Punctuation Practice Exam No. 2
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JOUR 1033 |
Originally given: Spring 2002 |
This is a typical first exam, covering punctuation. I suggest that you print out the exam, take it as if you were in class, then check it against the answers, which are at the bottom of the page.
I have told you about the errors I found. If you find more, let me know by e-mail and I'll either fix my practice exam or I'll tell you why it's not an error.
Directions: Edit the following story to correct all the punctuation errors. Use the correct proofreader's marks to make your corrections.
DO NOT REWRITE the story -- you might remove sections containing punctuation you should change for credit. There are between 20-25 punctuation errors. You may also need to change capitalization at the beginning of a quotation. You must find at least 20 of the errors to score100 percent.
Changing punctuation that does not need to be changed will count -5 per instance.
DO NOT create new direct quotes unless they contain first-person pronouns. Also, do not turn direct quotes into indirect quotes.
Note: Miami-Dade County or Miami-Dade is correct.
Janet Reno's chances of finding the votes she needs to overtake Bill McBride in Florida's Democratic gubernatorial primary are becoming slimmer as officials complete their review of the prolonged election.
McBride's 8,000 vote lead over Reno has dwindled to nearly 6,000 votes according to reports released Sunday by both campaigns. Nevertheless, McBride's team said, the contest to challenge Gov. Jeb Bush is all but over.
"We're confident that at the end of Tuesday, McBride will have more votes and will be certified.
"We don't have any indication that there's anything left out there that's in dispute," said Alan Stonecipher, McBride spokesman who spoke to reporters Sunday night.
Reno and McBride campaign officials said Sunday they learned that the former US attorney general had netted 2511 votes in Miami-Dade County, based on the rechecking of ballots cast in 88 precincts that election officials said, "experienced technical problems".
However, with fewer votes expected from Broward County &emdash; the only place expected to turn up a significant number of new votes &emdash; it would be difficult for Reno to overtake McBride when certified results are turned in Tuesday, Stonecipher said.
"We've watched the polls, counted and recounted and cooperated with Reno's campaign," Stonecipher said, "there's just nothing there to change the numbers."
Miami-Dade officials would not officially release details about the number of votes found until Tuesday. David Leahy, county elections supervisor refused to say how Reno's campaign got the numbers, to comment on the process, or to guess if Reno could catch McBride.
"That gets at the politics, not my area of expertise," he said Sunday from a warehouse in Medley, Fla. where workers were examining voting machines. Leahy said they wanted to check about 265 more machines.
"A lot of them weren't used," he said, "Who knows if there are votes on them?," he said.
In Broward, workers continued to examine voting machines Sunday, but officials would not release the number of votes found. The Broward County canvassing board has a meeting scheduled for 2 pm Tuesday to certify the results. The board chairman said, the certification could be a two-or-three hour process.
"There has to be at some point finality. The Democrats have to know who their nominee is," said Alan Greer, Reno's general counsel adding that Reno would not challenge the results in court if she trailed McBride in the certified results.
Reno attended services Sunday in Liberty City, the heart of Miami's black community. She did not address the election dispute in brief remarks to the congregation.
"I've come not just at election time," she said, "I've come to say 'thank you'."
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ANSWERS: The sentences here have been corrected. The reason is in parentheses.
Second paragraph: McBride's 8,000-vote lead ... (add hyphen, two-word modifier)
... dwindled to nearly 6,000 votes, according to ... (add comma, before attribution)
Third paragraph: ... will be certified. (DO NOT insert quotation marks at end. Multi-paragraph quotation.)
Fourth paragraph: ... Alan Stonecipher, McBride spokesman, who spoke ... (appositive must be set off with commas)
Fifth paragraph: ... the former U.S. attorney general had netted 2,511 votes ... ( periods in U.S., comma in long number)
... 88 precincts that election officials said "experienced technical problems." (take out comma before partial quote; transpose period and quotation marks)
Seventh paragraph: "We've watched the polls, counted and recounted, and cooperated with ... (exception to serial comma rule)
... Stonecipher said. "There's just nothing there to change the numbers." (period after said, capitalize "there's" -- otherwise it's a comma splice.)
Eighth paragraph: ... David Leahy, county elections supervisor, refused to say how Reno's campaign got the numbers, to comment on the process or to guess if Reno could catch McBride. (set off appositive after "supervisor"; take out serial comma after "process.")
Ninth paragraph: ... he said Sunday from a warehouse in Medley, Fla., where workers ... (comma after state when used with city.)
10th paragraph: ... "A lot of them weren't used," he said."Who knows ... (change comma to period after "said"; otherwise, it's a comma splice.
... if there are votes on them?" he said. (take out comma after question mark -- or treat as rhetorical question and take out question mark, leaving comma.)
11th paragraph: ... has a meeting scheduled for 2 p.m. Tuesday (put periods in p.m.)
... The board chairman said the certification could be a two- or three-hour process. (take out comma after attribution in indirect quotation; put in space after "two-"; remove hyphen from "or-three"; insert hyphen in "three-hour.")
12th paragraph: ... said Alan Greer, Reno's general counsel, adding that ... (comma setting off appositive)
14th paragraph: "I've come not just at election time," she said. "I've come to say 'thank you.'" (period after said; otherwise, it's a comma splice. Move period inside single quote.)