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Writing and Language Test

35 M I NU TES, 4 4 QUESTIONS

Turn to Section 2 of your answer sheet to answer the questions in this section.

DIRECTIONS

Each passage below is accompanied by a number of questions. For some questions, you
will consider how the passage might be revised to improve the expression of ideas. For
other questions, you will consider how the passage might be edited to correct errors in
sentence structure, usage, or punctuation. A passage or a question may be accompanied by
one or more graphics (such as a table or graph) that you will consider as you make revising
and editing decisions.

Some questions will direct you to an underlined portion of a passage. Other questions will
direct you to a location in a passage or ask you to think about the passage as a whole.

After reading each passage, choose the answer to each question that most effectively
improves the quality of writing in the passage or that makes the passage conform to the
conventions of standard written English. Many questions include a “NO CHANGE” option.
Choose that option if you think the best choice is to leave the relevant portion of the
passage as it is.

Questions 1-11 are based on the following passage.

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1
A) NO CHANGE
Librarians Help Navigate in the Digital Age B) reductions
In recent years, public libraries in the United States C) deducting
D) deducts
have experienced 1 reducing in their operating funds
due to cuts imposed at the federal, state, and local
2
government levels. 2 However, library staffing has been A) NO CHANGE
cut by almost four percent since 2008, and the demand B) Consequently,
for librarians continues to decrease, even though half of C) Nevertheless,
D) Previously,
public libraries report that they have an insufficient
number of staff to meet their patrons’ needs.
Employment in all job sectors in the United States is
projected to grow by fourteen percent over the next

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decade, yet the expected growth rate for librarians is

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3
predicted to be only seven percent, or half of the overall A) NO CHANGE
B) have
rate. This trend, combined with the increasing
C) which have
accessibility of information via the Internet, 3 has led
D) which has
some to claim that librarianship is in decline as a
profession. As public libraries adapt to rapid 4
technological advances in information distribution, At this point, the writer is considering adding the
following information.
librarians’ roles are actually expanding.
—e-books, audio and video materials, and online
The share of library materials that is in nonprint journals—
formats 4 is increasing steadily; in 2010, at least Should the writer make this addition here?
18.5 million e-books were available 5 for them to A) Yes, because it provides specific examples of the
materials discussed in the sentence.
circulate. As a result, librarians must now be proficient
B) Yes, because it illustrates the reason for the
curators of electronic information, compiling, increase mentioned later in the sentence.
6 catalog, and updating these collections. But perhaps C) No, because it interrupts the flow of the sentence
by supplying irrelevant information.
even more importantly, librarians function as first D) No, because it weakens the focus of the passage
responders for their communities’ computer needs. Since by discussing a subject other than librarians.

5
A) NO CHANGE
B) to be circulated by them.
C) for their circulating.
D) for circulation.

6
A) NO CHANGE
B) librarians cataloging,
C) to catalog,
D) cataloging,

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one of the fastest growing library services is public access

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7
computer use, there is great demand for computer Which choice most effectively combines the
underlined sentences?
instruction. 7 In fact, librarians’ training now includes
A) In fact, librarians’ training now includes courses
courses on research and Internet search methods. Many on research and Internet search methods; many
librarians teach classes in Internet navigation,
of whom teach classes in Internet navigation, database database and software use, and digital
and software use, and digital information literacy. While information literacy is taught by them.
B) In fact, many librarians, whose training now
these classes are particularly helpful to young students includes courses on research and Internet search
developing basic research skills, 8 but adult patrons can methods, teach classes in Internet navigation,
database and software use, and digital
also benefit from librarian assistance in that they can acquire information literacy.
job-relevant computer skills. 9 Free to all who utilize C) Training now includes courses on research and
Internet search methods; many librarians, in
their services, public libraries and librarians are especially fact, are teaching classes in Internet navigation,
database and software use, and digital
valuable, because they offer free resources that may be information literacy.
difficult to find elsewhere, such as help with online job D) Including courses on research and Internet
search methods in their training is, in fact,
why many librarians teach classes in Internet
navigation, database and software use, and
digital information literacy.

8
A) NO CHANGE
B) and
C) for
D) DELETE the underlined portion.

9
Which choice most effectively sets up the examples
given at the end of the sentence?
A) NO CHANGE
B) During periods of economic recession,
C) Although their value cannot be measured,
D) When it comes to the free services libraries
provide,

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searches as well as résumé and job material development.

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10
An overwhelming number of public libraries also report A) NO CHANGE
B) legal issues,
that they provide help with electronic government
C) concerns related to law courts,
resources related to income taxes, 10 law troubles, and
D) matters for the law courts,
retirement programs.
In sum, the Internet does not replace the need for 11
librarians, and librarians are hardly obsolete. 11 Like Which choice most clearly ends the passage with a
restatement of the writer’s primary claim?
books, librarians have been around for a long time, but
A) NO CHANGE
the Internet is extremely useful for many types of B) Although their roles have diminished
research. significantly, librarians will continue to be
employed by public libraries for the foreseeable
future.
C) The growth of electronic information has led to a
diversification of librarians’ skills and services,
positioning them as savvy resource specialists for
patrons.
D) However, given their extensive training and
skills, librarians who have been displaced by
budget cuts have many other possible avenues
of employment.

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Questions 12-22 are based on the following passage.

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12
A) NO CHANGE
Tiny Exhibit, Big Impact B) For instance,

—1— C) However,
D) Similarly,
The first time I visited the Art Institute of Chicago,
I expected to be impressed by its famous large paintings.
13
12 On one hand, I couldn’t wait to view 13 painter, A) NO CHANGE
Georges Seurat’s, 10-foot-wide A Sunday Afternoon on B) painter, Georges Seurat’s
the Island of La Grande Jatte in its full size. It took me by C) painter Georges Seurat’s,
D) painter Georges Seurat’s
surprise, then, when my favorite exhibit at the museum
was one of 14 it’s tiniest; the Thorne Miniature Rooms.
14
A) NO CHANGE
B) its tiniest;
C) its tiniest:
D) it’s tiniest,

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15
Viewing the exhibit, I was amazed by the intricate At this point, the writer is considering adding the
following sentence.
details of some of the more ornately decorated rooms.
Some scholars argue that the excesses of
I marveled at a replica of a salon (a formal living room) King Louis XV’s reign contributed
significantly to the conditions that resulted
dating back to the reign of French king Louis XV.
in the French Revolution.
15 Built into the dark paneled walls are bookshelves Should the writer make this addition here?
stocked with leather-bound volumes. The couch and A) Yes, because it provides historical context for the
Thorne Miniature Rooms exhibit.
chairs, in keeping with the style of the time, are
B) Yes, because it explains why salons are often
characterized by elegantly curved arms and 16 legs, they ornately decorated.
are covered in luxurious velvet. A dime-sized portrait of a C) No, because it interrupts the paragraph’s
description of the miniature salon.
French aristocratic woman hangs in a golden frame.
D) No, because it implies that the interior designer
—3— of the salon had political motivations.
This exhibit showcases sixty-eight miniature rooms
inserted into a wall at eye level. Each furnished room 16
A) NO CHANGE
consists of three walls; the fourth wall is a glass pane
B) legs, the couch and chairs
through which museumgoers observe. The rooms and
C) legs and
their furnishings were painstakingly created to scale at D) legs,
1/12th their actual size, so that one inch in the exhibit
correlates with one foot in real life. A couch, for example, 17

is seven inches long, and 17 that is based on a Which choice gives a second supporting example
that is most similar to the example already in the
seven-foot-long couch. Each room represents a sentence?
distinctive style of European, American, or Asian interior A) NO CHANGE
B) a tea cup is about a quarter of an inch.
design from the thirteenth to twentieth centuries.
C) there are even tiny cushions on some.
D) household items are also on this scale.

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—4—

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18
The plainer rooms are more sparsely 18 furnished. Which choice most effectively combines the
sentences at the underlined portion?
Their architectural features, furnishings, and decorations
A) furnished by their
are just as true to the periods they represent. One of my B) furnished, but their
favorite rooms in the whole exhibit, in fact, is an 1885 C) furnished: their
summer kitchen. The room is simple but spacious, with a D) furnished, whereas

small sink and counter along one wall, a cast-iron wood

19
stove and some hanging pots and pans against another
Which choice most closely matches the stylistic
wall, and 19 a small table under a window of the third pattern established earlier in the sentence?
wall. Aside from a few simple wooden chairs placed near A) NO CHANGE
the edges of the room, the floor is open and obviously B) a small table is under the third wall’s window.
C) the third wall has a window and small table.
well worn.
D) the third wall has a small table against it and a
window.

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—5—

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20
As I walked through the exhibit, I overheard a A) NO CHANGE
B) visitors remarking,
20 visitors’ remark, “You know, that grandfather clock
C) visitor remarked,
actually runs. Its glass door swings open, and the clock
D) visitor remark,
can be wound up.” 21 Dotted with pin-sized knobs,
another visitor noticed my fascination with a tiny writing 21
desk and its drawers. “All of those little drawers pull out. A) NO CHANGE
B) Another visitor, dotted with pin-sized knobs,
And you see that hutch? Can you believe it has a secret
noticed my fascination with a tiny writing desk
compartment?” Given the exquisite craftsmanship and and its drawers.
C) Another visitor dotted with pin-sized knobs
level of detail I’d already seen, I certainly could.
noticed my fascination with a tiny writing desk
and its drawers.
D) Another visitor noticed my fascination with a
Question 22 asks about the previous passage as a tiny writing desk and its drawers, dotted with
whole. pin-sized knobs.

Think about the previous passage as a whole as you

answer question 22.
22
To make the passage most logical, paragraph 2
should be placed
A) where it is now.
B) after paragraph 3.
C) after paragraph 4.
D) after paragraph 5.

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