Language Arts Lesson 12
Written and Oral English Language Conventions: Grammar and Mechanics of Writing (Grades 9-12)

Problems

  Answer Key

Problems  (click HERE for a printer-friendly version)

Directions: Complete the problems below. Consult the Answer Key below for answers once you finish. Review the Instruction material which relates to any questions you do not get correct.

Choose the correct answer.

1. Ernesto wanted to spend the night studying, but his wife had other ideas. _____

   1. The sentence contains two independent clauses.
   2. Only the underlined part of the sentence is an independent clause.
   3. The sentence is one long independent clause (with a compound verb).
       
2. The crowd began to clap and cheer as the team entered through a cloud of smoke. _____
   1. The sentence contains two independent clauses.
   2. The independent clause begins with the word "as."
   3. The underlined part is the independent clause.
       
3. Gordy worked his way up to middle management but kept on wishing for a better job. _____
   1. The underlined part of the sentence is the independent clause.
   2. The sentence is one independent clause.
   3. The sentence contains two independent clauses.
       

4. Gesualdo began to leap around the room when his wife fed him the jalapeño peppers. _____

   1. The independent clause is the part of the sentence not underlined.
   2. The independent clause is the part of the sentence that is underlined.
   3. The sentence contains two independent clauses
       

5. Hector signed the contract but never agreed to purchase the CDs. _____

   1. This sentence contains two independent clauses.
   2. The underlined part is the complete independent clause.
   3. The entire sentence is one independent clause.

6. Some of these factories have been torn down. Some of them have been converted to artists' studios.
    
7. Today, great wealth abounds in Hartford.
   The wealth is centered in the insurance industry.
   However, few manufacturing jobs are still available.
    
8. Mark Twain is the author of Huckleberry Finn.
   Huckleberry Finn is a classic American novel.
   Mark Twain's real name was Samuel L. Clemens.
   He lived in Hartford for several years.
    

9. Mark Twain's house was very elaborate and elegant.
   It was on Farmington Avenue.
   It was in an area called Nook Farm.
   He was a neighbor of Harriet Beecher Stowe.
   Harriet Beecher Stowe wrote Uncle Tom's Cabin

10. Mark Twain's home has a large side porch.
    Windows and a balcony overlook the porch.
    Today, people say the windows and balcony remind them of a steamboat.
    In his youth, Twain piloted steamboats on the Mississippi.3

11. Mark Twain was one of the first three people in Hartford to own a telephone. The telephone was first used commercially in nearby New Haven.
    There was practically no one to talk to. Mark Twain never really liked this newfangled gadget.

12. Mark Twain loved industrial inventions.
    He lost a fortune investing in them.
    One of these inventions was the elaborate Paige typesetter.
    Unfortunately for Twain, this machine was developed at the same time as the Linotype.
    The Linotype machine was much simpler and less expensive.

13. Mark Twain's beloved daughter, Susy, died in the Hartford home.
    She died of spinal meningitis.
    Twain never felt the same about the house again.
    He soon left the house and Hartford.
    He returned only once.
    He came back for the funeral of his friend, Charles Dudley Warner.

14. One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest is a novel written by Ken Kesey.
    Its protagonist is Randall Patrick McMurphy.
    He pretends to be insane to escape a work farm.
    He discovers he is now trapped in an asylum.
    He shows other characters the truth of their situation.

15. Tiger Woods is the name of a young American golfer.
    He set a record in the 1997 Master's Tournament.
    He surprised all the veterans.
    He was 22 at the time.

Answer Key (click HERE for a printer-friendly version) (top 

1. a

2. c

3. b

4. a

5. c

6. Some of these factories have been torn down, others converted to artists' studios.

7. Although there is much wealth centered in Hartford's insurance industry today, there are few manufacturing jobs available.

8. The author of the classic American novel Huckleberry Finn, Mark Twain, whose real name was Samuel L. Clemens, lived in Hartford for several years.

9. Mark Twain's elaborate and elegant house on Farmington Avenue was in an area called Nook Farm, where he was a neighbor of Harriet Beecher Stowe, author of Uncle Tom's Cabin.

10. Today, people say that the balcony and windows overlooking the large side porch on Twain's home remind them of a steamboat, the kind of Mississippi steamboat young Mark Twain used to pilot.

11. Although there was practically no one else to talk to in Hartford and he never really liked the newfangled gadget, Mark Twain was one of the first three people in Hartford to own a telephone, a device first used commercially in nearby New Haven.

12. Mark Twain loved industrial inventions and lost a fortune investing in machines such as the elaborate Paige typesetter -- which, unfortunately for Twain, was developed at the same time as the much simpler and less expensive Linotype machine.

13. After Mark Twain's beloved daughter, Susy, died of spinal meningitis in the Hartford home, he never felt the same about the house again and soon left the house and Hartford, to return only once, for the funeral of his friend, Charles Dudley Warner.

14. The protagonist of Ken Kesey's novel, "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest," Randall Patrick McMurphy, escapes a work farm by pretending insanity but then becomes trapped in an asylum, where he shows other characters their true situation.

15. An American golfer, Tiger Woods, was only 22 when he surprised all the veterans and set a record in the 1977 Master's Tournament.

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