Part IV: Standardized Vocabulary and Formatting Conventions

Highlighting and 

marking words

A word in a task sentence that needs to be changed should to be written in bold.

What is the plural of the word in bold in the sentence below?

The goose walked down the path.

Multiple-choice options and answer follows.

A word that needs to be marked is framed in single quotation marks.

Which word below rhymes with ‘laugh’?

Multiple-choice options and answer follows.

Grammatical constructs are written in bold in rare cases (when the construct is not routinely taught in schools).

A subject complement completes the meaning of a subject. Which sentence below has a subject complement?

Multiple-choice options, etc. follow.

Prefixes and suffixes are followed/preceded by hyphens.

Which prefix can be added to all the words below to make new words?

fore      low       dazzle

1. dis- 
2. re-
3. be-

Answer: c    

Which word(s) below form nouns that end in –tion?

1. infect
2. satisfy
3. rot

Answer: a, b

Multiple-Choice Option Layouts

Single word options are not capitalised unless they fill gaps at the beginnings of task sentences, and they are never followed by full stops.

True or false? ‘And’ is a coordinating conjunction.

1. true
2. false

Answer: a

Fill in the gap with the word that correctly completes the sentence.

Mr Smith plans to ______ from his job on his sixty-fifth birthday.

1. resign
2. retire
3. rewind

Answer: a

Fill in the gap with the correct indefinite pronoun.

_____ is known about his early childhood in Wales.

1. Some 
2. Few
3. Most
4. Little

Answer: Little

Complete sentence options should begin with a capital letter and be fully punctuated.

Which sentence(s) below have a direct object?

1. Mary laughed aloud.
2. Steven gave me a birthday present.
3. She’s wonderful!

Answer: b

Punctuation

Brackets in plural words are used when either one or any number of options may be correct.

Which word(s) below are spelled correctly?

1. belief
2. recieve
3. deceit

Answer: a, c

Direct speech is marked with either single or double quotation marks (as per the British convention).

Correctly place commas in the sentence below.

‘Mark please bring me your book’ commanded Mr Johnson.

Answer: ‘Mark, please bring me your book,’ commanded Mr Johnson.

Correctly place comma(s) in the sentence below.

The young boy stood up and asked “Has anyone seen my lunchbox?”

Answer: The young boy stood up and asked, “Has anyone seen my lunchbox?”

Quotation marks and commas are interrelated according to British rules, unless the instruction sentence explicitly refers to American usage. Please study the Quotation Marks subtopic for the full set of rules governing interrelated quotation marks and commas. 

Punctuate the sentence below so that it is correct in the UK.

He may be going to see Swan Lake but I believe he was fibbing when he said he had a ticket.

Answer: He may be going to see ‘Swan Lake’, but I believe he was fibbing when he said he had a ticket.

Reminder: In the UK single quotation marks are used rather than double quotation marks to highlight creative works. Also, the comma is placed outside the quotation marks because it applies to the whole clause, and not just ‘Swan Lake’.

Use double quotation marks to punctuate the sentence below so that it is correct in the USA.

After watching one episode of The Twilight Zone, I rang Mary and said Now I know why you always tell me to check out older  television shows

Answer: After watching one episode of “The Twilight Zone,” I rang Mary and said, “Now I know why you always tell me to check out older  television shows.”

Reminder: In the USA, commas are always placed inside quotation marks, even when the quotation is not a complete sentence.

Quotation marks and full stops are interrelated according to British rules, unless the instruction sentence explicitly refers to American usage. Please read through the Sentence Endings and Quotation Marks subtopic for the full set of rules governing quotation marks and full stops.

Where should single quotation marks be placed in the sentence below?

The chairperson declared, This meeting is now open.

Answer: The chairperson declared, ‘This meeting is now open.’

Reminder: The full stop is placed inside the quotation marks because it applies to the quotation and not to the whole sentence.

Is the sentence below punctuated correctly?

Aunt Fran said that we could play outside if we “dress warmly”.

1. yes      
2.  no  
3.  it depends where you are

Explanation: 

In the UK, the sentence is punctuated correctly. The full stop is placed outside the quotation marks because it applies to the whole sentence and not to the words in quotation marks. 

In the USA, the full stop is placed inside the quotation marks because the quotation appears at the end of the sentence.

Spelling

British spelling should be used in all elements of question templates.

‘capitalised’ not ‘capitalized’,

‘analysed’ not analyzed,

‘behaviour’ not ‘behavior’,

etc.

Standardised Vocabulary

‘All of the above’ should be used rather than ‘All the above’ as a multiple-choice option. 

Which of the following are compound words?  

1. ice cream
2. sunlight
3. daughter-in-law 
4. post office
5. all of the above

Answer: e  

‘Gap’ is used rather than ‘blank’ to indicate a space for a word to be added.

Fill in the gap so that the sentence is correct.

________ books are these?

1. Who’s    b. Whose   c. Whos’

Answer: Whose

‘Main (independent)’ and ‘subordinate (dependent)’ are used rather than ‘main’ and ‘subordinate’ in questions dealing with clauses.  

What is a main (independent) clause?

1. A clause that expresses a complete thought and can stand by itself.

1. A clause that does not express a complete thought and cannot stand by itself. 

Answer: a

Subordinate (dependent) clauses are introduced by subordinating conjunctions or relative pronouns. 

Identify the subordinate (dependent) clause in the sentence below.

Arthur was given a leather briefcase, which he promptly hid at the back of his wardrobe.

1. Arthur was given a leather briefcase
2. which he promptly hid at the back of his wardrobe

Answer:  b

‘Option’ is used in instruction sentences when the multiple-choice options are neither words or sentences.

Which option correctly completes the sentence?

In hindsight, the accident was _________.

1. inavoidable
2. extraavoidable
3. unavoidable
4. enavoidable

Answer: c

‘Relative (adjective)’ is used rather than ‘relative’ in questions dealing with relative clauses.

A relative (adjective) clause is a dependent clause that functions as an adjective and modifies a noun or pronoun.

Identify the relative clause in the sentence below.

Anna read the book that she found in the nursery.

Answer: that she found in the nursery

‘That’ is used for all restrictive clauses; ‘which’ is reserved for nonrestrictive clauses.

A restrictive dependent clause provides information that is essential to the sentence.

Are the words in bold a restrictive or nonrestrictive clause?

The small statue that is standing on the top shelf is quite valuable.

a. restrictive  

b. nonrestrictive

Answer: a

A restrictive dependent clause provides information that is essential to the sentence.

Are the words in bold a restrictive or nonrestrictive clause?

The receipt, which was dated 21st January, is located in the upstairs filing system.

a. restrictive    

b. nonrestrictive

Answer: nonrestrictive

‘Brackets, also known as parentheses’ rather than ‘brackets’ is used in instruction sentences dealing with brackets.

Brackets, also known as parentheses, are used to provide information that interrupts the flow of a sentence.

Rewrite the sentence below using parentheses.

Matthew insisted and you’re not going to believe this that he always wanted to be a singer and not a businessman.

Answer: Matthew insisted (and you’re not going to believe this) that he always wanted to be a singer and not a businessman.

‘Square brackets’ is never associated with other terms.

Square brackets are used to clarify quotations or citations that have in some way been edited.

Compare the original and edited texts below. In which way have square brackets been used in the edited text?

The newspaper article states,               “Carried out by a team at the Bureau of National Statistics, the study confirms that unemployment rose by 0.2% in the two-year period ending 2017.”

The article states, “[T]he study confirms that unemployment rose by 0.2% in the two-year period ending 2017.”

a. To provide information that is necessary for understanding the edited text.

b. To make the edited text grammatically correct.

c. To indicate that underlined, italicised and/or boldfaced words in the edited text were not present in the original text.

Answer: b