Name ______________________________________________
Date _________ Section: ____________
Dev Com 36B Chapters 7, 8, 14 Quiz
Section A
1. Which of the following is not an essential element of a paragraph?
a. Topic.
b. Main idea.
c. Transitions.
d. Details.
2. What is the best clue to identifying the topic of a paragraph?
a. The repeated use of a word.
b. The types of details.
c. The way the paragraph is organized.
d. The use of examples.
3. To find the main idea of a paragraph, which question should you ask?
a. What do I already know about the topic?
b. What is the author trying to say about the topic?
c. What is the author’s purpose?
d. What kinds of details does the author use?
4. What is the most common position of the topic sentence in a paragraph?
a. First.
b. Last.
c. In the middle.
d. First and last.
5. Which of the following sentences is most likely a topic sentence and not a detail?
a. The U.S. attorney general serves as a member of the president’s cabinet.
b. The U.S. attorney general is the head of the Department of Justice.
c. The U.S. attorney general has many duties.
d. The U.S. attorney general oversees cases that involve the government.
6. What type of transition signals that ideas are being presented in the order in which they
happened?
a. Listing.
c. Summation
b. Illustration.
d. Time sequence
7. Which sentence contains a contrast transition?
a. There are many different versions of the vegetarian diet.
b. Vegans follow a strictly plant-based diet and avoid all animal products, including cheese
and honey.
c. On the other hand, “flexitarians” occasionally include animal protein in their diets.
d. Lacto-vegetarians follow a plant-based diet and also consume milk products.
8. If the main idea of a paragraph is not stated, what should you do?
a. Consider it a continuation of the preceding paragraph.
b. Skip it and move on to the next paragraph.
c. Identify the topic, study the details, and reason out the main idea.
d. Assume that the author is using an inductive thought pattern.
9. Which detail does not support this topic sentence? “Impeaching a president is not easy.”
a. The standards for an impeachable offense are set very high.
b. The House has impeached only two presidents, and both were acquitted.
c. Members of Congress often disagree with the president’s decisions.
d. Richard Nixon most likely would have been impeached had he not resigned.
10. What is the purpose of most of the sentences in a paragraph?
a. To restate the topic sentence.
b. To support the main idea.
c. To introduce new ideas.
d. To lead the reader from one detail to the next.
11. What is the primary purpose of an example?
a. To show how a concept can be applied in a real situation.
b. To explain why the author supports a belief or action.
c. To persuade the reader to accept an idea or viewpoint.
d. To help the reader visualize the appearance of an object.
12. Which transition is typically associated with the process pattern?
a. Refers to
c. However
b. Next
d. Because
13. What type of supporting information is used primarily to create a mental picture?
a. Examples.
c. Description.
b. Reasons.
d. Facts and statistics.
14. Which topic sentence is most likely to be developed using the cause-effect pattern?
a. Many plants have edible leaves or flowers.
b. The Mayan pyramids were like the Egyptian pyramids in several ways.
c. Insomnia has been linked to a number of risk factors.
d. The game of baseball has a variety of longstanding rituals.
15. What part of a scholarly article would you read to get an overview?
a. The abstract.
b. The methodology.
c. The implications.
d. The statement of the problem.
16. How do scholarly journals differ from magazines?
a. Scholarly journals rely more heavily on advertising.
b. Scholarly journals are written for a broader audience.
c. The material in scholarly journals is written by paid journalists.
d. Scholarly journals are published by professional organizations or educational institutes.
17. Which of the following is not part of evaluating academic sources?
a. Assessing the author’s qualifications.
b. Identifying the intended audience.
c. Accepting the author’s opinion as fact.
d. Verifying one source against another.
Section B
Please fill in the blanks for questions a. through f. with transitions from this list: