Praxis Core Writing Practice Test: Revision in Context and Research Skills
- Revision in Context and Research Skills
- 10 questions
- 12 minutes
Ten questions on improving a draft and on research skills: relevance, transitions, combining sentences, primary sources and citations. Tip: when a question asks about one sentence, read the whole paragraph first.
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
A student is writing a report on current recommendations for the yearly flu vaccine. Which source is most credible?
Correct answer: A
A national public health agency issues the official recommendations and updates them. A twelve-year-old article is out of date for a question about current advice.
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Question 2
A student copies one sentence word for word from a book into an essay. What must the student add?
Correct answer: D
Exact words need quotation marks, and the source must be cited. Permission from the author is not required for a short quotation in a student essay.
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Question 3
Which of the following is plagiarism?
Correct answer: B
Paraphrasing still borrows someone else's ideas, so the source must be credited. Widely known facts do not need a citation.
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Question 4
A student is writing a paper about a civil rights march that took place in 1963. Which is a primary source?
Correct answer: C
A primary source comes from someone who took part in or saw the event at the time. Textbooks, encyclopedias and reviews are secondary sources written later.
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Question 5
A student is researching how school start times affect how much teenagers sleep. Which search would give the most focused results?
Correct answer: D
Combining all three key ideas narrows the results to sources about the actual question. A single broad word such as "sleep" returns far too many unrelated results.
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Question 6
(1) Community gardens are appearing on empty lots in many cities. (2) They give neighbors a place to grow fresh vegetables. (3) My cousin once grew a pumpkin that weighed almost forty pounds. (4) Gardens also bring people together who might never have met otherwise. (5) ____, some cities now help residents find land and water for new gardens.
Which sentence is least relevant to the main point of the paragraph?
Correct answer: B
The paragraph is about how community gardens benefit cities and neighbors. A cousin's large pumpkin is a personal story that does not support that point.
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Question 7
(1) Community gardens are appearing on empty lots in many cities. (2) They give neighbors a place to grow fresh vegetables. (3) My cousin once grew a pumpkin that weighed almost forty pounds. (4) Gardens also bring people together who might never have met otherwise. (5) ____, some cities now help residents find land and water for new gardens.
Which word or phrase best fills the blank at the start of sentence 5?
Correct answer: C
Sentence 5 is a result of the benefits listed before it, so "For these reasons" fits. "Nevertheless" and "On the contrary" signal a contrast that is not there.
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Question 8
(1) Community gardens are appearing on empty lots in many cities. (2) They give neighbors a place to grow fresh vegetables. (3) My cousin once grew a pumpkin that weighed almost forty pounds. (4) Gardens also bring people together who might never have met otherwise. (5) ____, some cities now help residents find land and water for new gardens.
Which is the clearest revision of sentence 4?
Correct answer: A
Placing "people" right next to "who might never have met" makes it clear who is meant. The second wrong option makes the gardens the ones who never met.
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Question 9
(1) Maya wanted to become a teacher. (2) She volunteered at an after-school program. (3) She tutored second graders in reading there.
Which is the best way to combine sentences 2 and 3?
Correct answer: C
"Where" correctly refers to the program as a place. The first wrong option is a comma splice, and the last has no main verb.
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Question 10
A parent is writing a formal letter to the school board. Which sentence is most appropriate for this purpose?
Correct answer: D
A formal letter needs a polite, direct request without slang. "You guys," "like" and "I guess" are too casual and weaken the message.
Questions you leave blank are not counted as wrong.
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