Mini-Midterm II
Your Name_____________________
I. Phrases and Clauses
Directions: Label the following as a phrase (P), dependent clause (DC), or independent clause
(IC).
1. _____ An assortment of loose change, rubber bands, buttons, and coupons.
2. _____ Making a big deal out of silly remark.
3. _____ Most people follow the rules.
4. _____ Because she has heard that it is the best diving spot in the world.
5. _____ He yells.
II. Compound Sentences: Coordination, Semi-colons, and Conjunctive Adverbs
Directions: Add commas and semi-colons to the following sentences wherever they are
needed. If a sentence is correct, label it C for correct. Only one comma or semi-colon may be
necessary per sentence.
1. Jill had an intense headache all morning but she smiled and remained alert throughout the
entire meeting.
2. The last storm to come through the area ripped some of the siding off George’s garage so he
visited the hardware store and invested in storm-proofing materials.
3. Enrollment in the university has been dropping in recent years for its facilities have been
lacking proper maintenance.
4. James wants to hike the Pacific Crest Trail and to walk the Camino de Santiago within the
next two years.
5. The nearest supermarket started to carry produce and spices that specifically matched the
diets of many people in the community nevertheless shoppers continued to be lured to the bigbox store out on the highway.
6. The water is cold in January but the members of the Polar Bear Club go swimming anyways.
del Val/Kelly-Klein, WR132
Revised 05-24-12
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Mini-Midterm II
Your Name_____________________
III. Complex Sentences: Subordination and Concession
Directions: Add commas where necessary in the below sentences. If the sentence does not
require a comma, label it C for correct. Only one comma may be necessary per sentence.
1. I had to hand the project over to Max because you didn’t respond to any of my e-mails.
2. Unless another candidate with more qualifications applies in the next forty-eight hours you
should get the position without any difficulties.
3. Although Viktor had prepared and practiced for the presentation thoroughly the computer
malfunctioned, ruining the presentation.
4. Keep calling our customers from last year if you want to make your sales quota.
5. When the instructor copies his lesson directly from the textbook the students lose interest
and doze off.
6. Even though Akira’s wife was due to give birth to their first child in the next several days he
still worked overtime.
IV. Comma Splice Errors
Directions: In the paragraph below, identify and correct the FIVE (5) comma splice errors by
circling the problematic commas. Example: We watched the storm come in , it was awesome.
Centuries of superstition and ignorance have given bats a bad reputation, millions of the
flying mammals are killed each year in a misguided effort to protect livestock, crops, and
people. Entire species of bats are being wiped out at an alarming rate, for example, in the
1960s a new species of fruit-eating bat was discovered in the Philippines, by the 1980s it was
extinct. In truth, bats are industrious and invaluable members of the natural order, controlling
insect populations and spreading the seeds of hundreds of species of plants. Bats in backyards
can improve people’s lives, a single brown bat can catch 600 mosquitoes in just one hour. And
del Val/Kelly-Klein, WR132
Revised 05-24-12
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Mini-Midterm II
Your Name_____________________
strange as it may sound, bats are essential to the economies of many countries, the plants they
pollinate or seed include such cash crops as bananas, figs, dates, vanilla beans, and avocados.
V. Fragments
Directions: Identify the EIGHT fragment errors in the below paragraph by underlining the
fragment. Then rewrite the passage to repair the errors by combining sentences and properly
punctuating them when you do.
My first date with Donna was a disaster. I decided to take her to a small Italian
restaurant. That my friends told me had reasonable prices. I looked over the menu and
realized I could not pronounce the names of the dishes. Such as “veal piccata” and “fettucini
Alfredo.” Then, I noticed a burning smell. The candle on the table was starting to blacken. And
scorched the back of my menu. Trying to be casual, I quickly poured half my glass of water onto
the menu. When the waiter returned to our table. He asked me if I wanted to order some
wine. I ordered a bottle of Blue Nun. The only wine that I had heard of and could pronounce.
The waiter brought the wine, poured a small amount into my glass, and waited. I said, “You
don’t have to stand there. We can pour the wine ourselves.” After the waiter put down the
bottle and left. Donna told me I was supposed to taste the wine. Feeling like a total fool. I
managed to get through the dinner. However, for weeks, I felt like jumping out of a tenth-story
window. Then I learned. That Donna found my ignorance about Italian food to be so charming
that she married me.
del Val/Kelly-Klein, WR132
Revised 05-24-12
3
Mini-Midterm II
Your Name_____________________
VI. Run-On Sentences
Directions: First, identify the correct sentences by writing the word CORRECT in the blank to the left
of the sentence. Second, identify the run-on sentences and write RO in the blank to the left of the
sentence. Third, select a specific method of repairing the run-on sentence, as outlined below. Enter the
LETTER for the repair method on the blank to the left of the repaired sentence, and then rewrite the
sentence demonstrating that you know how to apply the method.
Example :
__RO____ 1. Our dog Betty loves the Thousand Acre Park it gives her a chance to run freely
and wallow in swampy water.
__E_____ Our dog Betty loves the Thousand Acre Park because it gives
her a chance to run freely and wallow in swampy water.
CORRECT 2. This makes Betty nice and stinky, which is perfume for doggies but breathstopping for humans.
Run-On Sentence Repair Methods
A
Insert a semicolon.
Our dog Betty loves the Thousand Acre Park; it
gives her a chance to run freely and wallow in
swampy water.
B
Insert a period.
Our dog Betty loves the Thousand Acre Park. It
gives her a chance to run freely and wallow in
swampy water.
C
Insert a coordinating conjunction
preceded by a comma.
Our dog Betty loves the Thousand Acre Park, for
it gives her a chance to run freely and wallow in
swampy water.
D
Insert a semicolon followed by a
conjunctive adverb followed by a
comma.
Our dog Betty loves the Thousand Acre Park;
furthermore, it gives her a chance to run freely
and wallow in swampy water.
E
Insert a subordinating conjunction.
Our dog Betty loves the Thousand Acre Park
because it gives her a chance to run freely and
wallow in swampy water.
del Val/Kelly-Klein, WR132
Revised 05-24-12
4
Mini-Midterm II
Your Name_____________________
________ 1. On summer evenings, people around the world enjoy the sight of little lights they
are flying around in the air.
________
________ 2. Most people know the glowing, flashing insects as fireflies they are also called
lightning bugs and glowworms.
________
________ 3. Fireflies are unique they don’t fly.
________
________ 4. The term “fireflies” maybe a little misleading they are not technically flies.
________
________ 5. Fireflies are actually beetles they have special substances in their bodies.
________
________ 6. These substances make them glow the light can be so intense people cage them
and use them as lanterns.
________
del Val/Kelly-Klein, WR132
Revised 05-24-12
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