Question 1

Instructions: The following sentences form an essay. Proofread them for consistency, parallelism, and concise language. Select the letter of the error in each sentence. By the middle of the nineteenth century, however, soap became the inexpensive common item that we use daily every day.
A) consistency
B) parallelism
C) concise language

Accepted Answer

"daily" and "every day" mean the same thing, so using both is redundant. A more concise sentence would be: "By the middle of the nineteenth century, soap became an inexpensive and common item that we use daily."

Question 2

Instructions: Select the part of the sentence that contains a grammar or punctuation error. Tattoos are permanent colored designs. That are made on the skin by puncturing the skin and inserting dyes into the holes.
A) are
B) designs. That
C) skin and

Accepted Answer

The comma after "designs" is unnecessary and creates a sentence fragment. It should be removed to make it a complete sentence.

Question 3

Instructions: The following sentences form an essay. Proofread them for consistency, parallelism, and concise language. Select the letter of the error in each sentence. Soap is used more and more. In the eleventh century, soap production in Italy and France rose dramatically.
A) consistency
B) parallelism
C) concise language

Accepted Answer

The sentences lack consistency in tense, starting with present tense ("is used") and then shifting to past tense ("rose dramatically").

Question 4

Instructions: Select the part of the sentence that contains a grammar or punctuation error. Some culture believe that tattoos can protect against sickness and misfortune. People in other cultures use tattoos merely for decoration.
A) culture
B) believe that
C) can protect

Accepted Answer

The word "culture" should be plural as the sentence is referring to multiple cultures. The correct word is "cultures", so the error is in the first part of the sentence.

Question 5

Instructions: The following sentences form an essay. Proofread them for consistency, parallelism, and concise language. Select the letter of the error in each sentence. If cutting back on salt is good for people with hypertension, the good is for everyone else, too.
A) consistency
B) parallelism
C) concise language

Accepted Answer

The answer of Instructions: The following sentences form an essay....

Question 6

Instructions: The following sentences form an essay. Proofread them for consistency, parallelism, and concise language. Select the letter of the error in each sentence. Medication can help with the most severe cases of hypertension, but the first line of defense, physicians agree, was to cut back on sodium.
A) consistency
B) parallelism
C) concise language

Accepted Answer

The first part of the sentence presents medication as a potential solution for severe cases of hypertension, while the second part introduces a different approach, which is to reduce sodium intake. To ensure consistency, the sentence could be revised to state, "While medication can be helpful in severe cases, physicians agree that the first line of defense against hypertension is reducing sodium." This way, both parts of the sentence are linked and focused on the same topic.

Question 7

Instructions: The following sentences form an essay. Proofread them for consistency, parallelism, and concise language. Select the letter of the error in each sentence. High blood pressure can also force small blood vessels to burst like an overstressed garden hose. If that happens in the brain, that malfunction is called a stroke ¾ the other major cardiovascular killer besides heart attacks, which many people die from as well.
A) consistency
B) parallelism
C) concise language

Accepted Answer

The sentence could be made more concise by eliminating unnecessary words or phrases, such as "as well" at the end, which is redundant given the context.

Question 8

Instructions: The following sentences form an essay. Proofread them for consistency, parallelism, and concise language. Select the letter of the error in each sentence. One study concluded that reducing salt intake reduces high blood pressure in all people. But a study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association argued that people with normal blood pressure got no significant benefit from salt reduction. It didn't help them at all.
A) consistency
B) parallelism
C) concise language

Accepted Answer

The answer of Instructions: The following sentences form an essay....

Question 9

Instructions: The following sentences form an essay. Proofread them for consistency, parallelism, and concise language. Select the letter of the error in each sentence. However, even as late as 1550, soap had not won over everyone. For instance, a German duchess gets angry when she receives a box of soap as a gift; she threw the messenger out of the palace.
A) consistency
B) parallelism
C) concise language

Accepted Answer

The sentence does not maintain consistency in verb tense. "Had not won" is in past perfect tense, while "gets angry" is in present tense. It should be revised to "even as late as 1550, soap had not won over everyone. For instance, a German duchess got angry when she received a box of soap as a gift and threw the messenger out of the palace."

Question 10

Instructions: The following sentences form an essay. Proofread them for consistency, parallelism, and concise language. Select the letter of the error in each sentence. Others in the ancient world would not go near soap with a ten-foot pole.
A) consistency
B) parallelism
C) concise language

Accepted Answer

The phrase "with a ten-foot pole" is an idiom that could be simplified to "avoided." This would make the sentence more concise without changing the meaning.

Question 11

Instructions: The following sentences form an essay. Proofread them for consistency, parallelism, and concise language. Select the letter of the error in each sentence. Doctors don't completely understand yet, but they think that high blood pressure puts a strain on blood vessels, causing them to tear and developing weak areas where plaque can gain an easy foothold.
A) consistency
B) parallelism
C) concise language

Accepted Answer

The sentence should be rephrased to maintain parallelism in verb tense. For example: "Doctors don't completely understand yet, but they think that high blood pressure puts a strain on blood vessels, causing them to tear and develop weak areas where plaque can gain an easy foothold."

Question 12

Instructions: The following sentences form an essay. Proofread them for consistency, parallelism, and concise language. Select the letter of the error in each sentence. Perhaps someday soon, researchers will have conclusive answers. For now, keeping sodium levels down is probably a good idea, particularly since there is no evidence that a low-sodium diet was harmful.
A) consistency
B) parallelism
C) concise language

Accepted Answer

The answer of Instructions: The following sentences form an essay....

Question 13

Instructions: The following sentences form an essay. Proofread them for consistency, parallelism, and concise language. Select the letter of the error in each sentence. Gradually, attitudes toward soap began to change and did not stay the same.
A) consistency
B) parallelism
C) concise language

Accepted Answer

The phrase "began to change and did not stay the same" is repetitive and can be condensed into "changed." This improves the clarity and conciseness of the sentence.

Question 14

Instructions: Select the part of the sentence that contains a grammar or punctuation error. Practiced at one time or another by most cultures, tattooing serve three main purposes.
A) time or
B) cultures, tattooing
C) serve

Accepted Answer

The correct form should be "serves" to agree with the singular subject "tattooing."

Question 15

Instructions: The following sentences form an essay. Proofread them for consistency, parallelism, and concise language. Select the letter of the error in each sentence. In general, though, soap was sought after and many people wanted to get it.
A) consistency
B) parallelism
C) concise language

Accepted Answer

The sentence could be made more concise by removing redundant elements, such as "though" or rephrasing to eliminate the repetition of "wanted" and "sought after," which convey similar meanings.

Question 16

Instructions: The following sentences form an essay. Proofread them for consistency, parallelism, and concise language. Select the letter of the error in each sentence. It may be, but results from two recent studies differ on this point and do not agree.
A) consistency
B) parallelism
C) concise language

Accepted Answer

The sentence could be made more concise by eliminating redundant phrases such as "differ on this point and do not agree," which essentially convey the same idea.

Question 17

Instructions: The following sentences form an essay. Proofread them for consistency, parallelism, and concise language. Select the letter of the error in each sentence. They used this soap for bathing and also to cleanse wounds.
A) consistency
B) parallelism
C) concise language

Accepted Answer

The sentence is not parallel because the verb used for bathing is in the past tense while the verb used for cleansing wounds is in the infinitive form. To make it parallel, we can change the second verb to past tense or add "to" and make it an infinitive phrase. For example: "They used this soap for bathing and for cleansing wounds" or "They used this soap to bathe and to cleanse wounds."

Question 18

Instructions: The following sentences form an essay. Proofread them for consistency, parallelism, and concise language. Select the letter of the error in each sentence. Unfortunately, it was so expensive in price that only royalty like kings and queens could afford it.
A) consistency
B) parallelism
C) concise language

Accepted Answer

The sentence can be made more concise by removing the phrase "in price," which is redundant. The sentence can simply read: "Unfortunately, it was so expensive that only royalty like kings and queens could afford it."

Question 19

Instructions: The following sentences form an essay. Proofread them for consistency, parallelism, and concise language. Select the letter of the error in each sentence. Decades ago, researchers realized that high blood pressure is a cardiovascular danger signal and that it is a risk to the health of one's heart.
A) consistency
B) parallelism
C) concise language

Accepted Answer

The sentence can be made more concise by eliminating redundancy. "Cardiovascular danger signal" can be replaced with "risk factor for cardiovascular disease" and "risk to the health of one's heart" can be shortened to "cardiac risk." The revised sentence would read: "Decades ago, researchers realized that high blood pressure is a risk factor for cardiovascular disease and cardiac risk."

Question 20

Instructions: The following sentences form an essay. Proofread them for consistency, parallelism, and concise language. Select the letter of the error in each sentence. They thought it was a strange, odd, and a mystery.
A) consistency
B) parallelism
C) concise language

Accepted Answer

The series of adjectives should be parallel in structure. "Strange" and "odd" are both one-word adjectives while "a mystery" is a noun phrase. To make them parallel, the sentence could be revised to say "They thought it was strange, odd, and mysterious."

Quiz 42: Some Guidelines for Students of English as a Second Language.

Instructions: The following sentences form an essay. Proofread them for consistency, parallelism, and concise language. Select the letter of the error in each sentence. By the middle of the nineteenth century, however, soap became the inexpensive common item that we use daily every day.

Instructions: Select the part of the sentence that contains a grammar or punctuation error. Tattoos are permanent colored designs. That are made on the skin by puncturing the skin and inserting dyes into the holes.

Instructions: The following sentences form an essay. Proofread them for consistency, parallelism, and concise language. Select the letter of the error in each sentence. Soap is used more and more. In the eleventh century, soap production in Italy and France rose dramatically.

Instructions: Select the part of the sentence that contains a grammar or punctuation error. Some culture believe that tattoos can protect against sickness and misfortune. People in other cultures use tattoos merely for decoration.

Instructions: The following sentences form an essay. Proofread them for consistency, parallelism, and concise language. Select the letter of the error in each sentence. If cutting back on salt is good for people with hypertension, the good is for everyone else, too.

Instructions: The following sentences form an essay. Proofread them for consistency, parallelism, and concise language. Select the letter of the error in each sentence. Others in the ancient world would not go near soap with a ten-foot pole.

Instructions: The following sentences form an essay. Proofread them for consistency, parallelism, and concise language. Select the letter of the error in each sentence. Gradually, attitudes toward soap began to change and did not stay the same.

Instructions: Select the part of the sentence that contains a grammar or punctuation error. Practiced at one time or another by most cultures, tattooing serve three main purposes.

Instructions: The following sentences form an essay. Proofread them for consistency, parallelism, and concise language. Select the letter of the error in each sentence. In general, though, soap was sought after and many people wanted to get it.

Instructions: The following sentences form an essay. Proofread them for consistency, parallelism, and concise language. Select the letter of the error in each sentence. It may be, but results from two recent studies differ on this point and do not agree.

Instructions: The following sentences form an essay. Proofread them for consistency, parallelism, and concise language. Select the letter of the error in each sentence. They used this soap for bathing and also to cleanse wounds.

Instructions: The following sentences form an essay. Proofread them for consistency, parallelism, and concise language. Select the letter of the error in each sentence. Unfortunately, it was so expensive in price that only royalty like kings and queens could afford it.

Instructions: The following sentences form an essay. Proofread them for consistency, parallelism, and concise language. Select the letter of the error in each sentence. They thought it was a strange, odd, and a mystery.