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Baseline One: Punctuation and Sentence Structure

Last updated over 5 years ago

20 questions

Note from the author:

Brief initial assessment to provide baseline data on student knowledge of basic punctuation.

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Question 1

1.

Jonathan the new neighbor next door is a police officer.

Question 2

2.

This is a true story about the capture of the Massachusettes whale ship Ocmulgee by the Confederate ship Alabama.

Question 3

3.

What I'm about to do is definitely crazy he thought.

Question 4

4.

As with any new drug or medical procedure a balance must be struck between effective treatment and potentially harmful side effects.

Question 5

5.

Tamara lives in Burbank California near the film studios.

Question 6

6.

She is brave loyal and kind.

Question 7

7.

Mail it by May 4 2019 to the Hampton Company 321 Market Street Memphis Tennessee.

Question 8

8.

Maria how can I help you?

Question 9

9.

Hard workers as you know never quit.

Question 10

10.

The following is the CORRECT use of a semicolon, but WHY?
Money is the root of all evil; I don’t believe the reverse is necessarily true.

Connects two, related independent clauses.

 Connects two, related independent clauses with a conjunctive adverb.

For clearer seperation

Question 11

11.

Which SEMICOLON is used correctly? Choose ALL that apply.

 Always forgive your enemies; nothing annoys them so much. 

 Reports of the damage caused by the hurricane were greatly exaggerated; indeed, the storm was not a “hurricane” at all. 

 I hadn't slept well; my arm burned and my head ached. 

 The faces around him displayed nothing but shock; he might have announced that he wanted to borrow one of their arms. 

 Be yourself; everyone else is already taken. 

I love; cats.

 My plan included taking him to a nice—though not necessarily expensive—dinner; going to the park to look at the stars, which, by the way, are amazing this time of year; and serenading him with my accordion. 

 The students had been advised against walking alone at night; however, Cathy decided walking wasn’t dangerous if it was early in the evening. 

 I need the weather statistics for the following cities: London, England; London, Ontario; Paris, France; Paris, Ontario; Perth, Scotland; Perth, Ontario. 

  She is small and sprightly, like a bantam hen; but, due to a long youthful illness, her shoulders are pitifully hunched. 

 There was no point in worrying Mrs. Dursley; she always got so upset at any mention of her sister. 

Question 12

12.

What is a clause?

A group of words that contains a subject and a verb

A group of words that contains a verb

A group of words that contains a subject 

A jolly fat man in a red suit

Question 13

13.

What is an independent clause?

A group of words that shows positional relationships (think: a squirrel's position related to a tree)

A group of words with a subject and verb, but not a complete idea (cannot stand by itself)

When Santa gets a weekend with the broskys 

A group of words with a subject, verb, and complete idea (could stand on its own as a complete sentence)

Question 14

14.

What is a dependent clause?

A group of words with a subject, verb, and complete idea (could stand on its own as a complete sentence)

A group of words that shows positional relationships (think: a squirrel's position related to a tree)

A group of words with a subject and verb, but not a complete idea (cannot stand by itself)

When Mrs. Claus is holding the checkbook

Question 15

15.

Which options contain independent clauses?

If you are going

When running

I will go

Question 16

16.

Which options contain dependent clauses?

If you are going, I will go too. 

I can't wait to eat pumpkin pie after eating a big turkey dinner! 

Thanksgiving will be lit this year! 

Question 17

17.

While I ate the last taco, my brother stood in line to buy some more.

Complex

Simple

Compound

Compound-Complex

Question 18

18.

They were out of tacos, and my brother was still hungry.

Complex

Compound-Complex

Compound

Simple

Question 19

19.

We hurried to another restaurant to buy food.

Simple

Complex

Compound-Complex

Compound

Question 20

20.

After we got more food for my brother, he was happy, and I knew we would need to plan ahead for our next meal.

Complex

Compound-Complex

Simple

Compound