AP Quizzes 9-12

Of these two quotes, which is correctly spelled? "It was a draw," she said. "They both get A's." "It was a draw," she said. "They both get As."

"It was a draw," she said. "They both get A's." The Stylebook's "plural" entry says SINGLE LETTERS get apostrophe s for the plural.

Judges could reduce the no-parole sentence to (25 years to life; 25-years-to-life) if the inmate shows remorse.

25 years to life. The Stylebook's "hyphen" entry explains that a COMPOUND MODIFIER preceding a noun is hyphenated. In this sentence, the prison sentence is not a compound modifier and thus not hyphenated.

Demonstrators angry over the vulgar depiction of the (Prophet Muhammad; prophet Mohammed) in the video protested around the Muslim world. prophet Mohammed Prophet Muhammad

Answer: Prophet Muhammad. The Stylebook entry for "Muhammad" capitalizes Prophet preceding his name and lowercases the term in other uses.

The city hopes to install miniboxes for library books in every (Zip code, ZIP code, ZIP Code) by year's end. ZIP Code ZIP code Zip code

Answer: ZIP code. The Stylebook uses all-caps ZIP for Zoning Improvement Plan, and code is lowercase.

Which sentence is correct? c. The boys soccer team and the women's tennis team won matches Saturday. b. The boys' soccer team and the womens' tennis team won matches Saturday. a. The boy's soccer team and the womens tennis team won matches Saturday.

Answer: c. The boys soccer team and the women's tennis team won matches Saturday. The Stylebook's "possessives" entry regards such team references as descriptive rather than possessive.

It's not known whether Hogan is still friends with Bubba Clem and Heather Clem. The (Clemses; Clems) have since divorced. Clems Clemses

Clems. The family name is Clem. The PROPER NAMES guidance of the Stylebook's "plurals" entry says to add s for the plural of names that don't end in es, s or z.

He was convicted on 28,000 counts of being an accessory to murder at a (Polish death camp; Nazi death camp in German-occupied Poland) during World War II.

Nazi death camp in German-occupied Poland. The Stylebook's "concentration camps" entry says do not use phrases that confuse the location and the perpetrator.

Severing ties also boosted Canada's close relationship with Israel, Tehran's (archenemy; arch-enemy.)

archenemy. The AP Stylebook says no hyphen with the "arch" prefix unless it precedes a capitalized word: arch-Republican. Otherwise the words are compounds: archbishop, archfoe.

Which sentence is phrased more accurately? b. Cheering supporters waved their cellphone cameras and reached out to touch the candidate. a. Cheering supporters waved their iPhone cameras and reached out to touch the candidate.

b. Cheering supporters waved their cellphone cameras and reached out to touch the candidate.

Which sentence phrasing is preferred? b. Geophysicist Don Blakeman said the temblor struck in a seismically active area near the San Andreas Fault. a. Geophysicist Don Blakeman said the temblor struck in a "seismically active" area near the San Andreas Fault.

b. Geophysicist Don Blakeman said the temblor struck in a seismically active area near the San Andreas Fault

Which sentence better conveys AP's journalistic neutrality? b. That could include an overhaul of immigration laws, which could become a bookend to his 2010 health care revision. a. That could include immigration reform, which could become a coveted bookend to Obama's 2010 health care reform.

b. That could include an overhaul of immigration laws, which could become a bookend to his 2010 health care revision. The dictionary meaning of reform is to make better or improve. When applied to legislation, reform could imply advocacy for or a tilt in favor of the proposal, even in the face of reasonable opposition. Hence, "overhaul," "revision" or "amendments" are neutral alternatives. Also, "coveted" by whom? Explain the modifier or omit it.

Russia watchers in the U.S. predict a more (business-like; businesslike) relationship than was the case under former President Dmitry Medvedev.

businesslike. The Stylebook's "-like" entry says do not precede this suffix with a hyphen unless the letter l would be tripled or the main element is a proper noun.

Which titles are correctly spelled? c. Joel Peresman, president and CEO of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Foundation, acknowledged the variety of nominees. b. Joel Peresman, president and ceo of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Foundation, acknowledged the variety of nominees. a. Joel Peresman, President and CEO of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Foundation, acknowledged the variety of nominees

c. Joel Peresman, president and CEO of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Foundation, acknowledged the variety of nominees. The Stylebook's "titles" and "CEO" entries govern these spellings. In general, confine capitalization to formal titles used directly before an individual's name. Otherwise, the title is lowercase. The all-caps abbreviation CEO, acceptable in all references to chief executive officer, is an exception.

Ikea is being criticized for deleting images of women from the Saudi version of its furniture (catalogue; catalog).

catalog. The AP Stylebook spelling.

Which headline is correct? d. Big cash spent in Arizona, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts Senate races c. Big cash spent in Ariz., Pa., Mass. Senate races b. Big cash spent in Ariz., PA, MA Senate races a. Big cash spent in AZ, PA, MA Senate races

d. Big cash spent in Arizona, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts Senate races. The online Stylebook's amended "state names" entry says to avoid state abbreviations in headlines whenever possible.

As the country struggles to reduce debt, (healthcare; health care) spending has been slashed. health care healthcare

health care. The AP Stylebook entry is two words.

Earlier this week, a video appeared to show rebel fighters (executing; killing) a group of unarmed, captured Syrian soldiers. killing executing

killing. The AP Stylebook reserves "executions" for formal judicial or military punishments.

It was not the first time that the mayor has seemed out of (synch; sync) with the people he leads.

sync

Police arrived (to the bloody scene; at the bloody scene) where Jones had been slashed in the neck and torso.

t the bloody scene. The standard phrase is "arrived at," which is also the guidance in Webster's New World College Dictionary, Fourth Edition.

The largest Muslim rebel group in the Philippines says police commandos endangered a (yearslong cease-fire; years-long ceasefire) by raiding a guerrilla stronghold. years-long ceasefire yearslong cease-fire

yearslong cease-fire. The AP Stylebook entry is "yearlong, yearslong"; the hyphenated "cease-fire" is correct for the noun and adjective. The verb "cease fire" is also two words.