“ARE YOU READY?”
Test yourself on a few basic skills needed to start your postgraduate course at UTAS.
The following questions are designed for you to test your skills and knowledge of academic writing. This
knowledge will be useful to you in writing your assignments in the Faculty of Business. Answers to these
questions, together with suggestions for where to find relevant information, are available on the Faculty of
Business website through the following link
http://www.utas.edu.au/business/faculty/AcademicSkills/index.html
The following examples of references from a list of references at the end of an assignment are
incorrect. Write the corrected version below or comment on the error.
1.
S. Adam and K. Westberg. 1998 Marketing on the internet. Sydney. Prentice Hall.
Correction/error:
2.
Jubb, P., Haswell, and Langfield-Smith. (2005). Company Accounting. Australia: Thomson.
Correction/error:
3.
http://www.accc.gov.au
Correction/error:
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The following examples of citations (also called in-text references) are incorrect. How would you
correct them?
4.
She also argued that the law was unfair (2005).
5.
(Simon cited in Bartol et.al 2001)
6.
(Brown and Hales 1975;1980,Adams S. 1974, Prof G.Collins, 1976a,b)
7.
‘In most academic reports you will refer to both primary and secondary research
to illustrate your ideas. (Grellier and Goerke 2006)”
Comment on why the following sentences are inappropriate for formal academic writing at the
postgraduate level. Provide a more appropriate version in the space provided.
8.
In my opinion the main problem with the article is that it doesn’t analyse what
other writers have said about the topic. In this essay we argue a different point of view.
Comment:
More appropriate version:
9.
A lot of the time at the office the HR manager got quite fed up with how difficult it was to get
employees working.
Comment:
2
More appropriate version:
10.
According to DEST, factors like age, level of schooling, urban or rural residence, parents’ education,
etc. are important in determining who goes to university.
Comment:
More appropriate version:
11.
This policy may cause an even lower level of productivity and further hindering development and
growth of the corporation, due to several reasons.
Comment:
More appropriate version:
Check the grammar and punctuation of the following sentences. Underline the word(s) that are
incorrect or inappropriate and provide a correct version in the space provided.
12.
Its a difficult course but its possible to pass because the assessment and its
component exercises are spread over a semester.
Correction:
13.
Their often shy about consulting an adviser about there uncertainties, even though the adviser has an
office they’re in the building.
Correction:
14.
The amount of people interested in becoming accountants increased since 2005 and the university
and industry can not keep up with the demand.
Correction:
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15.
People who have a desire to perceive the status quo as a good and unchangeable system which is
itself associated with greater opposition to affirmative action, often associated by a person’s outlook
on society.
Correction:
16.
Other diseases associated with underdevelopment are inadequate water supplies and sanitary
amenities and unhygienic water disposal were also common.
Correction:
17.
Most students studying at postgraduate level in 2008 were born in 1970’s, there are also increasing
numbers of mature age students.
Correction:
18.
Being the future generation of managers, this exposure to policymaking by the community was likely
to have a crucial influence on future health and wellbeing.
Correction:
General questions
19.
When do you use double “…” or single ‘...’ quotation marks?
20.
Do you know how to format both short and long quotations?
21.
Do you know how to arrange names in a List of References according to the Harvard system?
22.
What is the difference between ‘on the contrary’ and ‘on the other hand’?
23.
Do you know the difference between hyphens, en dashes and em dashes?
24.
When do you use figures or words for numbers?
25.
What is a citation (also called an in-text reference)?
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When you have finished:
1.
Check your answers against the answers on the web
http://www.utas.edu.au/business/faculty/AcademicSkills/index.html
or get a copy from the Postgraduate Academic Adviser, Room 320b, 3rd Floor, Commerce Building.
2.
If you have difficulty in answering these questions, you should consider making an appointment to
discuss your academic needs with the Postgraduate Adviser.
Marian May
18 February 2008
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