| 2. The
young sheep |
look |
alike,
but you will find that |
each |
has |
its |
own
unique |
personality. |
| |
A |
|
B |
|
C |
|
D |
ANSWER:
The correct answer is E.
This sentence contains no error.
| 3. The
Russian painter Natalia Goncharova
was |
a colleague of |
Mikhail Larianov, |
| |
A |
|
| who |
she |
met |
after |
completing her studies |
in Moscow. |
| B |
|
C |
|
D |
|
ANSWER:
The correct answer is B.
The pronoun who is only used
when it is the subject of a sentence
or clause. The correct form is whom,
which denotes the person is the object
of an action.
| Questions
4-6 test correctness and effectiveness
of expression. In each sentence,
part of the sentence is underlined.
Beneath each sentence will
be five ways of phrasing the
underlined portion. Choice
A repeats the original; the
other four are different. Choose
the answers that best express
the meaning of the original
sentence in the most clear
and precise manner. |
4. Bordered
by Jordan and Israel, the name
of the Dead Sea is because of its
salt concentration, which is so great
that the water can sustain no life.
(A) name of the Dead
Sea is because of
(B) names of the Dead
Sea are because of
(C) name of the Dead
Sea refers to
(D) Dead Sea's name is
a reference to
(E) Dead Sea is so named
because of
ANSWER:
The correct answer is E. This
sentence contains a misplaced modifier.
The introductory phrase “Bordered by Jordan and Israel?describes the Dead
Sea,
so the Dead Sea should be the first thing
to the right of the comma. Only answer
E shows the proper placement of the
modifying phrase and what it is modifying.
5. The
people of the town wrote a letter
expressing their displeasure with
the unethical store owner, demanded
a change in his manner of conducting
business, and were handing out
fliers in the lobby of his office
building.
(A) and were handing out fliers
in the lobby of his office building
(B) and had handed out fliers
in his office building's lobby
(C) handing out fliers in
the building of his lobby and office
(D) and handed out fliers
in the lobby of his office building
(E) and would hand out fliers
in the lobby at his office building
ANSWER:
The correct answer is D.
When multiple actions are listed in a
sentence, the verbs should all share
the same tense. Here the people of the
town wrote a letter, demanded a
change, and handed out fliers.
6. Prehistory,
that is the history of the human
race before the existence of
writing, encompasses over 2 million years, and
is mainly informed by the field
of archaeology.
(A) Prehistory, that is the
history of the human race
(B) Prehistory, the history
of the human race
(C) Prehistory that is the
human race's history
(D) Prehistory is the history
of the human race
(E) Prehistory, being the
history of the human race
ANSWER:
The correct answer is B.
The correct answer to an improving
sentences question is the least wordy
choice that maintains the meaning of
the original sentence and contains
no new errors. A comma is required
here, so C and D can be eliminated.
A is an incomplete sentence, and E
uses the word being, which is
almost never considered the “best?answer.
| Question
7 is an example of a typical
question you may see on the
Improving Paragraphs portion
of the writing skills. |
(1) Conservation and ecology
are becoming important topics at
our school. (2) Some of us wondered
how we could make a difference.
(3) Students used to just throw
everything out in one big garbage
pail. (4) Sure, it was easy. (5)
It wasn't good for the environment.
(6) I volunteered to head
up the conservation team. (7) My
friends and I decided to map out
our strategies. (8) Making sure
that people would use recycling
bins was a thing to do. (9) We
decided to run a poster contest.
(10) The purpose was to raise awareness. ?/SPAN>
7. In context,
which of the following is the best
version of sentence 8 (reproduced
below)?
Making sure that people would
use the recycling bins was a thing
to do.
(A) A
thing to do was to make sure that
people would use the recycling bins
correctly
(B) Making
sure that people would use them correctly
was one thing to do.
(C) To
make sure that people would use the
recycling bins correctly, it had
to be done.
(D) First,
we had to make sure that people would
use the recycling bins correctly.
(E) Another
thing to do correctly was making
sure that people would use the recycling
bins.
ANSWER:
The correct answer is D.
The “best?version of sentence on this
part of the test is the least wordy choice
that avoids colloquial phrases. Unnecessary
words like “thing?should be eliminated
and replaced with more precise language.
Only answer D does this.
8. Which of the following is
the most effective combination of
sentences 4 and 5?
(A) It
sure was easy, and it wasn't good
for the environment.
(B) It
was easy, but it wasn't good for
the environment.
(C) It
was easily not good for the environment.
(D) I
was sure that it was easy, not good
for the environment.
(E) It
was easy; therefore, it wasn't good
for the environment.
ANSWER:
The correct answer is B.
The two phrases that you are to combine
contain contrasting ideas, and of the
conjunctions in the answers, only the
conjunction but expresses this
relationship.
Graded Essay
Writing
| Directions: Consider
carefully the following excerpt
and the assignment below it.
Then plan and write an essay
that explains your ideas as
persuasively as possible. Keep
in mind that the support you
provide—both reasons and examples—will
help make your view convincing
to the reader. |
Intellectuals
in America and abroad have debated over
the concept of success in American
culture. Success can be defined quite
differently by different people,
but few people argue that being successful
is not considered valuable. However,
some people also advocate the view
that something considered unsuccessful
can also have some value.
| Assignment: What
is your view of the claim that
something unsuccessful can
still have some value? In an
essay, support your position
by discussing an example (or
examples) from literature,
the arts, science and technology,
current events, or your own
experience or observation. |
Graded
Essay Writing Samples
Sample
Essay #1
In
today's fast-paced, driven society,
much emphasis is placed on the
final result of an endeavor. American
society places a premium on success;
our culture has little tolerance
for failures or losers. Within
this cultural framework it sometimes
becomes easy to immediately dismiss
failures. However, value is not
found only in success. As the examples
of the recent Columbia shuttle disaster and the
Vietnam War demonstrates, events
that are not successful still have
value.
When
the Columbia space shuttle disintergrated
upon reentry, the American people
experienced a great tragedy. The
failure of NASA engineers to prevent
this disaster shocked the nation.
Certainly, many people would argue
that there is no value in this
horrific failure. But the Columbia tragedy led to a complete
investigation of the space program.
Deficiencies in the chain of command
and in the entire culture of NASA
were exposed. As a result of the Columbia tragedy, NASA will reexamine
its practices and change their
ways so something like this doesn't
happen again. Surely, this is a
valuable thing to come from a horrible
failure.
Another
unsuccessful endeavor was the Vietnam
War. America sent troops to Vietnam to prevent the country
from becoming Communist. However,
after many years of struggle, the
troops were withdrawn and Vietnam fell to the Communist party.
But this failure had much value.
On one hand, our failure in Vietnam led to an important lesson
in successful war strategy. The
experience of the fierce guerilla
war led to changes in tactics that
later helped America in other conflicts. Also,
the Vietnam failure helped change the
American culture. People protested
the war and the government responded
to the voice of the public. These
important changes show the value
that can come from failure.
Clearly,
there is much value in things that
our not successful. The Columbia
disaster and the Vietnam War are
but two examples of unsuccessful
events that led to valuable lessons
and changes. There is much to be
learned from a failure and those
who focus only on success will
miss out on valuable lessons.
Essay
Score and Explanation
Score:
6
Essays
that receive a 6 demonstrate clear
and consistent competence in writing.
One of the first things that ETS
will look for is good organization.
This essay fulfills that requirement
with an introduction, two bodies,
and a conclusion. The introductory
paragraph uses an effective opening
line and then introduces the prompt.
The introduction ends by stating
a clear thesis and mentioning examples
that the essay will discuss to support
that thesis.
A top essay
must also provide support for the
thesis statement. This essay uses
two examples, one from current events
and one from history. Each body paragraph
begins with a topic sentence that
introduces the example. Then, each
body relates the example back to
the thesis, supporting the thesis.
Each body stays on the topic with
no digressions and employs good transitions
to introduce points. Also, the body
paragraphs end by reiterating the
thesis, making the essay more focused
and forceful.
ETS will
also consider command of the language.
This essay employs variety in its
sentence structure, using short,
simple sentences and longer, more
complex ones. The essay also shows
a good range of vocabulary. This
essay does contain some errors, including
misspelling “disintegrated?in the
second paragraph, using the wrong
form of “are?in the conclusion,
and using some pronouns incorrectly.
However, ETS does not expect an essay
to be perfect. As long as the errors
do not detract from the overall presentation,
a few mistakes are acceptable.
Sample
Essay #2
Some people would say that something
that is not successful does not have
any value. I would have to disagree
with this statement. Sometimes, things
that are not successful still have
some value. For example, the Columbia
space shuttle and the Vietnam War
were not successful, but they had
value. Thus, it is true that something
not successful can still have value.
For instance, the Columbia disaster.
Columbia was a destroyed in an accident
when the shuttle tried to reenter
the atmosphere. This accident was
a horrible failure and many people
were very upset by it. The value,
though, comes from the new way in
which we now look at things. Because
of Columbia, the space program now
knows what is wrong. Hopefully, they
will change it.
Vietnam is also an example of something
not successful. We went to Vietnam
in an attempt to get rid of communists.
The war went on for awhile, but we
were not able to win. Many soldiers
were killed and the public were very
angry about the whole thing. Soon
there were many protests across the
country and college students especially
became active against the war. By
the time the war was ended the people
were very upsest with their country.
These two examples show that something
not successful can still have value.
As we have seen, both Columbia and
the Vietnam War were not successful.
Yet, we still got something of value
out of them.
Evaluation
for Essay #2
Essay
Score: 4
A 4 essay
demonstrates adequate competence
but contains lapses in organization
or development. For example, this
essay does contain an appropriate
organizational structure, employing
an introduction, two bodies, and
a conclusion. However, the essay
does not consistently develop its
examples.
The examples
are appropriate, one from current
events and one from history. The
first example is adequately related
back to the thesis, but the second
example is not. Rather than demonstrate
how the example supports the thesis,
the essay digresses and presents
examples not relevant to the thesis.
This essay
also lacks variety in its sentence
structure. Most of the sentences
are short and simple, and many are
repetitive. Vocabulary is limited
and grammatical errors are also apparent,
detracting from the overall presentation
of the essay.
