Training Your Editor's Eye -- 5

Writers and editors must develop the skill of identifying errors -- and of identifying the kinds of places errors are most likely to occur.


This exercise provides practice in identifying errors that need to be fixed.
Instructions:
  1. Find a problem in each sentence.
  2. On a computer: Move the cursor over it (do not click). On a tablet: Tap on the error.
  3. If the text turns red, read the pop-up with our comment.
  4. Tap or hover over [ Answer ] to see an explanation.
  5. On a tablet, tapping the error a second time removes the pop-up.
Compatibility:
The pop-up comments seem to work on Safari, Firefox and Chrome. Results on Internet Explorer 7 may be erratic.
  1. The whole thing ended with her battered face being photographed by the police and him turning himself in a day later. [ Answer ]
  2. Even though Dr. Lang has a plethora of duties, she will take the time to help students who come for advisement. [ Answer ]
  3. Dorm residents developed a procedure that enables them to prevent from being caught. [ Answer ]
  4. Prescription medication has been affective in dealing with depression, but counseling is often prescribed to develop better coping skills. [ Answer ]
  5. Manufacturing lost 51,000 jobs while construction employment shrunk further by 35,000 jobs. [ Answer ]
  6. Although some students may not recognize it, almost everyone registered on a site like Facebook are participating in social networking. [ Answer ]
  7. Headline: Students have little options for delivery. [ Answer ]
  8. Headline: HBCU's face financial difficulties [ Answer ]
  9. The park receives a slough of visitors in the fall and spring, attracted by the migratory birds. [ Answer ]
  10. The charter school is seeking a $2,000 donation in an effort to prolong the elimination of its Real Life Science Program. [ Answer ]
  11. Wilson is one of the world's most well-known biologists. [ Answer ]
  12. Rodriguez, like many Floridians, do not know the venomous snakes that live in the state. [ Answer ]
  13. A cottonmouth warns intruders by throwing its head back and gapping its mouth open. [ Answer ]
  14. Another threat to snakes and by far the most drastic to their decline are keeping them as pets. [ Answer ]
  15. When walking through a wooded area, you should always beware of what is around you. [ Answer ]
  16. For a person without a college education, prospects for a profitable career are oblique. [ Answer ]
  17. There may be instances when individuals do not want to let on that he or she is depressed. [ Answer ]
  18. The necessary data may be attained from the graduate office. [ Answer ]
  19. The missing property included several desk, filing cabinets and chairs. [ Answer ]
Copyright 2009 by Gerald Grow. All rights reserved.