15 A CNN

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.

15 A

CNN news

1. CNN is a channel who is owned by the Turner Broadcasting System division of Time Warner. No Error.

A: WHO is wrong because CNN is not a person, but a company.

2. The 24-hour cable news channel was found in 1980 by American media proprietor Ted Turner. No Error.

A: WAS FOUND is wrong here. Sentence should say “ “was founded.” he/she/it had funded (Past perfect subjunctive). AMERICAN is in capital because it is a proper noun. 

3.  Upon it’s launch, CNN was the first channel to provide 24-hour television news coverage, and the first all-news television channel in the United States. No Error.

A: ITS mean possession (ITS launch). However, IT’S is a contraction for IT IS. After the comma, always identify WHO or WHAT you talking about. Here, you want to have CNN right after the comma. “to provide” is the infinitive tense. “to provide” is correct. Another example: “I like to provide a credit card when I pay my bills.”

 4. While the news channel has numerous affiliates, CNN primarily broadcasts from their headquarters at the CNN Center in Atlanta, the Time Warner Center in New York City, and studios in Washington, D.C., and Los Angeles. No Error.

A: THEIR IS incorrect. The news channel is singular. Sentence should read “its headquarters.” HAS is correct because we are referring to the present. ATLATAN should be capitalized because it’s a proper noun.

5. CNN is sometimes referred to as CNN/U.S. to distinguish the American channel of its international counterpart, CNN International. No Error.

A: “distinguish … of” is incorrect” “distinguish from” is correct. These associations are like peanut butter and jelly: verb/preposition:

“accused of murder” “agree to buy a house” care about someone” “confide in a friend” “consist of pages”  “(exercise) contributes to good health” “participate in a sport” “succeed in school”

 6. As of August, 2010, CNN is available in over 100 million U.S. households. No Error.

A: “August, 2010” is wrong because there is no specific date (“August 15, 2013”). You do not need a comma here.    

7. Broadcast coverage extends to over 890,000 American hotel rooms, and the U.S. channel is also carried on cable and satellite in Canada.  No Error.

No Error.

8.  Globally, CNN programming airs through CNN International, which can be seen by viewers in over 212 countries and territories. No Error.

A: “countries” is plural. However, “country’s” is possession. “Many countries” is correct. “This country’s flag is red, white, and blue.” More examples: “This city’s mayor is Michael Bloomberg.” Versus “She travelled to three different cities this month.”

9. As of August 2013, approximately 98,496,000 American households (86% of cable, satellite & telco customers) receive CNN. No Error.

A: No Error.  

10. The Cable News Network was launched at 5:00 p.m. ET on June 1, 1980. After an introduction by Ted Turner, the husband and wife team of David Walker and Lois Hart anchored the channels first newscast. Burt Reinhardt, the then executive vice president of CNN, hired most of CNN's first 200 employees, including the network's first news anchor, Bernard Shaw. No Error.

A: CHANNEL’S shows POSESSION. Conversely, “CHANNELS” without the apostrophe means “several channels”

11. Since their debut, CNN has expanded its reach to a number of cable and satellite television providers, several websites, and specialized closed-circuit channels (such as CNN Airport Network). No Error.

A: THEIR IS wrong here because CNN is ONE network so it should say ITS DEBUT, not THEIR.

12. The company has 36 bureaus (10 domestic and 26 international), more then 900 affiliated local stations, and several regional and foreign-language networks around the world. No Error.

A: THEN is time sequence. However THAN is a comparison.

13.  The channel's success made a bona-fide mogul of founder Ted Turner and sets the stage for the Time Warner conglomerate's eventual acquisition of Turner Broadcasting System in 1996. No Error.

A: SET because ONE channel SETS but MANY channels set.

14. A companion channel, CNN2, was launched on January 1 1982 and featured a continuous 24-hour cycle of 30-minute news broadcasts. No Error.  

A: You need a comma after “1” because it’s a specific date.

15. The channel, who later became known as "CNN Headline News" and then simply "HLN", eventually focused on live news coverage supplemented by personality-based programs during the evening and primetime hours. No Error.

A: Channel is not a person so you don’t use WHO.

16. CNN was the first cable news channel to break the news of the September 11 Attacks. News anchor Carol Lin was on the air to deliver the first public report of the event. She broke into a commercial at 8:49 a.m. ET and said: No Error.

A: You need a comma before and after “Carol Lin”

“

This just in. You are looking at obviously a very disturbing live shot there. That is the World Trade Center, and we have unconfirmed reports this morning that a plane has crashed into one of the towers of the World Trade Center. CNN Center right now is just beginning to work on this story, obviously calling our sources and trying to figure out exactly what happened, but clearly something relatively devastating happening this morning there on the south end of the island of Manhattan. That is once again, a picture of one of the towers of the World Trade Center.

”

17. Sean Murtagh, CNN Vice President of Finance and Administration, was the first network employee on the air. He called into the CNN center from his office at CNNs New York bureau and reported that a commercial jet hit the World Trade Center. No Error.

A: CNN’s New York Bureau because you are showing possession, not multiple CNNs.

17. Daryn Kagan and Leon Harris was live on the air just after 9:00 a.m. as the second plane hit the World Trade Center. No Error.

A: WAS is singular. WERE live.

18. Later, Aaron Brown anchored through the day and night as the attacks unfolded. Brown had just come to CNN from ABC to be the breaking News Anchor. No Error.

A: lowercase NEWS ANCHOR

19. Paula Zahn assisted in the September 11 2001, coverage on her first day as a CNN reporter, a fact that she mentioned as a guest clue presenter on a 2005 episode of Jeopardy! No Error.

A: You need a comma after 11.

20. CNN has made archival files of much of the days broadcast available in five segments plus an overview. No Error.

A: Day’s broadcast to show possession.