Word Usage Quiz

Identify the problem in the sentence below: Mayor Susan Feeney, wearing a blue velvet dress with pearls, opened the convention with a speech on her plans for energy efficiency in Jacksonville.

Rationale: ANSWER IS "A. DON'T MENTION WHAT SHE'S WEARING." Feeney's choice of clothing for this event is irrelevant to the story, and the description is a distraction. Too often, descriptions of women's clothing and hairstyles enter into news stories. These descriptions are sexist because discussion of the clothing of male news sources is rarely given - why the double standard? (Also - if you chose "b. The sentence does not branch right," you were correct. It's just that this is not the most important problem in the sentence. If you take out the clothing description the sentence does branch right, and you solve two problems at once.)

Choose the correct word from the underlined word pair in the sentence below. Tunstall had to choose among / between three equally unpleasant options: taking a pay cut and staying with his current team, risking free agency, or quitting the NFL.

Rationale: THE CORRECT ANSWER IS "A. AMONG." Use the word among when you have more than two options. Use between when you have only two options.

Choose the correct words from the underlined word pairs in the sentence below. In March the Women's Club held its biannual / biennial picnic on the grounds of the Capitol / Capital building, and three months later they began planning for the October picnic.

Rationale: THE CORRECT ANSWER IS "A. BIANNUAL / CAPITOL." Biannual means twice a year, and apparently the group is holding two picnics within the same year. Use Capitol and capitalize it when referring to a state's Capitol building.

Choose the correct word from the underlined words in the sentence below. She laid / lay / layed / lied her purse on the floorboard.

Rationale: THE CORRECT ANSWER IS "A. LAID." The past tense of the verb lay (which means to set down) is laid. Don't confuse it with the past tense of lie (recline), which is lay. And there's no such word as "layed." In this course you are expected to know how to conjugate the verbs lie and lay, so you should memorize these.

Choose the correct word from the underlined words in the sentence below. Hughes set / sits / sat the papers on the podium and walked out of the room.

Rationale: THE CORRECT ANSWER IS "A. SET." Set means to put something down. The words sits and sat are used only to refer to the act of sitting down. In this course you are expected to know how to conjugate the verbs sit and set, so you should memorize these.

Choose the correct words from the underlined word pairs in the sentence below. Despite her tortuous / torturous line of argument, I was reluctant / reticent to challenge her because she was my supervisor.

Rationale: THE CORRECT ANSWER IS "A. TORTUOUS / RELUCTANT." Tortuous means twisted or hard to follow, and that could definitely apply to an argument someone is making. Reluctant is a hesitance to act, and reticence means staying quiet. Though the result of this person's reluctance may be to stay quiet, the point is that the person is hesitant to act, or to challenge the supervisor. The person is reluctant, not reticent.

Choose the correct word from the underlined words in the sentence below. The gun laid / lay / layed / lied in the middle of the road.

Rationale: THE CORRECT ANSWER IS "B. LAY." The past tense of the verb lie (which means to recline) is lay. The thing reclining does not have to be a person or animal. It can be an inanimate object. Only use the words to lay if you mean to set down. Here, the gun is not being set down. It's just lying (reclining) there.

Choose the correct words from the underlined word pairs in the sentence below. Police arrived to break up the noisy / noisome party, which was being held on the East Beach pier / peer. Residents had complained that the party was keeping them awake.

Rationale: THE CORRECT ANSWER IS "B. NOISY / PIER." Use the word noisy to describe a source of loud noise. The word noisome usually describes a foul, even nauseating odor. And while you can hold a party on a pier, you party with your peers.

Choose the correct words from the underlined word pairs in the sentence below. One principle / principal to follow when preparing for an interview with a perspective / prospective employer is to thoroughly research the organization.

Rationale: THE CORRECT ANSWER IS "B. PRINCIPLE / PROSPECTIVE." A principle is a rule or guideline. Here you're following a guideline, and so principle is the right word. Principal means first, or most important. Prospective means possible or potential. Here we're talking about a potential employer, and so prospective is the right word. A perspective is an approach or an angle one takes on a situation or issue.

Choose the correct words from the underlined word pairs in the sentence below. Either Gutenberg's printing press affected / effected European society, or European culture had an effect / affect on his decision to invent the press. Probably both happened.

Rationale: THE CORRECT ANSWER IS "C. AFFECTED / EFFECT." Affect is the verb, and effect is the noun. Something affects something else, but it has an effect.

Choose the correct words from the underlined word pairs in the sentence below. If you walk a little further / farther up the hill, you'll see a historical / historic marker.

Rationale: THE CORRECT ANSWER IS "C. FARTHER / HISTORICAL." Use farther for actual physical distance (the clue here is that it includes the word far). Further is used in more abstract, conceptual situations (she thought about it further). If something is historical, it's related to history, but it's historic only if it actually happened in history (like a historic presidential election).

Choose the correct word from the underlined words in the sentence below. The mayor raised / rised / rose from his seat, gripped his cane, and launched into a passionate speech on the virtues of low taxes.

Rationale: THE CORRECT ANSWER IS "C. ROSE." Rose is the past tense of the verb to rise, which is what the mayor is doing. He's rising from his chair. Raise means to lift something. He could raise his cane, but he could not "raise" out of his chair. In this course you are expected to know how to conjugate the verbs rise and raise, so you should memorize these.

Choose the correct word from the underlined words in the sentence below. Just set / sat / sit down over there while I cook dinner.

Rationale: THE CORRECT ANSWER IS "C. SIT." Sit means to take a seat. Set means to put something down.

Identify the problem in the sentence below: Officials with the Bureau of Indian Affairs did their version of "smoking a peace pipe" Tuesday by ending a squabble within the Bureau over who controls programs related to Indian education.

Rationale: THE CORRECT ANSWER IS "C. TAKE OUT THE REFERENCE TO SMOKING A PEACE PIPE." Phrases like "smoking a peace pipe" and "going on the warpath" are demeaning stereotypes and have no business in your writing. Focus on the news (the decision about Indian education), and don't try to get cute by using trite references that debase ethnic groups.

Choose the correct words from the underlined word pairs in the sentence below. The cast was comprised of / composed of a wide diversity of actors and actresses, but the final production came together well, with the various acting roles complementing / complimenting one another.

Rationale: THE CORRECT ANSWER IS "D. COMPOSED OF / COMPLEMENTING." Never use the words comprised of - only comprised. A whole comprises its parts. So, it would be OK to write: The cast comprised a wide variety of actors and actresses. And complement means to go well together; a compliment is a nice thing to say.

Identify the problem in the sentence below: State Rep. Yancey Macintosh, who is paralyzed from the waist down, voiced his opposition to the redistricting plan.

Rationale: THE CORRECT ANSWER IS "D. HIS PARALYSIS . . ." Macintosh's paralysis is not relevant to his opinion about a state redistricting plan. Only mention a person's disability when the disability is clearly relevant to the story.

Identify the problem in the sentence below: Soon, the average American worker may be spending around 10 percent of his paycheck for gas.

Rationale: THE CORRECT ANSWER IS "D. MAKE PLURAL" Never use the pronoun he, him or his to refer to an individual from a general group of people that could include males and females. One possible way to fix this is to use the phrase his or her. But that's awkward. It's better to change singulars to plurals: Soon, American workers may be spending around 10 percent of their paychecks for gas.

Choose the correct words from the underlined word pairs in the sentence below. They could not be convinced / persuaded to emigrate / immigrate from their country.

Rationale: THE CORRECT ANSWER IS "D. PERSUADED / EMIGRATE." You persuade someone to do something. You convince someone of an idea. To emigrate is to leave one's country (which is definitely doing something). To immigrate is to come into another country to live.

Identify the problem in the sentences below: According to a recent survey, 40 percent of Americans are concerned about potential health risks from genetically engineered foods. Results showed that 43 percent of Black Americans, 42 percent of Hispanic Americans, 37 percent of Asian-Americans, and 38 percent of White Americans expressed concern.

Rationale: THE CORRECT ANSWER IS "D. THERE'S NO NEED . . ." Only break down references by ethnic group if these differences are relevant to the purpose of the story. For example, reporting an ethnic breakdown for a survey about immigration policy could be justified. But it's hard to argue that we need to know whether Asian-Americans differ from blacks over the issue of genetically engineered foods. Bottom line - don't divide people up into groups just because you can. As an aside, the terms black and Hispanic are correct for media writing, according to AP style (which you'll get into in the next section of the course).

Choose the correct words from the underlined word pairs in the sentence below. By mentioning her memories of the Great Depression, she implied / inferred that she was more than 70 years old.

Rationale: THE CORRECT ANSWER IS B. IMPLIED / MORE THAN. When you imply, you actively send a message, usually by saying something. Inferring is a passive act, involving listening and drawing conclusions.