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1. Directions: Select the correct text in the passage.

Which verbal in the passage functions as a noun?

James Maddalena is a celebrated American opera singer. Portraying Richard Nixon in the 1987 opera Nixon in China was his breakout

(a) (b)

role. Audiences have enjoyed Maddalena's dazzling voice for many years. His ability to perform is known throughout the world.

(c) (d)

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2. Directions: Select the correct answer from the drop-down menu.

The following passage contains a participial phrase.

Featured in many news stories, football players receive a lot of the public's attention. Through the media, athletes have a major platform to share their opinions.

The participial phrase Featured in many news stories functions as a(n)

a. Adjective b. Adverb c. Noun

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3. Directions: Select the correct answer from the drop-down menu.

The following paragraph contains an infinitive phrase.

For many years, Dr. Benson dreamed of becoming a physician. When he was a teenager, he decided to achieve his goal. He enrolled in a medical school and worked hard for many years. Now he is one of the most successful doctors in his field.

The infinitive phrase to achieve his goal functions as a(n) 

a. Adjective b. Adverb c. Noun

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4. Which sentence uses the present participle of the word enrich?

|[pic|A. |Music is an essential part of a child's learning because it enriches his or her life. |

|] | | |

|[pic|B. |The foundation, enriching the lives of many people, has been open over 20 years. |

|] | | |

|[pic|C. |Some programs enrich the lives of people by teaching them how to eat healthy. |

|] | | |

|[pic|D. |Enriched with fiber, the cereal is one of the most popular items on store shelves. |

|] | | |

[pic]

5. What is the present participle of the word refresh?

|[pic|A. |refreshed |

|] | | |

|[pic|B. |refreshes |

|] | | |

|[pic|C. |refreshing |

|] | | |

|[pic|D. |refresh |

|] | | |

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|Before Aava left for college, her mother, worried about her, wanted to impart some advice. |

6.

What is the participial phrase in the sentence?

|[pic|A. |to impart some advice |

|] | | |

|[pic|B. |before Aava left for college |

|] | | |

|[pic|C. |her mother |

|] | | |

|[pic|D. |worried about her |

|] | | |

7. Which of the following sentences is written correctly?

|[pic|A. |Jasper clogging toys in the drain of his strange bathroom. |

|] | | |

|[pic|B. |Strange things were clogging the drain in Jasper's bathroom. |

|] | | |

|[pic|C. |Clogging toys were strange in the Jasper's bathroom drain. |

|] | | |

|[pic|D. |Jasper's strange toys clogging drain and flooded the bathroom. |

|] | | |

[pic]

|Building model airplanes requires a lot of patience and time. |

8.

What is the gerund phrase in the sentence?

|[pic|A. |requires a lot |

|] | | |

|[pic|B. |and time |

|] | | |

|[pic|C. |of patience |

|] | | |

|[pic|D. |Building model airplanes |

|] | | |

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     Jerome and Frankie did their best to keep up with the rest of the team. They had just moved to the school, and they didn't know anyone. Luckily, because they were twins, they had each other for support. The other basketball players on the team were very cold to them. They were unimpressed with Frankie and Jerome, who were small and unassuming. When practice started though, the team members found they had trouble keeping up with the twins. The twins dashed across the court. Their passes were crisp, and their shots were solid. The twins were destined to be the newest starters. Everyone else would have to work harder to keep his spot.

9. Which sentence from the passage uses an infinitive?

|[pic|A. |The twins were destined to be the newest starters. |

|] | | |

|[pic|B. |Their passes were crisp, and their shots were solid. |

|] | | |

|[pic|C. |They were unimpressed with Frankie and Jerome, who were small and unassuming. |

|] | | |

|[pic|D. |When practice started though, the team members found they had trouble keeping up with the twins. |

|] | | |

[pic]

10. Which sentence from the passage uses an infinitive?

|[pic|A. |The other basketball players on the team were very cold to them. |

|] | | |

|[pic|B. |Luckily, because they were twins, they had each other for support. |

|] | | |

|[pic|C. |They had just moved to the school, and they didn't know anyone. |

|] | | |

|[pic|D. |Jerome and Frankie did their best to keep up with the rest of the team. |

|] | | |

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Bill Clinton: First Inaugural Address

by Bill Clinton

Wednesday, January 21, 1993

Raised in unrivaled prosperity, we inherit an economy that is still the world’s strongest, but is weakened by business failures, stagnant wages, increasing inequality, and deep divisions among our people.

11. In this excerpt from Bill Clinton's First Inaugural Address, the word prosperity MOST LIKELY means

a) extreme poverty.

b) financial success.

c) international conflict.

d) the future of the nation's youth.

Directions: Read this selection and answer the questions that follow.

The Best of America is on the Blue Highways

            Sure, the interstate will get you there faster. I would never argue that it won’t. But here’s the thing: when you drive the two-lane highways it does not matter how much time it takes. In fact, you might even want to keep on driving and driving and driving because you are having so much fun. I have known this for a long time, but it came back to me fresh this summer.

            I live in Kansas City, Missouri, and my family lives in St. Louis. I normally take the train when I visit. This summer, though, I had to drive because I was helping with a move. One weekend in June, I picked up my rented van and slid onto Interstate 70 (I-70), which plows through the state, four lanes or six lanes straight across. The speed limit is 75, people routinely drive 85, and the huge 18-wheelers loom over you as if to say, “Is that a car or a tiny little bug that I could squish if I wanted to?” Four-and-a-half miserable hours later, I dragged myself into my sister’s house. I was worn out.

            I am not one of those people who think that driving is a chore. I love to drive. I love road trips. In my 20s, I drove clunky old cars that probably should not have been allowed to leave the neighborhood all over the U.S. But for me, the interstate takes the fun out of driving. Instead of enjoying the journey, a person is trying to get from Point A to Point B as fast as possible. The road is flat and straight and all of the interesting stuff is up the exit ramp, a long way away. Where is the joy in that?

            So this summer, I bailed on I-70 and drove Highway 50 back and forth across Missouri. It took an hour longer but it felt like no time at all because around every corner there was something new and different and interesting. The highway roughly follows the Missouri River, which winds across the length of the state. From Kansas City it is divided highway east through medium-sized cities like Warrensburg and Sedalia and on into Jefferson City, the state capital, which sits right on the river. After that, it’s twisty two-lane roads that wind through the hills and in to West St. Louis County. It is one gorgeous vista after another.

            Highway 50 is what is called a blue highway. A writer named William Least-Heat Moon coined the term to refer to those smaller, out-of-the-way roads that were drawn in blue on the old road atlases. Blue highways connect small cities and rural areas that may once have had dreams of becoming big cities before being bypassed by the interstate. With many of these smaller places, though, you get the sense that they are exactly what they always wanted to be: warm and human-sized, comfortable places to live.

            Driving on blue highways pulls you back in time. You look around, and it is America in the 1940s or 1950s. There is the town square, with small shops and a courthouse in the place of honor. Most of the businesses are owned by the people who live there; the corporate headquarters is in the back room. On Highway 50, for example, you can find the best ever creamy frozen custard at a little shack on a gravel lot outside Tipton, and the best ever fried catfish in a wee town called Rosebud an hour west of St. Louis. I could drive for days and never find anything else just like that because it’s only made in that small town by those particular people.

            Right before you get into West St. Louis County, you run into that most famous of historic highways – Route 66. Americans drove Route 66 from Chicago to the Santa Monica, California, way back in the 1920s up until it was officially removed from the highway system in 1985. It was THE road for people headed for the West Coast of America.

            I was born in a hospital in Rolla, Missouri, right on Route 66, and Route 66 is where I most feel that I belong. Route 66, to me, represents America before we had the same stores at every mall and the same restaurants along every Main Street. It represents an America where people could open a diner or a tourist attraction or a store on the town square and do something unique and interesting and make a living at it. Today, the stretch of Route 66 from Highway 50 to old Highway 100 in west St. Louis County is a shadow of what it once was, but it is a shadow that still speaks to me in a way that the interstate never, ever will.

12. This task has more than one (1) part. Read each part carefully and respond.

Part A 

The author appeals to the emotions of the reader by using precise and descriptive language. How does the author make interstate travel sound like a negative experience? List at least three examples from the article.

Part B 

Write a paragraph that explains how the author used language to compare the travel experiences by using positive language about the blue highways. Use at least three examples from the article to support your response.

Answers

1. portraying

2. adjective

3. noun

4. B

5. C

6. D

7. B

8. D

9. A

10. D

Explanations

1. A gerund is a verb form that ends in "-ing" and that functions as a noun. In this passage, the word "portraying" is a gerund. The gerund phrase "Portraying Richard Nixon" is the subject of the second sentence. The words "dazzling" and "celebrated" are participles because they function as adjectives.The infinitive phrase "to perform" functions as an adjective that modifies the noun "ability."

2. A participle is a verbal that usually ends in "-ing" or "-ed." The participial phrase "Featured in many news stories" functions as an adjective. It modifies "football players."

3. An infinitive is the word "to" plus a verb. An infinitive phrase includes any modifiers or objects. An infinitive phrase can function as a noun, an adjective, or an adverb. In the sentence, the infinitive phrase "to achieve his goal" functions as a noun. It is the direct object of the verb "decided."

4. Enriching is the present participle that describes the foundation. Participles are words that end in –ing or –ed and are used as adjectives.

5. Participles are words that end in –ing or –ed and are used as adjectives. Refreshing is the present participle of the word "refresh" because it ends with –ing.

6. A participle is a verbal ending in –ing or –ed that is used as an adjective. The participial phrase in this sentence is "worried about her." That participial phrase describes Aava's mother. Participial phrases should be located next to the noun they are describing.

7. Be careful not to mistake a gerund phrase for a present participle phrase. They are easy to confuse because both gerunds and present participles end in –ing. "Clogging the drain in Jasper's bathroom" is a gerund phrase.

8. A gerund is a verbal noun ending in –ing. It functions like any other noun. "Building model airplanes" is the thing that requires a lot of patience and time.

9. An infinitive consists of the word to plus a verb and acts as a noun, adjective, or adverb.

The twins were destined to be the newest starters.

10. An infinitive consists of the word to plus a verb and acts as a noun, adjective, or adverb.

Jerome and Frankie did their best to keep up with the rest of the team.

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