GED Language Arts and Reading Exam 71 Questions with Verified Answers
Clarity is the objective of any writing, and the organization of any expository
... [Show More] writing is extremely important to clarity. - CORRECT ANSWER When judging the organization of a piece of writing, whether it is a promotional piece or a personal letter, you should look for a clear and logical delivery of ideas.
Things to ask yourself about your writing. - CORRECT ANSWER *Does each piece of writing contain a topic statement in the first paragraph?
*Does each paragraph have a topic sentence?
*Are related ideas grouped in the same paragraph?
*Do all sentences in the paragraph support the topic sentence? Is there a clear progression from one idea to the next, from one paragraph to the next (perhaps using first, next, then, & finally)
*Do all the paragraphs support the topic sentence?
Expository - CORRECT ANSWER Intended to explain or describe
Singular - CORRECT ANSWER (of a word or form) denoting or referring to just one person or thing
Adjective Verb - CORRECT ANSWER A word used to describe an action, state, or occurrence, and forming the main part of the predicate of a sentence, such as hear, become, happen
Subject - CORRECT ANSWER A person or thing that is being discussed, described, or dealt with.
Plural - CORRECT ANSWER A plural word form
Compound subject - CORRECT ANSWER A type of subject where two or more individual noun phrases are coordinated to form a single, larger noun phrase
Noun phrase - CORRECT ANSWER Compound subjects cause many difficulties in the proper usage of grammatical agreement between the subject and other entities (verbs, pro nouns, etc)
Independent clause - CORRECT ANSWER (Main clause) is a clause that can stand by itself, also known as a simple sentence. An independent clause contains a subject and a predicate; it makes sense by itself
Independent clauses - CORRECT ANSWER Are clauses that express a complete thought. They can function as sentences.
Dependent clauses - CORRECT ANSWER Do not express a complete thought & cannot function as sentences
Noun - CORRECT ANSWER is the name of a person, place, thing, or idea. Whatever exists, we assume, can be named, and that name is a noun.
Verb - CORRECT ANSWER a word used to describe an action, state, or occurrence, and forming the main part of the predicate of a sentence, such as hear, become,happen.
Proper noun - CORRECT ANSWER a name used for an individual person, place, or organization, spelled with initial capital letters, e.g.,Larry, Mexico, and Boston Red Sox.
About nouns - CORRECT ANSWER When using a noun to describe another noun, the first noun is "acting as" an adjective, e.g., Love story
Countable nouns - CORRECT ANSWER They have a singular form & a plural form. They usually refer to things. Most countable nouns become plural by adding s at the end
Uncountable nouns - CORRECT ANSWER They only have a singular form NO plurals. Usually refer to abstractions (confidence or advice) or collectives ( equipment or luggage)
Active voice - CORRECT ANSWER In the active voice the object receives the action of the verb, e.g., Cats(subject) eat(verb) fish(object)
Passive voice - CORRECT ANSWER In passive voice the subject receives the action of the verb, e.g., Fish (subject) are eaten (verb) by cats (object)
Adjective - CORRECT ANSWER Describe or give information about nouns or pronouns. (age, size, color, etc) Some show what somebody thinks about something or somebody. (nice, horrid, beautiful, etc)
Different types of adjectives - CORRECT ANSWER 1. Numeric: six, one hundred & one
2. Quantitative: more, all, some, half, more than enough
3. Qualitative: color, size, smell, etc
4. Interrogative: which, whose, what
5. Demonstrative: this, that, those, these
Essay writing - CORRECT ANSWER 1. Introduction
2. Body
3. Conclusion
Introduction - CORRECT ANSWER An introduction should answer 3 questions. 1. What am I talking about in this paper. 2. How am I going to talk about it. 3. What am I going to prove in this paper
Body - CORRECT ANSWER Everything between your intro & conclusion & where you discuss your three main points 1. Introduce your point 2. Explain your point 3. Give supporting evidence 4. Explain how the point & evidence relate to your thesis
Conclusion - CORRECT ANSWER Restates the intro. Use questions 1, 2, & 3 also helps trace your argument.
Easy Essay Format - CORRECT ANSWER I Intro
1. Subject
2. Main point
3. Thesis
II Point One
1. Intro & Explanation
2. Evidence
3. How point relates to thesis
IV Point Three
1. Intro & Explanation
2. Evidence
3. How point relates to thesis
V Conclusion
1. Restate Subject
2. Summarize main points
3. Restate thesis
The Writing Process - CORRECT ANSWER Cognitive research, recursive process, thesis statement, rough draft, revise 1. Brainstorm 2. Write draft 3. Revise
Before following 3-step writing process; preliminary points to be looked at. - CORRECT ANSWER *Try to relate to the reader & look at things from their prospective.
(Who is my audience? Are you writing for general audience, customers, clients, children, men, or women only? Will this audience understand your writing, or will you have to use a different vocabulary or structure to make yourself clearer?)
Before brainstorming you must have an idea of which direction this piece will go. - CORRECT ANSWER What is the main purpose of this piece, its main point or the opinion I'm going to support? Is the purpose to persuade or inform, compare, or contrast different ideas? (Once you've decided on a purpose, topic, main point, or opinion. Then you're ready for the first step in the writing process)
Use a comma before any coordinating conjunction - CORRECT ANSWER And, but, for, or, nor, so, yet. That links 2 independent clauses
Use a comma after a dependent clause.... - CORRECT ANSWER That starts a sentence
Rule #1 Use commas to... - CORRECT ANSWER Offset appositives from the rest of the sentence
Rule #2 Commas should also be used to - CORRECT ANSWER Separate items in a series
Rule #3 Another way to use commas is to - CORRECT ANSWER Use them after introductory adverbs
Rule #4 Also use commas when... - CORRECT ANSWER Attributing quotes
Rule #5 Commas should always be used to - CORRECT ANSWER Separate each element in an address, also after a city state combination within a sentence & to separate elements in a full date (weekday, month, day & year) separate a combination of those elements from the rest of the sentence w/comma
Informal writing structure - CORRECT ANSWER 1. Beginning
2. Middle
3. End
Writing structure - CORRECT ANSWER 1. Introduction
2. Body
3. Conclusion
Purpose of writing structure - CORRECT ANSWER Introduce topic to get reader interested and then state thesis. Show proof to back up thesis. Restate the thesis & summarize proof.
Make organizing easier - CORRECT ANSWER Gather information with prewriting list, brainstorming, graphic organizers, Venn diagram. Use flash cards, verbalize as you create, think of your hand as a 5 paragraph essay (thumb=intro, 3 fingers=body, pinky finger=conclusion)
(The writing process)
Prewriting- - CORRECT ANSWER *Decide why you are writing & who will read it. *Choose a topic. *Gather ideas. *Organize your ideas
Draft - CORRECT ANSWER *Use your notes from prewriting. *Get your ideas down on paper. *Don't worry about mistakes
Revise - CORRECT ANSWER *Add details & ideas. *Delete ideas that are off topic. *Substitute more interesting words. *Rearrange sentences or parts of sentences
Edit - CORRECT ANSWER *Check your spelling. *Fix punctuation mistakes. *Fix capitalization mistakes. *Fix other grammar mistakes
Publish - CORRECT ANSWER *Choose a format. *Neatly print or type a final draft. *Add visuals
Present - CORRECT ANSWER *Share with your audience
(GED writing test) Intro - CORRECT ANSWER Thesis statement state 3 ideas
Middle paragraph idea #1 - CORRECT ANSWER Topic sentence (what paragraph is about) /development & detail (evidence to prove your idea)
Middle paragraph idea #2 - CORRECT ANSWER Topic sentence (what the whole paragraph is about) & development & detail
Middle paragraph idea #3 - CORRECT ANSWER Topic sentence/development & detail
Conclusion - CORRECT ANSWER Reminder of thesis statement/Restate 3 ideas/wrap up essay
For a higher score make sure - CORRECT ANSWER Your paragraphs are 4-6 sentences long
Organize piece of writing is easier to read, writing is partly inspiration but needs a plan to organize, all good writing has a set structure - CORRECT ANSWER It's important to introduce the topic in such a way as to get the audience comfortable with it, having a sens of purpose always affects structure
Point #1 to remember - CORRECT ANSWER The purpose of business writing is to evaluate products, people, opportunities, & or influence what people think, feel, or do
Point #2 to remember - CORRECT ANSWER Personal writings purpose is to inform, entertain, and clarify
Point #3 to remember - CORRECT ANSWER Effective writing is where you "show" rather than merely "tell"
Punctuation mark tips - CORRECT ANSWER Never be afraid to have short sentences in your writing by splitting up long sentences that contain several points. Clear & concise is the way to go with briefer statements, as apposed to a one page paragraph w/twenty words per sentence
The period(.) - CORRECT ANSWER Use a period to end a complete thought whether is a simple, complex, compound sentence, declarative, imperative, or rhetorical question
If a sentence ends in a quote - CORRECT ANSWER Put a period inside the quotation mark
The exclamation point(!) - CORRECT ANSWER Its purpose is to show strong emotion or to give a command. Occasionally, it shows irony
The exclamation point(!) goes inside the quotation marks if - CORRECT ANSWER It refers to the quote, but outside if it doesn't
A question mark(?) is used to show - CORRECT ANSWER Disbelief or to acquire information, it can be used in a series of questions, in the middle of a sentence. While it is used for direct questions, it is not used for indirect or rhetorical questions
Commas(,) - CORRECT ANSWER Instead of trying to remember every rule, when unsure, just silently read the sentence & see where you would naturally pause.
Semicolons (;) - CORRECT ANSWER Used to avoid run-on sentences by joining independent clauses that have a close relationship to each other but do not have a conjunction. Many people however choose to make these separate sentences
Colon (:) - CORRECT ANSWER Used in expression of time to separate hours, minutes, seconds, e.g., 3:00 mins
"Quotation marks " - CORRECT ANSWER Used in a direct quote to show the exact words of the speaker. They are not used in an indirect quote.
Hyphens - CORRECT ANSWER Are used primarily for 2 purposes: To divide up words into syllables at the end of a line - as shown in dictionary & to create hyphenated words
Ellipses - CORRECT ANSWER Are used in the middle of a sentence to show that there's omitted material, or at the end of a sentence to show the sentence is trailing off, e.g., The inn keeper....never turned anyone away
Apostrophe (') - CORRECT ANSWER Used primarily to show possession and to form contractions, e.g., Carol's cat or seven O' clock
Parentheses ( ) - CORRECT ANSWER Used to set off numbers or letters in a list, or to include extra information in a sentence, e.g., John showed up to the party uninvited (he sure made everybody mad!) he was asked to leave or (I) (A) (B) (4) [Show Less]