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

Multiple Choice Questions

1. Why doesn't Zinsser teach people how to get published?
(a) He does not want any competition.
(b) Because he doesn't know how to get people published.
(c) Because he doesn't really know what editors want.
(d) He wants people to learn that themselves as part of a growing experience.

2. Writers should always look for ________________.
(a) The unique aspects of a place.
(b) Things that relate places to another.
(c) Making places more accessible to other people.
(d) People to tell them about a place so they don't have to actually go anywhere.

3. Should a writer use different voices for different types of writing?
(a) No, a reader should always stick to his or her voice. No matter what.
(b) No, a writer cannot use the same voice when writing about politics and jazz.
(c) No, it will make it seem like the writer has a personality disorder.
(d) Yes. Different situations call for different voices and types of writing.

4. What do sports writers forget to do when writing about sports for so long?
(a) They get into the lives of their athletes in too much depth.
(b) They forget to research the athletes personal lives.
(c) They use too many stats and not enough writing.
(d) They forget who their readers are and what they are writing about.

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

6. What is a major problem of business writing?
(a) Using jargon that only other business people can understand.
(b) Using graphs and not labeling them.
(c) Not using proper wording to appeal to the business world.
(d) Using long sentences.

7. What is the best way to add humor into writing?
(a) Adding asterisks to funny lines.
(b) Making seperate paragraphs that only have the funny line in them.
(c) Making all funny lines italicized.
(d) Making a funny sentence sneak up on a reader to get an unexpected laugh.

8. What did his parents teach him that made him a fantastic writer?
(a) His mother instilled in him a love and respect for good writing, and his father taught him to have a strong work ethic.
(b) His mother taught him to spell, and his father taught him to write.
(c) HIs father took him to a field trip to a newspaper office.
(d) His mother was a writer and went to career day at his school.

9. Why do structured classes miss the point of teaching good writing?
(a) They focus more on the writing process than the final product.
(b) They focus more on talent and less on grades.
(c) They focus more on the final product than the writing process.
(d) They focus less on talent and more on getting good grades.

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

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

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

13. What did he love about the New York Herald?
(a) The style which incorporated warmth, humor and the master of the English language.
(b) He loved that it always came to his doorstep as a child.
(c) He loved how opinionated all the columnists were.
(d) He appreciated the fair and balanced reporting.

14. Do writers need to write all the time?
(a) Yes, even if they have to force it out.
(b) Yes, because writers are always able to write.
(c) No, if they are not in the mood, it will come out in their writing.
(d) No, writers should only write when they are in the zone.

15. His article was supposed to be about his impressions of salt caravans, why didn't he write more about this?
(a) Salt caravans are general knowledge and he didn't want to sound cliche.
(b) He never saw the salt caravans, and this was the humor in his article.
(c) He was bored with the caravans, and would have bored his readers since he cannot fake his voice.
(d) He wasn't paying attention to the salt caravans.

Short Answer Questions

1. What type of memoirs does Zinsser like reading?

2. What is a memoir?

3. What is a second approach Zinsser recommends that complements the first approach mentioned?

4. How are writers like painters?

5. What happens when writers do not stick to proper grammar rules?

(see the answer keys)

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