Sentence 2: In fact, this superhero, was created in 1939 and known worldwide, continues to be one of the most popular comic strip characters ever created.. this superhero, having been cr
Trang 1P r e t e s t : G E D L a n g u a g e A r t s ,
W r i t i n g
Directions: In the passage below, the paragraphs are
let-tered, and the sentences are numbered Read the passage
carefully and then answer the multiple-choice questions
that follow Choose the best answer for each question
To practice the timing of the exam, take 15 minutes to
complete this pretest Record your answers on the answer
sheet provided below Make sure you mark the answer in
the circle that corresponds to the question
Note: On the GED, you are not permitted to write
in the test booklet Make any notes on a separate piece
of paper
Questions 1 through 10 refer to the following passage.
Batman
A
(1)Year after year, one of the most popular
Hal-loween costumes for children and adults alike is
Batman (2)In fact, this superhero, was created in
1939 and known worldwide, continues to be one of
the most popular comic strip characters ever
created
B
(3)Batman was the brainchild of comic book artist
Bob Kane (4)Who was just 22 years old when he
was asked to create a new superhero for DC
Comics (5)Superman was a phenomenal success,
and DC Comics wanted another hero, just as
pow-erful, to appeal to it’s readers (6)Kane’s idea for
Batman reportedly came from Leonardo da Vinci’s
famous sketch of a man flying with bat-like wings
and the heroes in the Shadow and Zorro series who wore masks
C
(7)Kane’s Batman was a success that was big right from the start (8)The masked hero soon moved from comic books to its own newspaper strip, and
in 1943, Batman episodes were aired on the radio (9)In 1966, live-action Batman shows hit the TV screen (10)The series was wildly popular, and the syndicated show still airs today on channels like the Cartoon Network
D
(11)Batman is really Bruce Wayne a millionaire who witnessed the murder of his parents as a child (12)Why was Batman so popular? (13)The answer may lie in the background Kane gave his character (14)He vowed to avenge their deaths and the bring-ing of criminals to justice (15)He didn’t have any supernatural powers (16)Instead, he devotes his life to training his body and mind to fight crime and used his wealth to develop high-tech crime-fighting tools and weapons, like his famous Bat-mobile (17)Thus, Kane created a superhero who is just as human as the rest of us (18)In Batman, Kane gave us an image of our own superhero potential
1. Sentence 2: In fact, this superhero, was created in
1939 and known worldwide, continues to be one
of the most popular comic strip characters ever created
Which is the best way to write the underlined portion of this sentence? If the original is the
best way, choose option a.
a this superhero, was created in 1939 and
known worldwide, continues
b this superhero, having been created in 1939
and known worldwide, continues
c this superhero, created in 1939 and known
worldwide, continues
d this superhero, was created in 1939 and
known worldwide, and continuing
e this superhero, who was created in 1939 and
being known worldwide, continues
ANSWER SHEET
Trang 22. Sentences 3 and 4: Batman was the brainchild of
comic book artist Bob Kane Who was just 22
years old when he was asked to create a new
superhero for DC Comics
Which is the best way to write the underlined
portion of these sentences? If the original is the
best way, choose option a.
a Bob Kane Who was
b Bob Kane; who was
c Bob Kane Kane was
d Bob Kane, who was
e Bob Kane, while he was
3. Sentence 5: Superman was a phenomenal
suc-cess, and DC Comics wanted another hero, just
as powerful, to appeal to it’s readers
Which correction should be made to
sentence 5?
a Change hero to Hero.
b Change it’s to its.
c Replace Superman was with Superman is.
d Insert a comma after Comics.
e No correction is necessary.
4. Sentence 6: Kane’s idea for Batman reportedly
came from Leonardo da Vinci’s famous sketch of
a man flying with bat-like wings and the heroes
in the Shadow and Zorro series who wore masks.
Which revision should be made to sentence 6?
a Change man flying to flying man.
b Replace bat-like wings with having wings like
a bat
c Start a new sentence after wings.
d Change reportedly came from to was reported
coming from
e Move who wore masks to follow the heroes.
5. Sentence 7: Kane’s Batman was a success that was
big right from the start
Which is the best way to write the underlined
portion of sentence 7? If the original is the best
way, choose option a.
a was a success that was big
b was a big success
c was successful in a big way
d was successfully big
e is a successful thing
6. Sentence 11: Batman is really Bruce Wayne a mil-lionaire who witnessed the murder of his parents
as a child
Which correction should be made to sentence 11?
a Insert a comma after Wayne.
b Replace who with that.
c Change witnessed to saw.
d Replace as a child with during his childhood.
e No correction is necessary.
7. Sentence 11: Batman is really Bruce Wayne a millionaire who witnessed the murder of his parents as a child
Which revision should be made to the place-ment of sentence 11?
a Move sentence 11 to follow sentence 7.
b Move sentence 11 to the end of paragraph C.
c Move sentence 11 to follow sentence 12.
d Move sentence 11 to follow sentence 13.
e Move sentence 11 to follow sentence 14.
8. Sentence 14: He vowed to avenge their deaths and the bringing of criminals to justice
Which is the best way to write the underlined portion of this sentence? If the original is the
best way, choose option a.
a and the bringing of criminals to justice
b and brought criminals to justice
c and will bring criminals to justice
d and bring criminals to justice
e and that he would bring criminals to justice
9. Sentence 16: Instead, he devotes his life to train-ing his body and mind to fight crime and used his wealth to develop high-tech crime-fighting tools and weapons, like his famous Batmobile Which correction should be made to sentence 16?
a Change devotes to devoted.
b Replace to fight with fighting.
c Change high-tech to high, tech.
d Insert a comma after body.
e No correction is necessary.
–T H E G E D L A N G U A G E A R T S , W R I T I N G E X A M –
3 1
Trang 310. Sentence 18: In Batman, Kane gave us an image
of our own superhero potential
The most effective revision of sentence 18
would begin with which group of words?
a However, Batman was someone in whom
Kane
b Therefore, in Batman, we are given
c More importantly, in Batman, Kane gives us
d On the other hand, in Batman, we see
e Thankfully, it is in Batman that we have
Pretest Answers and Explanations
1 c The nonessential information in this sentence is
best set off by commas, and choice c is the only
version that is grammatically correct Choice a is
incorrect because the information set off by
commas is incomplete (was should be deleted,
or who should be inserted before was) Choice b
is incorrect because the verb phrase having been
created is incorrect; the correct helping verb
would be had, not having, and the clause would
require which before had Choice d is incorrect
for the same reason as a, and the verb continuing
should be in the past tense Choice e is incorrect
because the verb being should be either the
pres-ent or past tense, not a prespres-ent participle
2 d Sentence 4 is best attached to sentence 3 as a
nonessential who clause, thus providing extra
information regarding the creation of Batman
Choice a is incorrect because sentence 4 is a
sen-tence fragment Choice b is incorrect because a
semicolon can only be used between two
com-plete sentences (independent clauses), and
sen-tence 4 is an incomplete sensen-tence Choice c is
correct, but it unnecessarily repeats Kane;
com-bining the sentences with a who clause
elimi-nates the repetition Choice e is incorrect
because it is wordy and awkward
3 b It’s is the contraction of it is; the sentence needs the possessive form, its Choice a is incorrect
because hero is not a specific noun and should
not be capitalized Choice c is incorrect because
the verb was needs to remain in the past tense.
Choice d is incorrect because commas should
not separate subjects and verbs unless a
com-plete phrase or clause is inserted Choice e is
incorrect because it’s needs to be corrected.
4 e The modifier who wore masks should be moved
after heroes to be as close as possible to the noun
it modifies Choice a is incorrect because flying
should be as close as possible to the
preposi-tional phrase with bat-like wings; reversing man and flying would indicate that the man was a
fly-ing man, not a man who flew with bat-like
wings Choice b is incorrect because bat-like
wings is a more concise modifier than having wings like a bat; also, the verb having cannot
fol-low flying with Choice c is incorrect because the
new sentence beginning with and would be a
fragment (incomplete sentence) In choice D,
the verb phrase was reported coming is incorrect.
5 b This is the most concise and correct way to con-vey this idea Choice a is unnecessarily wordy.
Choice c is too informal (in a big way is slang) Choice d is awkward and states that the size was
a success, not that the comic strip was a success
Choice e is incorrect because thing is too
gen-eral; a more precise noun should be used
6 a The information after Wayne is a nonessential
descriptive clause that needs to be set off by a
comma Choice b is incorrect because who
should be used when referring to people; that
should be used to refer to things Choice c is
incorrect because witnessed is a more precise
word than saw Choice d is incorrect because it
is more wordy and also suggests a longer time frame, as if the murder occurred over time
Choice e is incorrect because the comma after
Wayne is necessary.
Trang 47 d Sentence 11 is the first sentence describing
Bat-man’s background, so the most logical and
effective place for this information is after
sen-tence 13: The answer may lie in the background
Kane gave his character Choice a is incorrect
because paragraph C describes Batman’s
suc-cess, not his background Choice b is incorrect
for the same reason Choice c is incorrect
because the sentence doesn’t directly answer the
question asked in sentence 12; sentence 13 needs
to state the answer (Batman’s background) first
Choice e is incorrect because we need to know
that Batman’s parents were murdered before we
learn that he vowed to avenge their deaths; we
would not know whose murder Batman was
avenging
8 d This choice uses parallel structure and is correct
and concise Choice a is incorrect because to
requires the verbs avenge and bring to be in their
infinitive forms Choice b is incorrect for the
same reason; brought is in the past tense, not the
infinitive form Likewise, choice c uses the
future tense (will bring), so it is incorrect.
Choice e is grammatically correct, but it is
wordy and less effective than the parallel
struc-ture in choice d.
9 a The tenses are inconsistent (present tense
devotes and past tense used) The other sentences
about Batman’s background are in the past
tense, so devotes should be changed to the
past tense, devoted Choice b is incorrect because
to is necessary to show the relationship between
mind and fight; a gerund (fighting) would not
make sense here Choice c is incorrect because
high and tech work together to create one
modi-fier, so the hyphen between them is necessary
Choice d is incorrect because there are only two
items in the list (body and mind), so there
should not be a comma between them Choice e
is incorrect because the inconsistent verb tense
needs to be corrected
10 c The most effective transitional phrase to begin
this sentence is more importantly The idea
expressed in this sentence—that Batman gives
us an image of our own superhero potential—is
the most powerful explanation for why so many people were drawn to the Batman character
Choice a is incorrect because idea in sentence 18
does not contrast with the idea in sentence 17
While choice b is logical (the idea in sentence 18
is an “effect” of the idea in sentence 17), choice c
is more appropriate in the context Choice d is
incorrect because sentence 18 does not contrast
the idea in sentence 17 Choice e is incorrect
because it is wordy, and the transitional word
thankfully seems out of place in both style and
context
P r e t e s t A s s e s s m e n t
How did you do on the pretest? If you answered seven or more questions correctly, you have earned the equivalent
of a passing score on the first part of the GED Writing Test But that doesn’t mean you should skip Chapter 5
This pretest is not designed to give you an exact measure
of how you would do on the GED Rather, it is designed
to help you determine where to focus your study efforts Remember, this pretest does not cover all of the material that may be included on the GED and does not include
an essay exam
–T H E G E D L A N G U A G E A R T S , W R I T I N G E X A M –
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Trang 6W h a t t o E x p e c t o n t h e L a n g u a g e A r t s , W r i t i n g E x a m
As you know, the Language Arts, Writing Exam has two parts Part I consists of 50 multiple-choice questions that
measure your knowledge in four key writing areas:
■ Sentence structure—30%
■ Usage—30%
■ Mechanics—25%
■ Organization—15%
You will have 75 minutes to complete this part of the test Each question will have five answer choices; only one will be correct
Because there’s a lot more to writing an effective essay than good grammar or logical organization, and because effective writing is essential if you are to succeed in college or in the workplace, the GED writing test also includes an
essay section Part II consists of one essay topic You will have 45 minutes to write an essay in response to that prompt.
A lot of people are intimidated by essay exams After all, you are being asked to write well under pressure, and if you don’t pass the essay exam, you don’t pass the Language Arts, Writing Test But there is some good news about the GED writing exam For one thing, the essay doesn’t have to be long In fact, because you have only 45 minutes, you
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C H A P T E R
5 About the GED
Language Arts, Writing Exam
TO PREPARE effectively for the Language Arts, Writing Exam, you
need to know exactly what the test is like This chapter explains the structure of the exam, including the types of questions and passages you will see on the test