Grade 7 ELA Practice Test: Misplaced and Dangling Modifiers
- Misplaced and Dangling Modifiers
- 10 questions
- 12 minutes
These 10 questions practice placing modifiers next to the words they describe. Tip: after an introductory phrase like "Walking into the room," the very next noun must be the one doing the walking.
Tap an option to mark your answer. You can change your mind, or tap the same option again to leave the question blank. The correct answers and explanations appear when you finish the test.Tap an option to answer; tap it again to leave the question blank.
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Question 1
Which sentence contains a misplaced modifier?
Correct answer: C
"On paper plates" sits next to "children," so the sentence seems to say the children were on the plates. It should follow "sandwiches." In the other sentences each modifier is next to the word it describes.
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Question 2
Walking into the kitchen, the smell of fresh bread was wonderful.
What is the problem with this sentence?
Correct answer: A
The opening phrase is a dangling modifier: it describes someone walking, but the next noun is "the smell," and a smell cannot walk. The sentence does have a verb, "was."
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Question 3
Walking into the kitchen, the smell of fresh bread was wonderful.
Which revision corrects the dangling modifier?
Correct answer: D
Now the word right after the phrase is "I," the person who is walking. Changing to the passive voice still puts "the smell" after the phrase, so the modifier still dangles.
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Question 4
Which sentence says that nobody except Jada ate the cookies?
Correct answer: B
"Only" limits the word right after it, so "Only Jada" means no one else ate them. "Jada ate only the cookies" means she ate nothing else, and "the only cookies" means there were no other cookies.
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Question 5
The museum displayed a dress for the visitors made of silk.
Which revision places the modifier correctly?
Correct answer: A
"Made of silk" describes the dress, so it belongs right after "dress." The other versions make the museum or the visitors sound like they are made of silk.
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Question 6
Which sentence contains a dangling modifier?
Correct answer: C
The sentence never says who finished the homework, and a TV cannot do homework. In the other sentences, the person doing the action comes right after the opening phrase.
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Question 7
Hidden under the couch, Ava found her missing shoe.
What does this sentence actually say?
Correct answer: B
The phrase "Hidden under the couch" describes the noun right after it, which is "Ava." The writer meant the shoe was hidden: "Ava found her missing shoe hidden under the couch."
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Question 8
Barking all night, the neighbors complained about the dog.
Which revision is correct?
Correct answer: D
The dog is the one barking, so the description must be attached to "dog." The other revisions still make the neighbors or the complaint do the barking.
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Question 9
Which sentence uses its opening modifier correctly?
Correct answer: A
Dad is the one climbing, and "Dad" comes right after the phrase. In the others, the towel seems wet and shivering, Grandpa seems rusty, and the mother seems covered in mud.
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Question 10
Students who study often get good grades.
Why is this sentence unclear?
Correct answer: D
"Often" sits between two verbs, so readers cannot tell which one it modifies. Moving it fixes the problem: "Students who often study get good grades."
Questions you leave blank are not counted as wrong.
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