Standard English Conventions

Chief Editor

Mar 17, 2024

Take all 3 MCQs in interactive quiz mode with timer and progress tracking

In Death Valley National Park's Racetrack Playa, a flat, dry lakebed, are 162 rocks--some weighing less than a pound but others almost 700 pounds--that move periodically from place to place, seemingly of their own volition. Racetrack-like trails in the ________ mysterious migration. Which choice completes the text so that it conforms to the conventions of Standard English?

Difficulty: Medium

plays sediment mark the rock's

playa's sediment mark the rocks

playa's sediment mark the rocks'

playas' sediment mark the rocks'

The human brain is primed to recognize faces--so much so that, due to a perceptual tendency called pareidolia, ________ will even find faces in clouds, wooden doors, pieces of fruit, and other faceless inanimate objects. Researcher Susan Magsamen has focused her work on better understanding this everyday phenomenon. Which choice completes the text so that it conforms to the conventions of Standard English?

Difficulty: Medium

she

they

it

those

The poem Beowulf begins with the word "hwæt," which is an Old English ________ as "hark!" or "listen!" in some versions, the word was playfully rendered as "bro!" by Maria Dahvana Headley in her 2020 translation of the poem. Which choice completes the text so that it conforms to the conventions of Standard English?

Difficulty: Hard

exclamation, translated

exclamation and translated

exclamation translated

exclamation, Translated