There once was a shepherd boy whom sat on the hillside watching the village sheep. He was hot and exhausted fanning himself, rapidly in a feeble attempt to cool himself down. On top of that, he had never been so bored before. 

To amuse himself, he decided to play a joke. He put his hands around his mouth and yelled in a loud voice, "Wolf! Wolf! A wolf is chasing the sheep!”

They came running. They asked the boy, “What’s going on? Did you yell ‘A wolf is chasing the sheep?’ ”

The boy laughed. “It was just a joke, everyone.”

The people fumed, but they all returned to their homes.

The next day, the boy bored again decided to amuse himself again. He bellowed, “Wolf! Wolf!”

Again, the townspeople came running. Once they arrived and witnessed the laughing boy, they realized they’d been tricked a second time. Nonetheless, they returned home and irritated resolved to never fall for the trick again for third time.

The next day, the boy was watching his sheep. Suddenly, out of nowhere, a wolf appeared from behind the bushes. With its teeth bared, the boy cowered as the wolf approached the sheep. Terrified, he called, “Help! A wolf! A wolf is here!”

The people ignored his cries. “That mischievous boy,” they all said to one another. “He must think he can fool us again.” But not one of them came running.

No one was there to witness as the wolf ate every last sheep on the hillside, as the boy helplessly cowered behind a bush. As the boy hid, he shook his head. “I shall never fib again,” he resolved to himself.

Choose the best replacement for the underlined sentence "...Did you yell ‘A wolf is chasing the sheep?’”

Replace the underlined portion with the answer choice that results in a sentence that is clear, precise, and meets the requirements of standard written English. One of the answer choices reproduces the underlined portion as it is written in the sentence.

“Words like prejudice and bigotry are too negative for this publication,” she said.

Replace the underlined portion with the answer choice that results in a sentence that is clear, precise, and meets the requirements of standard written English. One of the underlined choices repeats the answer as it is written. 

Did Larry just say, "I'm going to go see the Queen?"

Passage adapted from Anna Sewell's Black Beauty (1877)

I was now beginning to grow handsome; my coat had grown fine and soft, and was bright black. I had one white foot and a pretty white star on my forehead. I was thought very handsome; my master would not sell me till I was four years old; he said lads ought not to work like men, and colts ought not to work like horses till they were quite grown up. When I was four years old Squire Gordon came to look at me. He examined my eyes, my mouth, and my legs; he felt them all down; and then I had to walk and trot and gallop before him. He seemed to like me, and said “When he has been well broken in he will do very well.” My master said he would break me in himself, as he should not like me to be frightened or hurt, and he lost no time about it, for the next day he began.

Every one may not know what breaking in is, therefore I will describe it. It means to teach a horse to wear a saddle and bridle, and to carry on his back a man, woman or child; to go just the way they wish, and to go quietly. Besides this he had to learn to wear a collar, a crupper, and a breeching, and to stand still while they are put on; then to have a cart or a chaise fixed behind, so that he cannot walk or trot without dragging it after him; and he must go fast or slow, just as his driver wishes. He must never start at what he sees, nor speak to other horses, nor bite, nor kick, nor have any will of his own; but always do his masters' will, even though he may be very tired or hungry; but the worst of all is, when his harness is once on, he may neither jump for joy nor lie down for weariness. So you see this breaking in is a great thing.

Choose the answer that best corrects the bolded and underlined portion of the passage. If the bolded and underlined portion is correct as written, choose "NO CHANGE."

Passage adapted from Under The Lilacs (1878) by Louisa May Alcott

The elm-tree avenue was all overgrown, the great gate was never unlocked, and the old house had been shut up for several years.

Yet voices were heard about the place, the lilacs nodded over the high wall as if they said, We could tell fine secrets if we chose, and the mullein outside the gate made haste to reach the keyhole, that it might peep in and see what was going on. If it had suddenly grown up like a magic bean-stalk, and looked in on a certain June day, it would have seen a droll but pleasant sight, for somebody evidently was going to have a party.

From the gate to the porch went a wide walk, paved with smooth slabs of dark stone, and bordered with the tall bushes which met overhead, making a green roof. All sorts of neglected flowers and wild weeds grew between their stems, covering the walls of this summer parlor with the prettiest tapestry. A board, propped on two blocks of wood, stood in the middle of the walk, covered with a little plaid shawl much the worse for wear, and on it a miniature tea-service was set forth with great elegance. To be sure, the tea-pot had lost its spout, the cream-jug its handle, the sugar-bowl its cover, and the cups and plates were all more or less cracked or nicked; but polite persons would not take notice of these trifling deficiencies, and none but polite persons were invited to this party.

On either side of the porch was a seat, and here a somewhat remarkable sight would have been revealed to any inquisitive eye peering through the aforesaid keyhole. Upon the left-hand seat lay seven dolls, upon the right-hand seat lay six; and so varied were the expressions of their countenances, owing to fractures, dirt, age, and other afflictions, that one would very naturally have thought this a doll's hospital, and these the patients waiting for their tea.

In the underlined sentence, quotation marks should be placed ___________

Passage adapted from Around the World in Eighty Days (1873) by Jules Verne

Two men were promenading up and down the wharves, among the crowd of natives and strangers who were sojourning at this once straggling village-- now, thanks to the enterprise of M. Lesseps, a fast-growing town. One was the British consul at Suez, who, despite the prophecies of the English Government, and the unfavourable predictions of Stephenson, was in the habit of seeing, from his office window, English ships daily passing to and fro on the great canal, by which the old roundabout route from England to India by the Cape of Good Hope was abridged by at least a half. The other was a small, slight-built personage, with a nervous, intelligent face, and bright eyes peering out from under eyebrows which he was incessantly twitching. He was just now manifesting unmistakable signs of impatience, nervously pacing up and down, and unable to stand still for a moment. This was Fix, one of the detectives who had been dispatched from England in search of the bank robber; it was his task to narrowly watch every passenger who arrived at Suez, and to follow up all who seemed to be suspicious characters, or bore a resemblance to the description of the criminal, which he had received two days before from the police headquarters at London. The detective was evidently inspired by the hope of obtaining the splendid reward which would be the prize of success, and awaited with a feverish impatience, easy to understand, the arrival of the steamer Mongolia.

So you say, consul, asked he for the twentieth time, that this steamer is never behind time?

"No, Mr. Fix," replied the consul. "She was bespoken yesterday at Port Said, and the rest of the way is of no account to such a craft. I repeat that the Mongolia has been in advance of the time required by the company's regulations, and gained the prize awarded for excess of speed."

Choose the answer that best corrects the underlined portion of the passage. If the underlined portion is correct as written, choose "NO CHANGE."

"This is the third time I've found you poring over that old rhyme. What is the charm, Richard? Not its poetry I fancy. And the young wife laid a slender hand on the yellow, time-worn page where, in Old English text, appeared the lines she laughed at."

Richard Trevlyn looked up with a smile and threw by the book, as if annoyed at being discovered reading it. Drawing his wife's hand through his own, he led her back to her couch, folded the soft shawls about her, and, sitting in a low chair beside her, said in a cheerful tone, though his eyes betrayed some hidden care, "My love, that book is a history of our family for centuries, and that old prophecy has never yet been fulfilled, except the 'heir and heiress' line. I am the last Trevlyn, and as the time draws near when my child shall be born, I naturally think of his future, and hope he will enjoy his heritage in peace."

Choose the answer that best corrects the underlined portion of the passage. If the underlined portion is correct as written, choose "NO CHANGE."

Choose the answer that best corrects the underlined portion of the sentence. If the underlined portion is correct as written, choose "NO CHANGE."

"Where is my dog?" cried Susanna, frantically searching through the woods.

“The Common Good: The United Aim of Many”

Among the many topics that are misunderstood in political science, and political philosophy, the notion of the “common good” ranks foremost.  Often, we think of the common good as being nothing more than getting “the most things for the most people.”  For example, when a person makes multiple millions of dollars, people will often say, “He should give back some of that money, for the sake of the common good.”  Whether or not such people should do this with his money, this is really an improper use of the expression the common good.

A better way to understand the common good is to think about common ends or common goals.  An example will help to explain this.  Think of a group of musicians on a stage.  If all of these people came together to practice in the same room, we wouldn’t call them a symphony.  A mass of people just playing any music whatsoever are not a symphony.  A symphony is an organized group; a mass of people is just a mass of people.  Nothing physically differs regarding the mass of people and the symphony.  They are both made up of the same “stuff,” namely a group of musicians.

However, a common good changes this mass into something that they never could be without that common good.  When these musicians come together to play the Dies Irae of Mozart, they become something that they never were as individuals.  Each member of the group uses his or her personal skill for the sake of a new, common performance.  Perhaps the tuba player loves to play loudly.  Perhaps the lead violinist loves playing quickly.  These preferences must be channeled and limited for the sake of the common enterprise of playing Mozart’s stirring piece of music.  The desires of the individual instrumentalists, whom play the music, no longer reigns supreme.

The common good unites this group.  If you were to ask the tuba player, what are you doing, he would answer, “Taking part in the symphonic playing of the Dies Irae.”  Then, if you were to ask any other musician the same question, he or she would answer in the same way.  The answer would not be, “playing the Dies Irae my way.”  If that were the answer, the musician would not be part of the symphony.  He or she would be doing something private, not something that is truly common.

How should the underlined selection be changed?

“The Common Good: The United Aim of Many”

Among the many topics that are misunderstood in political science, and political philosophy, the notion of the “common good” ranks foremost.  Often, we think of the common good as being nothing more than getting “the most things for the most people.”  For example, when a person makes multiple millions of dollars, people will often say, “He should give back some of that money, for the sake of the common good.”  Whether or not such people should do this with his money, this is really an improper use of the expression the common good.

A better way to understand the common good is to think about common ends or common goals.  An example will help to explain this.  Think of a group of musicians on a stage.  If all of these people came together to practice in the same room, we wouldn’t call them a symphony.  A mass of people just playing any music whatsoever are not a symphony.  A symphony is an organized group; a mass of people is just a mass of people.  Nothing physically differs regarding the mass of people and the symphony.  They are both made up of the same “stuff,” namely a group of musicians.

However, a common good changes this mass into something that they never could be without that common good.  When these musicians come together to play the Dies Irae of Mozart, they become something that they never were as individuals.  Each member of the group uses his or her personal skill for the sake of a new, common performance.  Perhaps the tuba player loves to play loudly.  Perhaps the lead violinist loves playing quickly.  These preferences must be channeled and limited for the sake of the common enterprise of playing Mozart’s stirring piece of music.  The desires of the individual instrumentalists, whom play the music, no longer reigns supreme.

The common good unites this group.  If you were to ask the tuba player, what are you doing, he would answer, “Taking part in the symphonic playing of the Dies Irae.”  Then, if you were to ask any other musician the same question, he or she would answer in the same way.  The answer would not be, “playing the Dies Irae my way.”  If that were the answer, the musician would not be part of the symphony.  He or she would be doing something private, not something that is truly common.

How should the underlined selection be changed?