Editing EOC practice

What change, if any, needs to be made in sentence 4?

(4) Clearly, having a pet is benefitial and can provide people with a healthier and happier life.

• Change benefitial to beneficial

• Insert a comma after people

• Change healthier to healthiest

• No change is needed in sentence 4

Answer explanation

Changing the word “benefitial” to “beneficial” corrects the misspelling in this sentence.

What is the correct way to write sentence 9?

(9) People feel safe when confiding in their pets, without being judgmental, a pet will often sit compassionately by its owner’s side for as long as is needed.

• People feel safe when confiding in their pets; without being judgmental. A pet will often sit compassionately by its owner’s side for as long as is needed.

• People feel safe when confiding in their pets, without being judgmental; a pet will often sit compassionately by its owner’s side for as long as is needed.

• People feel safe when confiding in their pets. Without being judgmental, a pet will often sit compassionately; by its owner’s side, for as long as is needed.

• People feel safe when confiding in their pets; without being judgmental, a pet will often sit compassionately by its owner’s side for as long as is needed.

Answer explanation

Replacing the comma after “pets” with a semicolon corrects the run-on sentence, which is an error in which two or more clauses are joined incorrectly.

What change, if any, needs to be made in sentence 26?

(26) Small dogs that need minimal space are more appropriate, for people who have a small home or yard.

• Change minimal to minamal

• Change are to were

• Delete the comma after appropriate

• No change is necessary.

Answer explanation

Deleting the comma after “appropriate” removes unnecessary punctuation that would incorrectly separate information essential to the meaning of the sentence from the rest of the sentence.

What change should be made in sentence 30?

(30) As French poet Anatole France said, “until one has loved an animal, a part of one’s soul remains unawakened.”

• Change poet to Poet

• Change until to Until

• Change one’s to ones’

• Change remains to remained

Answer explanation

The lowercase “until” should be capitalized as “Until” since it is the first word in a quotation that is a complete sentence.

What is the correct way to write sentence 8?

(8) She promised her mother that she would succeed, consequently she walked the four-mile distance daily between her home and school.

• She promised her mother that she would succeed consequently, she walked the four-mile distance daily, between her home and school.

• She promised her mother that she would succeed consequently she walked the four-mile distance daily between her home and school.

• She promised her mother that she would succeed. Consequently, she walked; the four-mile distance daily between her home and school.

• She promised her mother that she would succeed. Consequently, she walked the four-mile distance daily between her home and school.

Answer explanation

Replacing the comma after “succeed” with a period and adding a comma after “Consequently” corrects the run-on sentence, which is an error in which two or more clauses are joined incorrectly.

What change, if any, needs to be made in sentence 10?

(10) Unfortunately, her limited funds have run out after only one year, and she was forced to return home.

• Change have run to ran

• Delete the comma after year

• Change was forced to is forced

• Make no change

Answer explanation

Changing the verb “have run” to the past-tense verb “ran” corrects a verb-tense error in the sentence, as the events being described took place in the past.

What change should Gena make in sentence 17?

(17) In September of 1921, Coleman, whom was now a proficient pilot, came back to the United States.

• Insert a comma after September

• Change whom to who

• Change proficient to proficiant

• Change came to comes

Answer explanation

Changing “whom” to “who” fixes a usage error in the sentence. The word “who” is necessary because it is in the subject position of its dependent clause, which is a clause that cannot stand alone as a complete sentence.

What change, if any, needs to be made in sentence 25?

(25) Tragically, during a Florida performance in 1926, Coleman died when her plane experienced a mechanical failure and crashed.

• Insert a comma after performance

• Change the comma after 1926 to a semicolon

• Change mechanical to machanical

• No change should be made.

Answer explanation

As written, there are no errors in the sentence. Therefore, no changes are necessary.

How does sentence 28 need to be changed?

(28) Similar, a group of female African American pilots started the Bessie Coleman Aviators Club in 1977.

• Change Similar to Similarly

• Change female to females

• Change started to would start

• J Insert a comma after Club

Answer explanation

Changing “Similar” to “Similarly” corrects a usage error in the sentence. The word “Similarly” is an adverb that correctly modifies the rest of the sentence.

How should sentence 5 be changed?

(5) As students explore texts that were written hundreds of years before, you peer through a window into the world as it was in those days.

• Change explore to explored

• Change were written to was written

• Change years to year’s

• Change you to they

Answer explanation

The second-person pronoun “you” in sentence 5 is replaced with the third-person plural pronoun “they” to agree with the subject “students.”