ENGLISH SCREENING PAPER

Identifying Sentence Errors (Circle the correct choice under each question)
Directions: Mark the letter of your choice on the answer sheet that best corresponds to the
correct answer.
Notes:
1. The following questions test your knowledge of the rules of English grammar, as well as
word usage, word choice, and idioms.
2. Some sentences are correct, but others contain a single error. No sentence contains more
than one error.
3. Any errors that occur will be found in the underlined portion of the sentence. Choose the
letter underneath the error to indicate the part of the sentence that must be changed.
4. If there is no error, pick answer choice (E).
5. There will be no change in any parts of the sentence that are not underlined.

Directions: (For questions number 11 13)

1. The following questions test your knowledge of English grammar, word usage, word
choice, sentence construction, and punctuation.
2. Every sentence contains a portion that is underlined.
3. Any errors that occur will be found in the underlined portion of the sentence. If you
believe there is an error, choose the answer choice that corrects the original mistake.
4. Answer choices (B), (C), (D), and (E) contain alternative phrasings of the underlined
portion.
5. If the sentence contains an error, one of these alternate phrasings will correct it.
6. Choice (A) repeats the original underlined portion. If you believe the underlined portion
does not contain any errors, select answer choice (A).
7. There will be no change in any parts of the sentence that are not underlined.

Directions:
1. The following questions test your knowledge of paragraph and sentence construction.
2. The following passage is a rough draft of an essay. This rough draft contains various
errors.
3. Read the rough draft and then answer the questions that follow. Some questions will
focus on specific sentences and ask if there are any problems with that sentences word
choice, word usage, or overall structure. Other questions will ask about the paragraph
itself. These questions will focus on paragraph organization and development.
4. Select the answer that best reflects the rules of English grammar and proper essay and
paragraph writing.
Questions 1418 are based on the following passage.
(1) An incredible hot-air balloon exhibition happened on September 5, 1862. (2) It was given by
Glaisher and Coxwell, two Englishmen. (3) There was no compressed oxygen for them to
breathe in those days. (4) They got so high that they couldnt use their limbs. (5) Coxwell had to
open the descending valve with his teeth. (6) Before Glaisher passed out, he recorded an
elevation of twenty-nine thousand feet. (7) Many believe they got eight thousand feet higher
before they began to descend, making their ascent the highest in the nineteenth century. (8) Now
the largest balloon to go up in the nineteenth century was The Giant. (9) The balloon held
215,000 cubic feet of air and was 74 feet wide. (10) It could carry four and a half tons of cargo.

(11) Its flight began in Paris, in 1853, with fifteen passengers. (12)All of whom returned safely.
(13) The successful trip received a great deal of national and international press because many
thought the hot-air balloon would become a form of common transportation.

14.

Which of the following offers the best combination of sentences 1 and 2 (reproduced below)?
An incredible hot-air balloon exhibition happened on September 5, 1862. It was given by
Glaisher and Coxwell, two Englishmen.
A. An incredible hot-air balloon exhibition was given September 5, 1862 by Glaisher and Coxwell,
two Englishmen.
B. An incredibly hot-air balloon exhibition happened on September 5, 1862, given by Glaisher and
Coxwell, two Englishmen.
C. Given by Glaisher and Coxwell, two Englishmen, an incredible hot-air balloon exhibition
happened on September 5, 1862.
D. Glaisher and Coxwell, two Englishmen, gave an incredible hot-air balloon exhibition, happening
on September 5, 1862.
E. Two Englishmen, Glaisher and Coxwell, gave an incredible hot-air balloon exhibition on
September 5, 1862.

15.

Which of the following sentences in the first paragraph appears to be out of order?
A.
B.
C.
D.
E.

16.

There was no compressed oxygen for them to breathe in those days.

They got so high that they couldnt use their limbs.
Coxwell had to open the descending valve with his teeth.
Before Glaisher passed out, he recorded an elevation of 29 thousand feet.
Many believe they got 8 thousand feet higher before they began to descend.

Which of the following is the best revision for sentence 8 (reproduced below)?
Now the largest balloon to go up in the nineteenth century was The Giant.
A.
B.
C.
D.
E.

17.

Move in the nineteenth century to the beginning of the sentence and delete Now
Add a comma after Now.
Begin the sentence with Moreover,
Delete now.
Replace to go up with exhibition.
Which of the following is the best way to combine sentences 9 and 10 (reproduced
below)?
The balloon held 215,000 cubic feet of air and was 74 feet wide. It could handle four and
a half tons of cargo.

A. The balloon held 215,000 cubic feet of air and was 74 feet wide, which could handle four
and a half tons of cargo.

B. The balloon held 215,000 cubic feet of air and was 74 feet wide, handling four and a half
tons of cargo.
C. The balloon held 215,000 cubic feet of air and was 74 feet wide; it could handle four and
a half tons of cargo.
D. The balloon held 215,000 cubic feet of air and was 74 feet wide, and it could handle four
and a half tons of cargo.
E. The balloon held 215,000 cubic feet of air and was 74 feet wide, but it could carry four
and a half tons of cargo.

18.

Which of the following is the best way to revise sentences 11 and 12 (reproduced
below)?
Its flight began in Paris, in 1853, with fifteen passengers. All of whom returned safely.
A.
B.
C.
D.
E.

Replace whom with who.

Make the second sentence read Who all returned safely.
Delete of
Replace the period at the end of sentence 11 with a comma.
Delete the period at the end of sentence 11 and change returned to returning

Directions: (For questions 19 25)

Each sentence below has either one or two blanks in it and is followed by five choices, labeled
(A) through (E). These choices represent words or phrases that have been left out. Choose the
word or phrase that, if inserted into the sentence, would best fit the meaning of the sentence as a
whole.
19.
A.
B.
C.
D.
E.

The professors oldest colleague was selected to give the __________ at the funeral.
eulogy
elegy
epigraph
eponymy
epitaph

20. The new team members __________ was an encouragement to the rest of the team, who had become
__________ by the string of defeats.
A.
B.
C.
D.
E.

enthusiasm. .elated
vigor. .inundated
ebullience. .dispirited
dourness. .undone
excessiveness. .downcast

21. By the end of the campaign both candidates had resorted to __________ the other.
A.
B.
C.
D.
E.

commending
denigrating
mollifying
conceding
swindling

22. The cat __________ crept across the lawn, gracefully __________ the dog.
A.
B.
C.
D.
E.

felicitously. .enticing
swiftly. .defeating
acrobatically. .apprehending
maladroitly. .undermining
deftly. .eluding

23. The storytellers __________ anecdotes earned her the __________ attention of the crowd.
A.
B.
C.
D.
E.

compelling. .rapt
pointed. .spellbound
moribund. .lucid
poignant. .abrasive
meandering. .distracted

24. The bill became bogged down in a(n) __________ of contentious issues in a Senate subcommittee.
A.
B.
C.
D.
E.

marsh
sequence
iota
conundrum
quagmire

25. The outcome of the race seemed __________ before the leaders misstep on the final leg gave her
competitors a(n) __________ of winning the title.
A.
B.
C.
D.
E.

dubious. .prospect
inevitable. .hope
indubitable. .air
assured. .expectation
partial. .endeavor

Write an essay not less than 150 to 200 words.

Advantages and Disadvantages of technology in everyday modern life.