English 1101 Vocabulary, Grammar, and MLA Midterm (Practice 2) 1 ...

English 1101 Vocabulary, Grammar, and MLA Midterm (Practice 2) 

NAME: __________________________________________________________________________________ 

DATE: ________________________________________ 

SECTION: __________ 

Part I. Vocabulary 

Circle the best answer for each question. There is exactly one best answer for each 

problem. Please clearly indicate your answer. If there is any ambiguity about what letter 

you circle, I will count your answer as wrong. 

1. I heard the horse ______________________ as I entered the barn. 

A. equine 

B. diffuse 

C. curtail 

D. whinny 

2. He was reared in a/an ______________________ of race prejudice. 

A. forlorn 

B. corona 

C. austere 

D. ethos 

3. The new kid looked somewhat ______________________ sitting by himself in the 

cafeteria. 

A. forlorn 

B. terse 

C. harried 

D. prescient 

4. The unruly students ______________________ the substitute teacher. 

A. harried 

B. invoked 

C. vaunted 

D. synthesized 

5. The ancient Spartans ______________________ the god of war before going into battle. 

A. stigmatized 

B. invoked 

C. apprehended 

D. proliferated 

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6. As time was running short, the speaker ______________________ her presentation. 

A. synthesized 

B. nuanced 

C. quipped 

D. curtailed 

7. We ______________________ in the Outer Banks for the summer. 

A. forlorned 

B. mustered 

C. curtailed 

D. sojourned 

8. The professor prefers ______________________ language in student essays and will give a 

lower grade for excess wordiness. 

A. ubiquitous 

B. terse 

C. algorithmic 

D. prescient 

9. These final ______________________ remarks seemed to convince the members of the 

jury; the words the lawyer used were concise of forcefully expressive. 

A. idiomatic 

B. pithy 

C. implacable 

D. reportorial 

10. The comedian on TheOnion.com played the role of a _______________________________ 

who shamelessly catered to what viewers wanted to hear. 

A. rueful 

B. conduit 

C. treatise 

D. pundit 

11. The old science fiction novel now seems remarkably ______________________ about the 

role computer technology plays in our lives. 

A. rueful 

B. boon 

C. prescient 

D. egalitarian 

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Part II. Grammar 

Circle the best answer. There is exactly one best answer for each problem. Please clearly 

indicate your answer. If there is any ambiguity about what letter you circle, I will count 

your answer as wrong. 

12. Teachers do not teach students to believe in evolution, instead they just teach 

students about evolution. 

A. Fragment 

B. Comma splice 

C. Fused sentence 

D. Error in the subject-‐verb 

agreement 

E. No problem 

13. The theory of intelligent design is controversial within schools because it implies 

the older theory of creationism, which credits God with the creation of the universe. 

A. Fragment 




agreement 

E. No problem 

14. Junk food used to be a nice snack to have when on a picnic however today junk food 

has become a silent killer that resides in 99% of American homes. 

A. Fragment 



agreement 


E. No problem 

15. Socrates is one of the main characters in the Phaedrus, some scholars believe that 

Plato expressed his fears about writing through the character Socrates. 

A. Fragment 



agreement 


E. No problem 

16. Amanda Fortini wrote about the luxury treatment celebrities with drug addiction 

receives. 

A. Fragment 




agreement 

E. No problem 

17. Long before they became world famous, the Beatles played at a Liverpool club called 

the Cavern. Where they hung out together, played night and day, and attracted many 

fans. 

A. The first sentence contains a comma splice. 

B. The first sentence contains an error in the subject-‐verb agreement. 

C. The second sentence is a fragment. 

D. The second sentence is a fused sentence. 

E. There is nothing grammatically wrong with either sentence. 

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18. A Liverpool disk jockey called them “fantastic,” saying that they had “resurrected 

original rock n’ roll.” A local music critic, Brian Epstein, became their manager, he 

promoted them, arranged club dates for them, and contacted record companies for 

them. 

A. The first sentence is a fragment. 

B. The first sentence contains a comma splice. 


D. The second sentence contains a comma splice. 


19. The Beatles who did not come to America until 1963, having spent years becoming 

famous in England. When they were introduced in America, everyone wanted copies 

of such singles as “Love Me Do,” “Please Please Me,” and “From Me to You.” 


B. The first sentence is a fused sentence. 

C. The second sentence contains a comma splice. 

D. The second sentence contains an error in subject-‐verb agreement. 


20. A crowd of screaming teenagers surrounded the Beatles wherever they went. Today, 

this same crowd, now forty years older, wonder why their kids get so excited about 

certain singers. 


B. The first sentence contains an error in subject-‐verb agreement. 




21. First appearing in Assyrian mythology, the phoenix was thought to be a bird that fed 

on spices such as frankincense. After living for 500 years, the phoenix died and 

immediately regenerated itself. 

A. The first sentence is a fused sentence. 



D. The second sentence contains a comma splice. 


22. The four years of college can be demanding. The requirements for graduation often 

surprises students. 






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Part III. MLA Documentation and Common Knowledge vs. Cited Knowledge 

There is exactly one best answer for each problem. Please clearly indicate your answer. If 

there is any ambiguity about what letter you circle, I will count your answer as wrong. 

23. In the following example, the author is paraphrasing from page B1 of a newspaper 

article, written by Frederic Golden, titled “Electric Wind,” which appeared in The Los 

Angeles Times. It is the only work by Golden in the list of the works cited. 

Which one of the following sentences uses and punctuates MLA documentation 

correctly? 

A. Wind power accounts for more than 1% of California’s electricity, and this 

portion can increase on warm, windy mornings. 

B. Wind power accounts for more than 1% of California’s electricity, and this 

portion can increase on warm, windy mornings (B1). 

C. Wind power accounts for more than 1% of California’s electricity, and this 

portion can increase on warm, windy mornings (Golden B1). 

D. Wind power accounts for more than 1% of California’s electricity, and this 

portion can increase on warm, windy mornings (Golden, B1). 

E. Wind power accounts for more than 1% of California’s electricity, and this 

portion can increase on warm, windy mornings (Electric B1). 

Read the following student-‐written passages and determine if the student must cite the 

information if he or she found it in a secondary source. If the material is common 

knowledge and therefore need not be cited, circle Common Knowledge. If the material is 

not common knowledge and therefore needs not e cited, circle Needs citation. You may 

assume that these sentences contain no factual errors. 

24. The Wizard of Oz’s first scenes are in black-‐and-‐white, but once the setting shifts to 

Oz, the film is shot in color. 

A. Common Knowledge B. Needs Citation 

25. Some critics claim that The Wizard of Oz follows a traditional fairy tale structure 

with the character Dorothy Gale acting as the questing hero, a role that is usually 

filled by a boy. 

A. Common Knowledge B. Needs Citation 

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English 1101 Vocabulary, Grammar, and MLA Midterm (Practice 2) 1 ...

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