ex: “President Barak Obama” or “President Kennedy”). Also, you always
capitalize the first word in a sentence—no matter what!
3. Obama is the first African-american to hold the office. No
Error.
A: AMERICAN must be capitalized. It is a proper noun. A noun is a person,
place, or thing. A proper noun is a noun that refers to a unique entity. A
proper noun is more specific than a noun.
4. Born in Honolulu Hawaii, Obama is a
graduate of Columbia University
and Harvard Law School.
No Error.
A: Comma (,) is missing between
Honolulu and Hawaii. Always place a comma between a city and a state (ex: “I
live in New York, New York” or “I live in Forest Hills, Queens”)
5. Obama were president of
the Harvard Law Review.
No Error.
A: Obama WAS not WERE; one WAS but many
WERE, Use WAS for singular but use WERE for plural.
6. He was a community organizer in Chicago
before earning his Law Degree. No
Error.
A: No need to capitalize LAW DEGREE
because it is not a proper noun. You capitalize “Bachelor of Science” or
“Bachelor of Arts,” but you do not capitalize “law degree.” You do capitalize
the name of a law school. For example, “Frances Kweller received her law degree
from Hofstra Law School and her Bachelor of Science from New York University’s
Steinhardt School of Education.” You do not need to capitalize something like
this: “Frances Kweller went to college and to law school.” Here, there are no
proper nouns and you are neither referring to a specific college nor a specific
law school.
7. He worked as a civil rights attorney in Chicago
and taught constitutional law at the University of Chicago law school from 1992 to 2004. No Error.
A: “Law School” here must be
capitalized. Always capitalize a city or state or specific name of a person,
place, or thing. For example, “Columbia Law School” is capitalized because it
is the specific name of a law school.
8. He served three terms, representing the 13th
District in the Illinois Senate from 1997 to 2004, running unsuccessful for the United
States House of Representatives in 2000. No Error.
A: UNSUCCESSFULLY. Adverbs modify adjectives, verbs, and other adverbs. If an adverb answers how and can have an -ly attached to it, place it there. Ex:
She runs quickly, speaks softly, and dances gracefully. Don’t drive safe—drive
safely!
9. In 2004, Obama recieved
national attention during his campaign to represent Illinois in the United States Senate with his victory in
the March Democratic Party Primary. No
Error.
A: Received is spelled incorrectly.
Remember to always place an “i” before an “e” except after “c”.
10. Obamas keynote address was held at the Democratic
National Convention in July and his election to the Senate took
place the following November. No Error.
A: “Obamas” is wrong here. There is
only one person here (Obama) so you need to say “Obama’s” to show possession. Use
the apostrophe to show possession. Place the apostrophe before the s
to show singular possession.
11. He began his presidential
campaign in 2007, and in 2008, after a close
primary campaign between Hillary Rodham Clinton, he won
sufficient delegates in the Democratic Party primaries
to receive the presidential nomination. No Error.
A: You run AGAINST someone, not between
someone. You campaign AGAINST someone, not between someone. Conversely, you are
partners WITH someone, not AGAINST someone.
Here, the primary campaign was against Hillary Clinton, not between her.
12. Than, he defeated Republican nominee John McCain
in the general election, and was inaugurated as president
on January 20, 2009. No Error.
A: THAN is wrong here. THAN is used for
comparison while THEN is used for time sequence. For example, “First THEN
second,” “greater than”. THAN =
COMPARE but THEN = TIME
Also, you use THEN when you refer to
something that happened in the past or WILL happen in the future. Remember, use
THEN when referring to time sequence ONLY.
13. Nine months after his
election, Obama was named the 2009 nobel
peace prize laureate. No
Error.
A: Nobel Peace Prize is a proper noun
and it must start with a CAPITAL letter.
14. During his first two years
in office Obama signed into law economic stimulus legislation in response
to the Great Recession in the form of the American
Recovery
Act. No Error.
15. Obama also sign the Reinvestment Act of 2009,
and the Tax Relief,
Unemployment Insurance Reauthorization, and
Job Creation Act of 2010. No Error.
A: SIGN is wrong here. Obama signed
this in the past. Use the past tense of “sign”
16.
Other major domestic initiatives in his first term included the
Patient Protection and Affordable
Care Act, often referred to as "Obamacare," the Dodd–Frank
Wall Street Reform and the Consumer Protection Act, and the Don't Ask, Don't Tell Repeal Act of 2010. No Error.
A: a colon (:) is missing here. A colon
generally is used to indicate that a list of three or more will follow. A colon (:) is used before a list or an explanation that is preceded by a clause
that can stand by itself. Think of the colon as a gate, inviting you to go in.
Colons are also used to separate titles and subtitles (Barak Obama: The
Audacity of Hope)
17.
In foreign policy, Obama ended United States military
involvement in the Iraq War,
increased troop levels in Afghanistan, signed
the New START
Arms Control Treaty with Russia, order U.S. military involvement in Libya,
and commanded the military operation that resulted in the death of Osama bin Laden. No Error.
A: Obama ORDERED not ORDER. He did this
in the past.
18. In November, 2010, the Republicans regained control of the House of Representatives. No Error.
A: You do not need a comma after “November”
and before “2010”. You need a comma when you have a specific date (“November
16, 2010”).
19. Then, Obama signed
the Budget Control Act Of 2011
and the American Taxpayer
Relief Act of 2012. No
Error.
A: You do not need to capitalize “of.” In a title, always capitalize the first and
last word. Capitalize the verbs, adverbs, nouns, pronouns and adjectives. You
do not need to capitalize articles (the, a, an) unless the article is the very
first word in the title.
20. Obama was re-elected United States President in November
2012, defeating Republican nominee Mitt Romney,
and was sworn in for a second term
on January 20, 2013. No Error.
A: No Error.
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