STAAR Editing & Revising - Set 1 - The Great Fire

Name

Class

#1 - How should sentence 2 be revised?

• A - The city displayed over 59,500 buildings, many of them large and ornately decorated, like the Courthouse and the Tribune Building.
• B - The city possessed 59,500 buildings in which a lot of them, such as the Courthouse and the Tribune Building were large and ornately decorated.
• C - The city boasted having 59,500 buildings, many of them— such as the Courthouse and the Tribune Building—large and ornately decorated.
• D - The city had 59,500 buildings, many of them large ornately decorated, such as the Courthouse and the Tribune Building.

#2 - What is the most effective way to combine sentences 4 and 5?

• F - Many of the remaining buildings (even the ones proclaimed to be “fireproof”) looked solid, but were actually jerrybuilt affairs; the stone or brick exteriors hid wooden frames and floors, all topped with highly flammable tar or shingle roofs.
• G - Many of the remaining buildings (even the ones proclaimed to be “fireproof”) looked solid, but were actually jerrybuilt affairs, and the stone or brick exteriors hid wooden frames and floors, all topped with highly flammable tar or shingle roofs.
• H - Many of the remaining buildings (even the ones proclaimed to be “fireproof”) looked solid, but were actually jerrybuilt affairs: the stone or brick exteriors, hid wooden frames and floors, all topped with highly flammable tar or shingle roofs.
• J - Many of the remaining buildings (even the ones proclaimed to be “fireproof”) looked solid, but were actually jerrybuilt affairs the stone or brick exteriors hid wooden frames and floors, all topped with highly flammable tar or shingle roofs.

#3 - Jim would like to add the following detail to the second paragraph (sentences 9-13)....Lot sizes were small, and owners usually filled them up with cottages, barns, sheds, and outhouses—all made of fast-burning wood, naturally....Where should this sentence be inserted?

• A - After sentence 9
• B - After sentence 10
• C - After sentence 11
• D - After sentence 12

#4 - How should sentence 16 be changed?

• F - Change the period to an exclamation mark
• G - Delete the comma after waterline
• H - Change them to it
• J - Change is to was

#5 - What change needs to be made in sentence 17?

• A - Delete the comma after started
• B - Change combustable to combustible
• C - Insert and before over
• D - No change needs to be made.

#6 - What is the most effective revision to make in sentence 18?

• F - Fires were common in all cities back then and Chicago, was no exception.
• G - Fires were common, in all cities back then, and Chicago was no exception.
• H - Fires were common in all cities back then, and Chicago was no exception.
• J - No change needs to be made.

#7 - How should sentence 21 be changed?

• A - Change had to has
• B - Delete been
• C - Change saw to see
• D - Sentence 21 should not be changed.

#8 - Jim wants to expand on the idea he has expressed in sentence 26. Which sentence could BEST follow sentence 26?

• F - The fire had just began when the wind blew the flames to the east and to the west, and then flared up into a thousand yellow-orange fingers.
• G - It was this gusting, swirling wind that drove the flames across neighboring yards and caused near by buildings to burn in only a few minutes, resulting in one of the worst fires Chicago had ever seen.
• H - Due to the wind, people were not able to get to the houses quickly enough and therefore more houses burred then in previously seen fires.
• J - Chicago is known for being the windy city, and on this day the wind did nothing to help the city and its 59,500 buildings.