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Remember, UWMs school code for the PPST is RA 1473

Office of Academic Services

Self-Directed Study Guides for Praxis I (PPST Writing Exam)


This Self-directed study guide is designed to assist you in preparing for the Praxis I (PPST) exam. In order to receive the full benefit of the study guide, you should: 1. Take the pre test that is attached 2. Correct your pre test and review the information contained in the packet. 3. Take the post test that is attached If you would like additional help preparing for the PPST, please contact us.
For more information, Contact Gary Waymire-Cooper Phone: 414-229-3326 E-mail: gccooper@uwm.edu )

www.soe.uwm.edu

Writing Pretest 2 UWM School of Education Education Resource Center Writing Pre Test Part A Directions: In each of the sentences below, four portions are underlined and lettered. Read each sentence and decide whether any of the underlined parts contains an error in grammatical construction, word use, or an incorrect or omitted punctuation or capitalization that would be inappropriate in carefully written English. 1. Scientific literature has been littered with studies of the past 40 years A documenting the superior language skills of girls, but the biological reason why B C has remained a mystery until now. No error. D E 2. Certain drugs and alcohol seriously impairs the bodys reflexes, making it A B extremely dangerous for adults to drive themselves home from social C D engagements. No error. E 3. On a gray day in mid-January, Lawrence Summers, the president of Harvard A University_suggested that innate differences in the build of the male and female B brains might be one factor underlying the relative scarcity of women in science. C D No error. E 4. The child would of accepted the red balloon if it would have been offered to A B him_,_but the waitress offered him only blue balloons with white ribbons. C D No error. E 5. Having finished the Boston Marathon, the athlete threw up his arms as with A B triumph , waved to his adoring fans, and prepared to speak to reporters. No C D E

Writing Pretest 3 error. 6. Optimists_the opposite of pessimists, are believed by psychologists to be better A B C D liked, have stronger marriages, and have more fun. No error. E 7. Simply listening to a cellphone distracts drivers, a study concludes, raising A B C questions about the effectiveness of laws_that ban the use of handheld devices D while driving. No error. E 8. With hundreds of thousands of micro-thin strands colliding in every direction, A hair is an unusually complicated systema set of independent objects working in B C an integrated whole. No error. D E 9. Offering more depth than any anatomy textbook can deliver, the Visible Body is A B a web-based 3-D interactive model of the human body that is not only free to C students and educators but health and medical professionals. No error. D E 10. Everyone in the council were in agreement that the school board did not need to A support a tax increase to fund the building of a new__athletic complex at Johnson B C High School. No error. D E

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Part B Directions: In each of the following sentences, some part of the sentence or the entire sentence is underlined. Beneath each sentence you will find five ways of writing the underlined part. The first of these repeats the original, but the other four are all different. If you think the original sentence is better than any of the suggested changes, you should choose answer A; otherwise, you should mark one of the other choices. 11.The works of Tolkien sell better than John Grisham. (A) sell better than John Grisham (B) sell better than John Grisham does (C) sell better than does John Grisham (D) sell better than the works of John Grisham (E) sell better than those of John Grisham 12 .Researching the effects of placebos upon patients healing, sugar pills are being administered by doctors on a regular basis. (A) sugar pills are being administered by doctors on a regular basis (B) sugar pills have been administered by doctors on a regular basis (C) doctors are administering sugar pills on a regular basis (D) doctors had been administering sugar pills on a regular basis (E) sugar pills had been administered by doctors on a regular basis 13 .To try and appeal to travelers wishing to have all the amenities of a first class flight at a low price, more airlines are offering in-flight entertainment and food and beverage service at no extra cost. (A) To try and appeal (B) With every intention to appeal (C) To try to appeal (D) Because they want to appeal (E) Because they wanted to appeal 14 .The children, playing on the swings on a beautiful sunny day without being noticed by hardly anyone. (A) The children, playing on the swings on a beautiful sunny day without being noticed by hardly anyone (B)The children played on the swings on a beautiful sunny day without hardly being noticed by anyone (C)The children played on the swings on a beautiful sunny day without being noticed (D)Hardly anyone noticed the children playing on the swings on a beautiful sunny day. (E)The children played on the swings

Writing Pretest 5 15.While running through the city to evade police, the Queens valuables slipped out of the villains hand and went under the tire of a speeding car. (A)the Queens valuables slipped out of the villains hand and went under the tire of a speeding car (B) the villain dropped the Queens valuables under the tire of a speeding car (C) the villain lost his grip on the Queens valuables, letting them fall under the tire of a speeding car. (D) the speeding car crushed the Queens valuables (E) the Queens valuables slipped out of the villains hand 16.To be a successful businessperson it requires knowledge of finance and the ability to get along with people. (A) it requires knowledge of finance and the ability to get along with people (B) requires knowledge of finance and the ability to get along with people (C) requires financial knowledge and social skills (D) requires the know-how of finance and the ability to get along with people (E) means that financial knowledge and people skills are essential to ones education 17.Poor dental care can lead not only to cavities but also it can have deleterious effects on other systems of the body such as heart disease. (A)it can have deleterious effects on other systems of the body such as heart disease (B)to other deleterious effects on other systems of the body such as heart disease (C)to heart disease (D)it can cause heart disease (E)it causes heart disease 18. Langston Hughes wrote passionately about the inequities of his generation. (A) wrote passionately about the inequities (B) wrote passionate about the inequities (C) wrote passionately about his generation (D) did write passionately about his generation (E) had written passionately about the inequities 19.Ballet is a rigorous and physical demanding art form, requiring years of study and self-discipline from professional ballerinas and serious amateurs alike. (A) physical demanding art form (B) physically demanding art form (C) it is a physically demanding art form (D) is a physically demanding art form (E) , a physically demanding art form

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20. Upon feeling the presence of a predator, many small creatures change color as a defense mechanism and to be a means of survival. (A) as a defense mechanism and to be a means of survival (B) as a defense mechanism and as a means of survival (C) to be a means of defense and to be a means of survival (D) to act as a means of defense and to act as a means of survival (E) to defend themselves and to help themselves survive

Writing Pretest 7 UWM School of Education Office of Academic Services PPST- Writing Pre Test Answer Sheet 1. C 2. A 3. B 4. A 5. B 6. A 7. E 8. E 9. D 10. A 11. E 12. C 13. C 14. D 15. B 16. C 17. C 18. A 19. B 20. B

Writing Pretest 8 UWM School of Education Office of Academic Services Self Directed Study Guide for PPST-Writing

The writing portion of the PPST consists of two parts. The first part contains a variety of individual sentences designed to measure your ability to recognize standard written English. In the second part, you will be asked to write an essay. Multiple Choice Questions There are two types of multiple choice questions on the writing portion of the PPST: 1. Usage 2. Sentence Correction Usage Questions For each of these questions, a sentence will be provided that may contain an error in grammar, usage, diction (choice of words), or idiom (word combinations that have become part of the language). None of the sentences contain more than one error Some sentences are correct The error, if there is one, is underlined and lettered. Parts of the sentence that are not underlined are correct and cannot be changed. Sample question: Most of the delegates which attended the A convention felt the resolution was B too strongly worded, and the majority C voted against it. No error. D E Error at A.

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Sentence Correction Questions This section tests accuracy and effectiveness of expression. It asks you to consider elements of sentences such as grammar, choice of words, sentence construction, and punctuation. For each sentence, a portion or all of the sentence is underlined. Under each sentence you will be given five options of phrasing the underlined portion, the first of which is the original underlined portion. Select the choice that most effectively expresses the meaning of the original sentence. Sample Question: In the United States, an increasing number of commuters that believe their families to be immune from the perils of city life. (A) that believe their families to be (B) that believe their families are (C) believes their families are (D) who believe their families to be (E) believe their families to be Error at E.

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Grammar and usage errors tall into several general categories. On the next few pages, we will discuss these categories and provide you with some examples. Verb tense Verb tense is an important aspect of the essay portion as well. For example, if the prompt is: Censorship of song lyrics, television shows, and offensive speech is necessary in order to protect the rights of all members of society. What tense would the majority of your response be in? If you write I agree that censorship is important then your essay will likely be in present tense. This means that your MAIN tense throughout the essay will be present tense. IF you are referring to something that happened in the past, then use the past tense. For example: Last year, I bought a CD and was shocked by the lyrics on it IF you are referring to something that may occur in the future, then use the future tense. For example: From now on, I will be sure to check for a parental alert label. BE AWARE of unnecessary or inconsistent shifts in tense. Choose a main tense, most likely present, and use the other tenses to indicate changes in time frame. Remember: a verbs tense tells you when the action is taking place. You will be listening for incorrect use of tense- i.e. inconsistency of tense. INCORRECT: When Mary was in college, she was reading many books. CORRECT: When Mary was in college, she read many books. Sample question: As long ago as the twelfth century, A French alchemists have perfected B techniques for refining precious metals C from other ores. No error. D E Error at B.

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Subject verb agreement: Collective Nouns Collective nouns are ones that imply more than one person but are considered singular. These include: GROUP TEAM COMMITTEE FAMILY These words take a singular verb. Sample question: That particular pack of wolves were A B often considered to be the most C problematic in the entire region. No error D E Error at B. Subject verb agreement: Intervening Phrases Sometimes the test will challenge you by placing an intervening phrase between the subject and the verb. This makes it more difficult to catch an error in subject-verb agreement. Sample Question: Group therapy, a method of treatment commonly recommended by A B practitioners, remain a cost effective C choice for consumers. No error. D E Error at C.

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Subject verb agreement: Subject after Verb Another way to challenge you is by placing the subject after the verb. Sample Question: Although researchers have criticized this A practice for many years, there is many B C teachers who continue to use direct D instruction. No error. E Error at C. Double negatives: the nonstandard use of two negatives in the same sentence so they cancel each other out. Avoid the use of double negatives. no not none nothing nowhere neither no one hardly scarcely barely nobody

INCORRECT: I barely have no advice for you. CORRECT: I have no advice for you. INCORRECT: I do not know nobody. CORRECT: I do not know anybody. Sample Question: According to the doctor, this type of A B medication should not hardly be taken C more than once a day. No Error. D E

Writing Pretest 13 Error at C.

Adjectives and Adverbs Adjectives modify nouns or pronouns. Look at the beautiful sky. My teacher is helpful. Adverbs modify verbs, adjectives, or other adverbs. Adverbs often end in ly (but not always!) The boy ran swiftly. On the test, you might be asked to recognize an error in which an adjective is modifying a verb, or an adverb is modifying a noun. INCORRECT: He danced beautiful all night long. CORRECT: He danced beautifully all night long. Homonyms and Frequently Confused Words Their, There, or Theyre? Their: possessive pronoun. Their dog is very friendly. Theyre: a contraction for they are. Theyre really a nice couple. There: that place OR in expressions there is and there are. Lets go over there. There are many reasons to support this idea. Its or Its? Its (with the apostrophe) means IT IS. I cant believe its only Tuesday. Its (without the apostrophe) is a possessive pronoun. The cat licked its paws. Then or Than? Than is associated with comparatives: I like ice cream more than yogurt. Then refers to a point in time: First well go to the store, and then we will cook. THEN IS WHEN Accept or except? Except: a preposition that means apart from.I enjoyed everything except the dessert. Accept: a verb that means agree with, take in, or receive. I accept your explanation. We accept either cash or checks. Raise or Rise?

Writing Pretest 14 These words are commonly confused because they both have the general meaning of to move upwards. The difference is that raise is a transitive verb, meaning that the action of the verb has to be transferred to something/an object. We will raise the flag. Rise is an intransitive verb and does not need an object. The sun will rise.

Sentence fragments A sentence fragment is an incomplete sentence. Usually, a sentence fragment is a part of the sentence that has become disconnected from the main clause. Consider the following sentences (the errors are bolded): Although the institution has the communitys best interests in mind. They ended up making some significant errors. In spite of the fact that the students are studying hard. The majority did poorly on the final exam. UWM offers a variety of majors. Such as education, social work, biological sciences, and business. As we were driving through very heavy traffic. Every sentence needs a subject and a MAIN complete verb. Having any form of a noun and a verb doesnt necessarily make it a complete sentence. Proper use of semi-colons Semi-colons are often used to join together two independent clauses. The second part of the sentence often makes a comment on the first. An independent clause contains a subject and a verb and expresses a complete thought. CORRECT: The store was bound to succeed; it filled a niche in the growing community. INCORRECT: They went to the store; stopping at several shops, and browsing the window displays. Comma Splices Comma splices join two complete sentences with a comma; they are incorrect in academic writing. INCORRECT: Peter stopped at the store on the way home, he was very hungry. CORRECT: Peter stopped at the store on the way home because he was very hungry. CORRECT: Peter stopped at the store on the way home; he was very hungry. CORRECT: Peter stopped at the story on the way home. He was very hungry.

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Run-on sentences Run-on sentences join two or more complete sentences with no punctuation. INCORRECT: I really enjoy my new part-time job but I dont have as much free time anymore but I needed extra money to pay all my bills and save for fall tuition. How to correct? You can correct in a variety of ways including: 1. Make two separate sentences: I really enjoy my new part-time job, but I dont have as much free time anymore. I needed extra money to pay all my bills and save for fall tuition. 2. You can use a semi-colon if the second part makes a comment on the first. I really enjoy my new part-time job, but I dont have as much free time anymore; I needed extra money to pay all my bills and save for fall tuition. Misplaced modifiers Modifiers, phrases that provide additional information about nouns or verbs in a sentence, should appear next to the word or words that they are modifying. INCORRECT: Using this medication, many undesirable side effects are experienced. Using this medication appears to modify side effects, but this makes no sense. The side effects were not using the medication. CORRECT: Using this medication, patients experienced many undesirable side effects. INCORRECT: Walking home from school, a dog nearly attacked me. CORRECT: Walking home from school, I was nearly attacked by a dog. Pronoun errors Who is she? What is it? Where are they? Every pronoun must have an antecedent. The antecedent is the noun that corresponds to the pronoun in the sentence. Sherry is a great dancer, and she is also a talented singer. Sherry is the antecedent and she is the pronoun. Pronouns: Ambiguous Reference If you have no idea what the pronoun is referring to, there may be an error! Sample Question: The chemist Sir Humphrey Davy was a friend of the poet William Wordsworth; A he would visit with several other guests B C at a tiny cottage in the English Lake D

Writing Pretest 16 District. No Error. E Error at B. Parallelism Errors Parallelism is the use of matching grammatical elements (words, phrases, clauses) or sentence structures to express equivalent ideas. INCORRECT: Brittany enjoys shopping, watching videos, and to talk to her friends on the phone. CORRECT: Brittany enjoys shopping, watching videos, and talking to her friends on the phone. Coordination Errors You may be presented with sentences that do not make sense because they are not logically joined. INCORRECT: Because he was very hungry, he refused to eat his dinner. CORRECT: Although he was very hungry, he refused to eat his dinner. INCORRECT: The college began demanding a higher GPA for admission; however, more students began to receive rejection letters. CORRECT: The college began demanding a higher GPA for admission; as a result, more students began to receive rejection letters. Amount vs. Number The word amount is used to refer to quantities that can be measured but NOT counted. Number applies to words that can be counted. INCORRECT: Is this the right number of sugar? CORRECT: Is this the right amount of sugar? Many vs. Much Many is an adjective that applies to nouns that can be counted: There are many people here. Much applies to non-countable nouns: How much water do I add to the soup? Among or Between? Among refers to groups of more than two things. Between refers to just two things. The three parties agreed among themselves to settle the question out of court. Alexanders empire encompassed all the territory between Macedon and India. ALSO: When you see between used in a phrase such as between X and Y- look for between and INCORRECT: We shuttled between Chicago to Milwaukee. CORRECT: We shuttled between Chicago and Milwaukee

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Correlative Conjunctions: Not only/but also Both/and Either/or Neither/nor Whether/or Sample Question Neither the waitstaff in the restaurant or the host A B in the back noticed the group of teenagers C leaving without paying their bill. No Error. D E Error at B. Idioms: Word combinations that have become standard usage in the English language Idioms may be relatively small errors! INCORRECT: The dancer really made an impression for the audience. CORRECT: The dancer really made an impression on the audience. INCORRECT: similar as CORRECT: similar to IINCORRECT: different than CORRECT: different from The point on issue was whether the dock A workers, who were an extremely vocal group, B C would decide to return to work. No Error. D E Error at A. Word Choice You may be tested on identifying improper use of a word. The incorrect word may be similar to the word you expect to be there- this may then be hard to notice. Read Carefully! The masterpiece auctioned so successfully A today depicts a Biblical scene in which the B king is on his throne with his counselors C

Writing Pretest 18 respectively standing below. No Error. D E Error at D.

While we try to highlight commonly tested knowledge on the PPST, this review is by no means comprehensive. Please utilize your Praxis Series Study Guide for additional review. Materials are available for subsequent review of grammar/usage in the UWM Education Resource Center. In addition, please come in to take practice tests and discuss your questions with our staff!

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UWM School of Education Education Resource Center Writing Post Test Part A Directions: In each of the sentences below, four portions are underlined and lettered. Read each sentence and decide whether any of the underlined parts contains a grammatical construction, a word use, or an instance of incorrect or omitted punctuation or capitalization that would be inappropriate in carefully written English.

1. The California Department of Motor Vehicles reports that more accidents result from A B C inattentive driving as from weather-related conditions. No error. D E 2. Ten to twenty percent of women in the U.S. develop a more disabling and longerA lasting disorder called postpartum depression in the first year after childbirth that often B impair their ability to care for their babies. No error. C D E 3. The Chinese government is not only banning production and distribution of the A thinnest plastic bags in a bid to curb the white pollution__that is taking over the B countryside but taking measures to penalize those who fail to comply. No error. C D E 4. Failing to kick the habit, smokers are not only jeopardizing their health but also A B missing his chance to make new friends or, in some cases, keep old ones, according to C D new research. No error. E 5. A team of researchers is looking at handwriting rather than the ever-shrinking A B C keyboards (that frustrate typists) in a quest to improve the way we input information to D computers and cell phones. No error. E

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6. To counteract performance anxiety, Joseph O'Connor, author of Free Yourself From A Fears__recommends individuals rehearse their speech five minutes for every minute of B C D presentation. No error. D 7. Faced with the choice among the prize money and the trip to Japan, the game show A contestant relied on the audiences advice because he was too nervous to make the B C D decision on his own. No error. E 8. The Tasmanian devil, a feisty marsupial that lives only in the Australian island state of A B Tasmania, was deemed an endangered species this week by the state's government. No C D E error. 9. An x-ray flash that signals the start of a stellar explosion could have helped A B astronomers predict supernovae and could boost the search for exotic phantom C particles__and ripples in space-time. No error. D E 10. Reflecting a changing societal trend between 1978 to 2008, more unmarried people A B under 30 are buying houses rather than renting apartments. No error. C D E

Copyright 2008 University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, Office of Academic Services. Reproduction of this document without written consent is prohibited.

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