Mixed review · Conventions and writing

Ten questions of mixed difficulty, covering Paragraphs, Sentences and conventions, Writing a story. Print it, or work through it on screen — the answer key starts on its own page.

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Mixed review · Conventions and writing

English Language Arts 7 · maddyhelps.com

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Circle the best answer for each question. Use the space to note the evidence or reasoning that decided it.

Which sentence uses commas correctly?
1. a) We packed sandwiches, apples, water and sunscreen.
2. b) We packed, sandwiches apples water and sunscreen.
3. c) We packed sandwiches apples, water, and, sunscreen.
4. d) We, packed sandwiches, apples water and sunscreen.
You are writing to your school's parent council to ask for money for a school garden. Which reason is most likely to persuade them?
1. a) We deserve a garden because we have worked hard all year.
2. b) Students would learn science by growing food for the school.
3. c) My cousin's school has a garden, so our school needs one too.
4. d) Gardening is really fun, and my friends would all love it.
Read: “‘Where were you?’ Mom asked. ‘At Jen's,’ I said. ‘You said you'd be home by six.’” What is the main problem with how this dialogue is set out?
1. a) A new paragraph should start each time the speaker changes.
2. b) The quotation marks should be left off the spoken words.
3. c) Mom's question should end with a period, not a question mark.
4. d) Dialogue should never use the word “said” more than once.
You want to find out what caused the Frank Slide. Which search terms will most likely give you useful results?
1. a) Frank Slide 1903 cause
2. b) big rock slide long ago
3. c) Alberta history
4. d) why do mountains fall
Showing takes more words than telling, so writers save it for the moments that matter. In which part of a story is a quick telling sentence the better choice?
1. a) skipping over three dull days of driving on the highway
2. b) the moment when the main character finally faces the bear
3. c) the big argument between the two best friends
4. d) the scene where the main character hears bad news
A student is arguing that the school should keep its rule against phones in class. Which sentence best answers the other side?
1. a) There is no other side to this, because the rule is so obviously right.
2. b) Phones are bad for students, and that is all anyone really needs to know.
3. c) Some say students need phones for emergencies, but the office phone is right there.
4. d) Anyone who disagrees with this rule is probably just addicted to their own phone.
Which of these is a complete sentence?
1. a) Because nobody had told us about the test.
2. b) The boy with the red backpack by the door.
3. c) Stop.
4. d) Running down the hall before the bell.
In the sentence “The tired goalie skated slowly back to the bench,” which word is an adverb?
1. a) bench
2. b) slowly
3. c) skated
4. d) tired
A student wrote, “Grandma was kind.” Which revision best shows her kindness instead of telling it?
1. a) Grandma kept a jar of cookies for the neighbour kids and knew all their names.
2. b) Grandma was the kindest, most wonderful grandmother anyone could ever hope to have.
3. c) Grandma was kind, generous, thoughtful and caring to everyone she ever met.
4. d) Everyone who knew Grandma always said that she was an extremely kind woman.
Which research question is focused enough for a one-page report?
1. a) What is the complete history of every animal in Canada?
2. b) Why are animals so interesting to people everywhere?
3. c) What is there to know about all the birds in the world?
4. d) How do burrowing owls survive on the Alberta prairie?

Answer key · Mixed review · Conventions and writing

English Language Arts 7 · maddyhelps.com

a) We packed sandwiches, apples, water and sunscreen. — Commas separate the items in a list: sandwiches, apples, water and sunscreen. (A comma before “and” is also fine if you use it every time.) A comma never goes between a verb and what it acts on, as in “We packed, sandwiches.”
b) Students would learn science by growing food for the school. — Parents want to know what students will gain, and learning science while growing food answers that. Fun, fairness and another school's garden all say why students want a garden, not why the council should pay for it.
a) A new paragraph should start each time the speaker changes. — All three lines are crammed into one paragraph, so the reader cannot tell who says the last line; it is Mom, but it looks like the narrator. Starting a new paragraph for each new speaker fixes that, and then the last line does not even need a tag.
a) Frank Slide 1903 cause — Specific names and dates narrow a search to the event you want. “Alberta history” and “big rock slide long ago” will turn up thousands of pages about other things, and you would have to dig through them to find the one you need.
a) skipping over three dull days of driving on the highway — A quick summary like “The next three days were all highway and gas stations” moves the reader past time when nothing important happens. The bear, the argument and the bad news are the scenes readers came for, so that is where showing earns its extra words. The rule is not “always show”; it is show what matters.
c) Some say students need phones for emergencies, but the office phone is right there. — Answering the other side means stating the best argument against you fairly, then showing why your position still holds. Insulting people who disagree, or pretending there is no other side, makes a reader who disagrees stop listening.
c) Stop. — “Stop.” is a command, and in a command the subject “you” is understood, so it is a complete thought. The other three are longer, but the first has no subject and no complete verb, the second has no verb at all, and the third starts with “because” and never finishes the idea. Length does not make a sentence.
b) slowly — An adverb tells how, when or where something is done, and “slowly” tells how the goalie skated. “Tired” also describes, but it describes the goalie, a noun, so it is an adjective.
a) Grandma kept a jar of cookies for the neighbour kids and knew all their names. — The cookie jar and knowing every child's name are actions that prove kindness without using the word. Piling up adjectives like “generous, thoughtful and caring” is still telling, just longer, and having other people say she was kind is telling too.
d) How do burrowing owls survive on the Alberta prairie? — The burrowing owl question names one animal, one place and one thing to find out, so a page can answer it. Questions about all the birds in the world or every animal in Canada would take a whole book, and asking why animals are interesting asks for an opinion, not something you can look up.