Filak, Dynamics of News Reporting and Writing, 1e
Sage Publishing, 2019
(ANSWERS) AP Style Questions and Exercises
Abbreviations
Multiple Choice Questions
1. The Duffie Oak is the most famous tree in the city of Mobile, ________.
a. Alabama
b. Ala.
c. AL
d. Ab.
2. Every night, Jones would dim his lights and drive slowly past his ex–girlfriend’s house at 234 Pine _______.
a. Street
b. St.
c. St
d. Street
3. The 2018 Ford Explorer gets 22 _______, slightly better gas mileage than previous year’s models.
a. miles per gallon
b. m.p.g.
c. mpg
d. mi./gal.
4. The mayor’s office said the press conference would start at 10 _______, and end in time for lunch.
a. a.m.
b. AM
c. o’clock
d. in the morning
Usage and Style Practice Exercises
1. Which are the only states that are never abbreviated?
2. What is the abbreviation for megabyte?
Filak, Dynamics of News Reporting and Writing, 1e
Sage Publishing, 2019
3. Find and correct the mistakes in this passage:
4. Find and correct any mistakes in this passage:
5. Find and correct any mistakes in this passage:
6. Find and correct any mistakes in this passage:
7. Find and correct any mistakes in this passage:
8. Find and correct any mistakes in this passage:
Addresses
Multiple Choice Questions
1) Janie Jones lives at 234 Monmouth _________.
a. Terrace
b. Terr.
c. Tce.
d. Ter.
2) The protesters set up camp at the corner of Tucker _______ and Richardson Street.
a. Bl.
b. Blvd.
c. Bvd.
d. Boulevard
3) The veteran dentist has an office in the ground floor of the highrise building at ______________.
a. One Waverly Ave.
b. 1 Waverly Avenue
Filak, Dynamics of News Reporting and Writing, 1e
Sage Publishing, 2019
c. 1 Waverly Ave.
d. One Waverly Avenue
4) Johnny’s Bake Shop opened a second location at ____________.
a. 123 E. 49th Street
b. 123 E. 49th St.
c. 123 East Forty-Ninth Street
d. One Two Three East 49th Street
Usage and Style Practice Exercises
1. Find and correct the mistakes in this passage:
2. Find and correct the mistakes in this passage:
3. Find and correct the mistakes in this passage:
4. Find and correct the mistakes in this passage:
5. Find and correct the mistakes in this passage:
6. Find and correct the mistakes in this passage:
7. Find and correct the mistakes in this passage:
8. Find and correct the mistakes in this passage:
Filak, Dynamics of News Reporting and Writing, 1e
Sage Publishing, 2019
Capitalization
Multiple Choice Questions
1. Marcus Viscuso was seen as the last great hope for liberals in the ________________.
a. Democratic Party
b. Democratic party
c. democratic party
d. Dem. party
2. After backing up her truck to the bank of the Raritan _______, she dumped the trash into the _______.
a. River, River
b. River, river
c. river, river
d. river, River
3. She asked for an order of ______ fries from the cart at the corner of Main and State _______.
a. French, streets
b. french, streets
c. french, Streets
d. French, Streets
4. She purchased tickets for the World ______ using her _________ of America credit card.
a. Series, Bank
Filak, Dynamics of News Reporting and Writing, 1e
Sage Publishing, 2019
b. series, Bank
c. Series, bank
d. series, bank
Usage and Style Practice Exercises
1. Find and correct the mistakes in this passage:
2. Find and correct the mistakes in this passage:
3. Find and correct the mistakes in this passage:
4. Find and correct the mistakes in this passage:
5. Find and correct the mistakes in this passage:
6. Find and correct the mistakes in this passage:
7. Find and correct the mistakes in this passage:
8. Find and correct the mistakes in this passage:
Filak, Dynamics of News Reporting and Writing, 1e
Sage Publishing, 2019
Numerals
Multiple Choice Questions
1. The last time she saw her brother, he was just _______ years old.
a. three and a half
b. 3 ½
c. 3 and a half
d. 3.5
2. Her grandfather was a U.S. Navy veteran who was stationed at the 32nd Street Naval Station in San Diego for the
first _____ years of World War ___.
a. three, II
b. 3, 2
c. three, 2
d. 3, II
3. After paying her gas bill of _________, she received a refund of ___________ because of a meter reader’s error.
a. $60, 50 cents
b. $60.00, $0.50
c. sixty dollars, fifty cents
d. $60, 50¢
4. Asked whether he had cashed the check for ___________, he said he did not have the energy to walk ______ miles to
the bank.
a. $1 million, three
b. $1,000,000, three
Filak, Dynamics of News Reporting and Writing, 1e
Sage Publishing, 2019
c. $1 million, 3
d. $1,000,000.00, three
Usage and Style Practice Exercises
1. What is the proper way to write a numeral at the beginning of a sentence? If possible, what should you do to
avoid such construction?
2. Find and correct the mistakes in this passage:
3. Find and correct the mistakes in this passage:
4. Find and correct the mistakes in this passage:
5. Find and correct the mistakes in this passage:
6. Find and correct the mistakes in this passage:
7. Find and correct the mistakes in this passage:
8. Find and correct the mistakes in this passage:
Punctuation
Multiple Choice Questions
1. The manager tried to attend to his ________ emotional needs, ____ it paid off with some big wins.
Filak, Dynamics of News Reporting and Writing, 1e
Sage Publishing, 2019
a. players, and
b. players’, &
c. players’, and
d. players’s, &
2. The total eclipse of the sun was at 1:15 ______, a tough time for _______________ to get out of meetings.
a. PM, small-business men
b. p.m., small-business men
c. p.m., small business men
d. pm, small-business men
3. He finished the writing guide for _________ in time to walk to the DMV and get his ________ license.
a. teachers’, drivers’
b. teachers, drivers
c. teacher’s, driver’s
d. teacher’s, drivers’
4. “The Man from Another Place is the creepiest character on the ______ she exclaimed. I love conversations about
_____________
a. show!” and “Twin Peaks”!
b. show”! and “Twin Peaks”!
c. show!” and “Twin Peaks!”
d. show”! and “Twin Peaks!”
Filak, Dynamics of News Reporting and Writing, 1e
Sage Publishing, 2019
Usage and Style Practice Exercises
1. Write a sentence with an example of an essential clause. Then write one with an example of a non-essential
clause.
2. Your grammar teacher wrote an email to you that said, “I am having lunch with my sister Anjali.” Assuming her
grammar is impeccable, do you know if she has any other sisters?
3. What is an Oxford comma? Does its use comport with Associated Press style?
4. Use an ellipsis to make this quote more readable: “I swear to this board that I did not, you know, what do you call
it, oh heck, my mind is going blank, well for lack of a better term, I did not try to abscond with money from any of
this organization’s accounts.”
5. Do you put a space between someone’s first and middle initials? Why or why not? You do not use a space.
6. Find and correct the mistakes in this passage:
7. Find and correct the mistakes in this passage:
8. Find and correct the mistakes in this passage:
Spelling
Multiple Choice Questions
1. The weather hotline said the baseball game was ________, which was highly ___________.
a. cancelled, disappointing
b. canceled, disappointing
c. cancelled, dissappointing
Filak, Dynamics of News Reporting and Writing, 1e
Sage Publishing, 2019
d. canceled, dissappointing
2. She knew little of ________ but was willing to learn more about adherents of Islam.
a. Moslims
b. Muslims
c. muslims
d. moslems
3. He realized his timid son was a bit of a ______________.
a. milk toast
b. milktoast
c. milquetoast
d. milque toast
4. As the dog crept across the _________ tile, he sniffed out the _________ in the house.
a. Linoleum, impostor
b. linoleum, imposter
c. Linoleum, imposter
d. linoleum, impostor
Usage and Style Practice Exercises
1. Find and correct the mistakes in this passage:
2. Find and correct the mistakes in this passage:
Filak, Dynamics of News Reporting and Writing, 1e
Sage Publishing, 2019
3. Find and correct the mistakes in this passage:
4. Find and correct the mistakes in this passage:
5. Find and correct the mistakes in this passage:
6. Find and correct the mistakes in this passage:
7. Find and correct the mistakes in this passage:
8. Find and correct the mistakes in this passage:
Possessives
Multiple Choice Questions
1. The host’s hospitality and good humor was surpassed only by the __________ skill in the kitchen.
a. hostess’
b. hostess’s
c. hostesses
d. hostesses’
2. The St. Louis __________ outfielder visited the ___________ hospital with a briefcase filled with signed portraits.
a. Cardinals, childrens
b. Cardinals, children’s
Filak, Dynamics of News Reporting and Writing, 1e
Sage Publishing, 2019
c. Cardinals’, childrens’
d. Cardinal’s, childrens
3. After a hard two ______ work, he believed he was entitled to a ________ vacation.
a. weeks’, week’s
b. weeks, weeks
c. week’s, week’s
d. weeks’, weeks’
4. “For __________ sake,” he thought, after he had read the attorney ________ latest opinion.
a. goodness, general’s
b. goodness, general
c. goodness’, general’s
d. goodness’, generals
Usage and Style Practice Exercises
1. Find and correct the mistakes in this passage:
2. Find and correct the mistakes in this passage:
3. Find and correct the mistakes in this passage:
4. Find and correct the mistakes in this passage:
5. Find and correct the mistakes in this passage:
6. Find and correct the mistakes in this passage:
7. Find and correct the mistakes in this passage:
8. Find and correct the mistakes in this passage:
Word Choice
Multiple Choice Questions
1. A speaker stands behind a ________.
a. podium
b. rostrum
c. lectern
d pulpit
2. The election will _______ the future of our nation and determine if everyone feels ________.
a. affect, all right
b. affect, alright
c. effect, all right
d. effect, alright
3. The pastor’s absence at Mass created the _______ that the _______ boys were running the church.
Filak, Dynamics of News Reporting and Writing, 1e
Sage Publishing, 2019
a. allusion, alter
b. allusion, altar
c. illusion, alter
d. illusion, altar
4. His boss _________ him to take a sick day, but to be _________ about it so people would not know.
a. persuaded, discrete
b. convinced, discrete
c. persuaded, discreet
d. convinced, discreet
Usage and Style Practice Exercises
1. Find and correct the mistakes in this passage:
2. Find and correct the mistakes in this passage:
3. Find and correct the mistakes in this passage:
4. Find and correct the mistakes in this passage:
5. Find and correct the mistakes in this passage:
6. Find and correct the mistakes in this passage:
Filak, Dynamics of News Reporting and Writing, 1e
Sage Publishing, 2019
7. Find and correct the mistakes in this passage:
8. Find and correct the mistakes in this passage:
Time
Multiple Choice Questions
1. Traffic starts to back up on Interstate 270 some mornings as early as ______.
a. 5 a.m.
b. 5 o’clock
c. 5 AM
d. 5 in the morning
2. He never ate breakfast, so by ______ he was practically dying of hunger.
a. 12 noon
b. noon
c. 12 p.m.
d. 12 o’clock
3. When it is 2 p.m. in New York, the time is ___________ in St. Louis.
a. 1 p.m.
b. noon
c. 3 p.m.
d. 4 p.m.
4. __________ 1972 was a cold month, and __________ was the coldest day of that month.
Filak, Dynamics of News Reporting and Writing, 1e
Sage Publishing, 2019
a. March, March 2
b. March, Mar. 2
c. Mar., Mar. 2
d. Mar., March 2
Usage and Style Practice Exercises
1. Under what circumstances is it necessary to give the exact time of day?
2. Find and correct the mistakes in this passage:
3. Find and correct the mistakes in this passage:
4. Find and correct the mistakes in this passage:
5. Find and correct the mistakes in this passage:
6. Find and correct the mistakes in this passage:
7. Find and correct the mistakes in this passage:
8. Find and correct the mistakes in this passage:
Titles
Multiple Choice Questions
1. After _________ Trump signed the bill into law, he excitedly shook the hand of the __________ standing next to him.
Filak, Dynamics of News Reporting and Writing, 1e
Sage Publishing, 2019
a. president, senator
b. President, senator
c. President, Senator
d. president, Senator
2. Janet Reno and Eric Holder were two of the best known _______________________.
a. attorneys general
b. Attorney Generals
c. Attorney General’s
d. Attorneys General
3. _________ Suzyn T. Reynolds was the first woman to be ordained as a priest at St. Peter’s Episcopal Church.
a. The Rev.
b. Rev.
c. Reverend
d. The Reverend
4. After an introduction by ________________ Mike Pence, next to the podium was Jackie Jones, ___________ for economic
affairs.
a. Vice President, Undersecretary
b. vice president, undersecretary
c. Vice President, undersecretary
d. vice President, Undersecretary
Filak, Dynamics of News Reporting and Writing, 1e
Sage Publishing, 2019
Usage and Style Practice Exercises
1. Find and correct the mistakes in this passage:
2. Find and correct the mistakes in this passage:
3. Find and correct the mistakes in this passage:
4. Find and correct the mistakes in this passage:
5. Find and correct the mistakes in this passage:
6. Find and correct the mistakes in this passage:
7. Find and correct the mistakes in this passage:
8. Find and correct the mistakes in this passage: