oDesk U.S. Academic Writing Test Answers 2015
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1. What is the difference between
paraphrasing and summarizing?
Answers:
• Summarizing a
passage conveys the main points using language very similar to that of the original;
paraphrasing a passage sketches out only the most essential points.
• Paraphrasing a
passage creates a stronger argument, while summarizing the same passage creates
a weaker argument.
• Paraphrasing a
passage conveys the main points using language very similar to that of the
original; summarizing a passage sketches only the most essential points.
• Paraphrasing
requires roughly twice as much text as summarizing the same amount of material.
• Paraphrasing is
closer to plagiarism than summarizing.
2. What is a topic sentence?
Answers:
• The longest
sentence in a paragraph, usually found in the middle
• A sentence that
states the main point of a paragraph and works as a mini-thesis for the
paragraph
• A short, snappy
sentence that ends a paragraph
3. Which of the following is/are clear
benefits of transferring an academic journal online?
Answers:
• Online links
may give the journal a potential increase in readership.
• Online
advertising is cheaper than print advertising.
• The journal
could then publish an online newsletter and enact a membership log-in feature.
• An online
presence makes it easier to keep in touch with readers via a registered user
database connected to the website.
• All of the
above are benefits of transferring an academic journal online.
4. Which of the following techniques
will increase the readership of an academic article no matter where the writer
displays it online?
Answers:
• Including many
links, both internal and external, in the article
• Including many
searchable keywords
• Making the
article accessible to both general readers and to more experienced readers of
academic texts
• Including
section headings that are links
• All of the
above
5. What is open-access publishing?
Answers:
• Publishing
anonymously
• Publishing within
a peer review system that prevents academic work from being sub-standard
• Publishing
directly to hand-held reading devices such as the Palm Pilot or Kindle
• A contemporary
method of publishing in which anyone can access the work, often adopted for online
publishing of academic journals and dissertations
• None of the
above
6. What is the Columbia style of
citation used for?
Answers:
• Manuscripts
• Articles and
essays
• Electronically
accessed sources
• Scientific
topics
7. Which of the following terms means
"to combine pre-stated arguments or statements into one"?
Answers:
• Thesis-building
• Antithesis
• Synthesize
• Mutual doubling
• Synecdoche
8. What does ISSN (the journal
equivalent of ISBN) stand for?
Answers:
• Internal Sort
Service Number
• International
Sweet Section Name
• Internal
Sticker Shift Number
• Inner Server
Serial Number
• International
Standard Serial Number
9. What is self-plagiarism?
Answers:
• Reusing
significant material from someone else's publication or copyrighted work and
passing it off as one's own
• Duplicating
one's own work and publicizing it in multiple formats and multiple territories
• The reuse of
identical or nearly identical portions of one's own work without citing the
original work
• Stealing one's
own possessions and selling them as if they were someone else's.
• Exploiting
one's own work in a domestic and foreign market without changing one's name
10. What is the reason for citing
academic sources in a bibliography?
Answers:
• To create
connections to previous ideas and show the path of their influence on the
writer's work
• To rightfully
acknowledge the source of the original work or academic expression
• To conform to
academic standards and procedures
• To avoid accusations
of plagiarism
• All of the
above
11. What does the term
"rhetoric" mean?
Answers:
• Rhetoric is an
ambiguous term that means both "erudite" and "academic,"
but also "easily communicated."
• Rhetoric is the
study of the evolution of language and how languages interact.
• Rhetoric is the
art of using language as a means of persuasion.
12. How should quotations longer than
three lines generally be laid out within the body of an academic paper?
Answers:
• Use a simple
in-text quotation that includes the quotation inside the paragraph.
• Indent the
whole quotation and double-space it (if the paper is single-spaced).
• Indent the
whole quotation and single-space it (if the paper is double-spaced).
• The formatting
depends on the bibliographical style the writer is using.
• None of the
above
13. What are paragraph transitions?
Answers:
• The point at
which paragraphs end
• The point at
which paragraphs begin
• Visual markers,
usually blue or red, that warn the reader that a new paragraph is approaching.
• A point either
at the beginning of the paper (the opening paragraph) or the conclusion (after
the last paragraph).
• The last
sentence of one paragraph and the first sentence of the following paragraph,
which work together to create a smooth linguistic or argumentative transition
from one idea to another.
14. Which of the following is the
correct name for a citation style that would be appropriate to use in a
research paper in chemistry?
Answers:
• American
Chemical Society (ACS) Style
• American
Chemistry Style
• Chemistry Style
of Academic Writing
15. What is the difference between a
works cited page and a bibliography?
Answers:
• Nothing but the
name; they are basically the same.
• A bibliography
is always shorter than a works cited page.
• A works cited
page lists only the source material directly cited in the text, while a
bibliography lists all the source material used in writing the book.
• A bibliography
lists only the source material directly cited in the text, while a works cited
page lists all the source material used in writing the book.
• A works cited
page appears at the front of the book, while a bibliography appears at the
back.
16. Which of the following elements is
NOT dictated by the American Sociological Association style of citation?
Answers:
• Single spacing
• 1 ¼-inch
margins on all sides
• 12 point font
17. What is a hanging paragraph?
Answers:
• A paragraph in
which the first line is set to the left margin and all subsequent lines are
indented
• A paragraph in
which the first line is set to the right margin and all subsequent lines are
indented
• A paragraph in
which the first line is indented and all subsequent lines are set to the left
margin
• A paragraph
that hangs over the edge of the page, either at the bottom or at the right
margin
• An unnecessary
paragraph
18. Which of the following are useful
online resources or techniques a writer could use to showcase his or her own
academic writing?
Answers:
• Online
journals, blogs, personal websites, and websites linked to the writer's
university
• Pre-existing
bibliographies to which the writer can upload original work
• Sending mass
e-mails with attachments of the writer's academic work
• a and c
19. Which of the following form the
core of a bibliographic entry specifically for a journal article?
Answers:
• ISSN, journal
title, volume, and back catalogue of relevant previous copies
• Journal title,
volume, page numbers
• Article title,
even page numbers, date of publication
• Article title, journal
title, volume, page numbers, date of publication, author(s)
• None of the
above
20. Which of the following features
is/are not desirable in academic writing?
Answers:
• Too much
description and too little analysis
• Too many quotes
• Plagiarism
• Informal
language
• All of the
above
21. Which of the following expressions
should not be used in academic writing?
Answers:
• In my
opinion...
• It has been
argued...
• There is little
doubt...
• There is enough
statistical data to prove...
22. Any academic piece of writing
should be cohesive at which level?
Answers:
• Sentence level
• Paragraph level
• Whole text
level
• All of the
above
23. Which of the following is the best
definition of plagiarism in an academic context?
Answers:
• Stealing intellectual
materials from one's neighbor
•
"Borrowing" the words of a well-known professor without citing the
source
• Stealing words
or ideas from one's fellow students and then using them out of context (i.e.,
using parts of someone's newspaper article in one's own academic paper)
• Using all of
the right words, but not necessarily in the right order
• The adoption,
reproduction, or use of someone else's words or ideas without proper
acknowledgment of the source
24. What is a comma splice?
Answers:
• When a comma
resembles an apostrophe
• A common
printing error that splits a comma in two
• When a
semi-colon and a comma are used interchangeably
• When a comma is
used to join two complete sentences without adding an appropriate conjunction
between them
• Both a and d
25. Choose the best option based on
the following statement.
The topic sentence is always placed as
the first sentence in a paragraph.
Answers:
• True
• False
26. Choose the option that best
completes the following sentence.
A writer's approach to an academic
paper should generally be ________________ in nature.
Answers:
• analytical,
objective, rational, and intellectual
•
impressionistic, analytical, subjective, and intellectual
• polemical,
emotional, impressionistic, and subjective
27. Which of the following elements is
NOT dictated by the MLA style of citation?
Answers:
• Typed and
double-spaced
• 1-inch margins
on all sides
• Use of standard
white paper (8.5 x 11)
• All of the
above are dictated by the MLA style of citation
28. Which of the following is not a
technical or administrative form of academic writing?
Answers:
• A brief
• The Yellow
Pages
• A peer review
• A proposal
• A white paper
29. Which of the following are
features of academic writing?
Answers:
• Authority and credibility
• Structure
• Style and
clarity
• Analytical
approach
• Attribution of
references
• a, c, d, and e
• a, b, c, d, and
e
• b, c, and e
30. Which of the following statements
regarding translation is NOT true?
Answers:
• Translation
takes into account any constraints regarding context, the writing conventions
of the two languages, idioms, and the grammar of the two languages.
• Translation is
a word-to-word conversion from one language to another.
• The text that
needs to be translated is called "source text," while the language in
which it is to be translated is known as the "target language."
31. What is an oxymoron, a word that
is used in academia in a number of humanities and interdisciplinary subjects?
Answers:
• A word that
also means its opposite
• A seemingly
nonsensical figure of speech that combines two typically contradictory terms,
such as "icy hot" or "jumbo shrimp"
• An oxygen
molecule in chemistry that behaves in a noticeably "stupid" way
• a and b
32. Which of the following form the core
of a bibliographic entry, whether for a book or a journal article?
Answers:
• Author's full
name, place of birth, and place of residence
• Date of first
publication, ISBN, book spine color
• Author, title, publisher,
place of publication, date of publication
• ISBN, ISSN,
author's full name, name of publisher
• Author, ISBN,
name of publisher, place of publication
33. Choose the option that best
completes the following sentence.
The tone of academic writing should
generally be ______________ in nature.
Answers:
• conversational,
colloquial, and personal
• formal,
serious, and impersonal
• conversational,
serious, and impersonal
34. Are there circumstances in which
the phrase "But I didn't know I was plagiarizing" is an acceptable
excuse?
Answers:
• No, never.
• In prison,
maybe.
• Yes, as
instances of unconscious plagiarism have been documented.
• Yes, when a
fellow student or writer is also a plagiarist.
35. Which of the following literary
devices or language conventions is the only one to be used in academic writing?
Answers:
• Passive voice
• Contractions
• Formal
rhetorical language
• Circumlocution
• Jargon
36. Which of the following are
features of cohesive writing?
Answers:
• A variety of sentence
structures
• Correct
punctuation
• Appropriate use
of linking words and transitions
• All of the
above
37. How would a writer format a
quotation in an academic paper if he wanted to delete some words from the
middle of the quotation?
Answers:
• By using
ellipses to replace the missing words, as in: "I went out...and returned
an hour later."
• By using a
comma to replace the missing words, as in: "I went out, and returned an
hour later."
• By using a
colon to replace the missing words, as in: "I went out: and returned an
hour later."
• By using a
hyphen to replace the missing words, as in: "I went out - and returned an
hour later."
38. If a bibliography is very long, is
it an acceptable common practice to organize it into sections?
Answers:
• Depends on the
subject
• Yes
• Never
• None of the
above
39. Which of the following statements
regarding abstracts is NOT true?
Answers:
• An abstract is
a brief summary.
• An abstract
assists the reader in identifying the purpose of the paper.
• An abstract is
placed at the beginning of a manuscript.
• An abstract is
usually included only for a novel or other work of fiction.
40. What is the difference between a
book report and an abstract?
Answers:
• An abstract is
just a summary of a book, while a report also includes reviews and reactions to
a book.
• There is no
difference between an abstract and a book report.
• A report is
just a summary of a book, while an abstract also includes reviews and reactions
to a book.
41. The term "bibliography"
comes from the Greek and literally means which of the following?
Answers:
• Book blurbing
• Book listing
• Book writing
• Book loving
• Library loving
42. Which style of citation is used
for technical topics, especially those related to computer science?
Answers:
• APA
• IEEE
• CSE
• APSA
43. Which of the following is NOT an
online blog or website where one's academic writing could be displayed and
commented upon?
Answers:
• Blogger
• Wordpress
• Academia.edu
• wobble.org
• weebly.com
44. Which of the following groups
correctly lists the forms of academic writing?
Answers:
• Abstract, book,
book chapter, book report, translation, thesis, conference paper, dissertation,
research article, research paper, essay, and explication
• Abstract, book,
book report, translation, thesis, conference paper, dissertation, research
article, and research paper
• Book report,
translation, thesis, conference paper, dissertation, research article, research
paper, essay, and explication
45. What kind of academic paper is the
"literature review"?
Answers:
• The same as a
book review, but longer.
• The summary of
an author's collected works, in chronological order.
• Both a and b
• An assessment
or account of material published on a topic by accredited scholars and
researchers.
• A descriptive
list of the material available, or a set of summaries.
46. What does the phrase "never
bury the lead" mean in the world of online writing?
Answers:
• Never make the
article too long or too short.
• Never hide the
main point of the story too far into the article or text.
• Never place the
writer's name too far into the article, but rather at the beginning.
• Cover as many
subjects as possible in the space available.
• All of the
above
47. In which field is the Bluebook
style of citation used?
Answers:
• Literature
• Biology
• Law
• None of the
above
48. Choose the correct series of
phrases to complete the following sentence.
The citation style known as APA, which
stands for _____________, is generally used for ______________.
Answers:
• American
Psychological Administration; research papers in psychology
• American
Physical Science Association; research papers in physical science
• American
Psychological Association; research papers within the social sciences
49. Which of the following is not a
citation style for academic writing?
Answers:
• CMOS
• APA
• APSA
• ACA
50. Which style of citation is used
for publications and academic essays in the arts and humanities?
Answers:
• Chicago
• Columbia
• Bluebook
• Modern Language
Association (MLA)
• Both a and d
may be used depending on subject matter.
51. What is a premise in an
argumentative paper?
Answers:
• A collection of
one or more declarative sentences (or "conclusions") that make up the
penultimate point of an argument
• A collection of
one or more declarative sentences (or "propositions") that make up
the beginning point of an argument
• A collection of
one or more declarative sentences (or "conclusions") that make up the
end point of an argument
• A collection of
one or more prescriptive sentences (or "propositions") that make up
the middle point of an argument
• The same as an
open-ended conclusion
52. What is peer review?
Answers:
• An exchange
program between academicians from different countries
• An exchange
program between students from different countries
• A process in
which an author's scholarly research or ideas are assessed by other academic
experts in the same field
• A process of
overseeing exam results in which certain students are allowed to see their work
before it is graded
• A
double-assessment process in which academicians exchange work directly and give
each other mutually beneficial criticism
53. What is the term for the sentence
(or sentences) in a standard academic paper that describes the central
proposition to be put forward and proved in the paper?
Answers:
• Précis
• Antithesis and
synthesis
• Word clause
• Thesis
• Word count
• Praxis
54. What are moral rights?
Answers:
• The rights of the
so-called "moral majority," frequently conservative rights
• The right of
any citizen to be protected by the law in moral, rather than legal, terms
• The opposite of
natural rights, but similar to immoral or amoral rights
• A subset of the
rights possessed by the creators of copyrighted works, including the right of
attribution, the right to have a work published pseudonymously or anonymously,
and the right to the integrity of the work
• All copyrights
owned by the originator of a work of art (usually visual art)
55. Which of the following sentences
would be best suited to academic writing?
Answers:
• Looking at the
present scenario, I think the day is not far off when we'll all be carrying
oxygen tanks on our backs.
• The present
scenario suggests that one day everyone will be carrying an oxygen tank.
• The present
scenario suggests that one day we will all be carrying oxygen tanks.
56. What is an annotated bibliography?
Answers:
• A bibliography
in which pictures replace some of the entries
• A bibliography
that includes a summary and/or evaluation of the source
• A bibliography
in which the chronology is reversed
• A bibliography
in which a few sections have extra written explanations or notes
• a and d
57. Which of the following
publications is NOT a known literary review?
Answers:
• The Southern
Literary Review
• The English
Plantation Review
• Literary Review
of Canada
• The New York
Review of Books
• The Times
Literary Supplement
58. What is brainstorming and when
would an academic writer be most likely to use it?
Answers:
• Brainstorming
is a verbal discussion between academicians and is often used when they are
involved in a collaborative work.
• Brainstorming
is a creative technique for generating many ideas for a particular purpose. The
activity is often used as a part of the initial planning process.
• Brainstorming
is a condition sustained when the brain "overheats" as a result of
intense work or stimulation. It is the body's way of telling the person to rest
for a while.
59. How are works arranged in a
bibliography?
Answers:
• Alphabetically
by name
• Alphabetically
by date
• chronologically
by date
• chronologically
by name
• In five even
sections
60. Why is knowing one's audience of
great importance when writing an academic article?
Answers:
• Doing so keeps
the writer focused and ensures the reader will take his article seriously.
• Doing so helps
readers evaluate, assess, and recognize new research.
• Doing so
ensures that the article will be as effective as possible in communicating its
message.
• All of the
above
