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This test consists of 15 multiple choice questions and 5 short answer questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. What stops Americans from writing memoirs?
(a) Memoires don't sell well enough.
(b) Editors hate reading memoirs therefore don't pick them up.
(c) People don't like reading memoires.
(d) An attitude to please teachers and not readers.

2. What do people forget about writing?
(a) It is a craft and it can be learned.
(b) It is easy and anyone can do it.
(c) It is a gift that only certain people have.
(d) It is a science that is hard to understand.

3. Why is it important for writers to stick to industry standards?
(a) To be good writers, since the industry sets the standard.
(b) Readers likely played the sport they are reading about and want to know what happened from a standard perspective.
(c) The industry wants everything to be the same so they can catalogue writing more easily.
(d) To sell magazines.

4. What is a requirement for good literary criticism?
(a) Frequenting the theatre often.
(b) Subscribing to arts magazines.
(c) Knowing the subject that the writer wants to write about.
(d) Having a comparitive literature degress.

5. What is the problem with freelance writers and editors today?
(a) Editors treat freelance writers like hired help.
(b) Writers are pushovers and let their work become ruined.
(c) Writers never listen to their editors.
(d) Editors are not as good as writers.

6. Cliche words should be avoided at all costs. What else should be avoided?
(a) Assuming the writer has already been to a place.
(b) Cliched details.
(c) Not describing a place enough.
(d) Overly describing a single place.

7. What occurs when business writing is bad?
(a) People will get fired for bad writing.
(b) Investors will agree to terms they do not understand.
(c) Executives get fired for pawning off simple writing tasks.
(d) Customers will go elsewhere to buy their goods and services.

8. What do people need to understand about science?
(a) It can be learned at any point in life.
(b) Only nerds can learn it.
(c) It is a foundation that needs to be built upon.
(d) It is easy to understand if given the chance.

9. What is the advantage of a writer writing his or her own memoir?
(a) The writer does not have to do any interviews.
(b) The writer does not have to pay attention to basic grammar rules.
(c) The main subject is already known.
(d) They are lax and impersonal.

10. What is a good way to edit a long story?
(a) Break it into sections to make it more manageable.
(b) Read it backwards.
(c) Take a break and read it with fresh eyes.
(d) Have someone else read it aloud.

11. What approach to a place should writers take?
(a) Reading other travel pieces and compare them.
(b) To go within a place and see how it impacts the writer.
(c) Just writing ambiguously.
(d) To go around asking the locals questions.

12. Where does a writer need to start to get his or her voice discovered?
(a) Go to a literary agent and ask how to get their voice out.
(b) Read stories aloud at poetry clubs or book clubs.
(c) Sign up for a talent search.
(d) A writer needs to emulate other writers and see how they utlilize their voices in their writing.

13. Why does this misconception exist?
(a) Writing is too complex for many, and is more of an art than a science.
(b) Early education lumps students into categories, creating boundaries they can never cross in the future.
(c) Writers only want to read literature, and not science.
(d) Scientists are left brain individuals that don't want to learn to write.

14. Why is jargon, or corporate speak, so prevalent in business writing?
(a) There is a lack of writing skills learned in college because all the focus is on business.
(b) It is prevalent because subordinates think that the executives want jargon-filled writing in order to sound more professional.
(c) People lose their ability to write when they take a job since they stop writing.
(d) It is the industry standard.

15. How does Zinsser create his final products?
(a) He spends hours finding the right words, best rhythms, and makes sure every sentence leads into another.
(b) He usually knows his writing is good, so he just gives everything a once over and he is done.
(c) He takes a week to read over his writing with fresh eyes.
(d) He pawns them off to his editor which sends his writing back with red squiggles.

Short Answer Questions

1. Where did Zinsser learn how to write?

2. What is a general rule for writing about sports?

3. Writers should always look for ________________.

4. What does Zinsser think about writing memoirs?

5. What advice does Zinsser give to employees who want to change business writing?

(see the answer keys)

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