Deck 36: Parallelism

Question 1

What is parallelism?

A) Parallelism is keeping all of your sentences the same length.
B) Parallelism is making sure your margins are justified.
C) Parallelism is keeping items in a series in the same grammatical form.
D) Parallelism is having your essay proofread by two different people.

Answer 1

Parallelism is keeping items in a series in the same grammatical form.

Question 2

Why should you use parallelism in your writing?

A) Parallelism makes your essay balanced.
B) Parallelism lines up all of your ideas.
C) Parallelism makes your writing more interesting and clear.
D) Parallelism ensures that you don't have grammatical errors.

Answer 2

Parallelism makes your writing more interesting and clear.

Question 3

Which one of the following sentences has a problem with parallelism?

A) Today's news reported on the weather, the stock exchange, and the campaign.
B) Don't run around the pool, eat in the pool, or swim during a storm.
C) We went to the beach to relax, swim, and are planning to eat out a lot.
D) Reading, writing, and arithmetic make up the main curriculum.

Answer 3

We went to the beach to relax, swim, and are planning to eat out a lot.

Question 4

Which one of the following sentences has a problem with parallelism?

A) If you like to read a good book, to dance the night away, and gourmet food, then call me.
B) We like to buy furniture that has a history behind it and that looks old.
C) She started working long hours and sleeping less.
D) When I fell out of the tree, I broke my little toe, skinned my knee, and bumped my head.

Question 5

Which one of the following sentences has a problem with parallelism?

A) The ball crashed through the window, bounced off the lamp, and rolled down the hall.
B) Tara wants a new outfit that doesn't cost too much, that can be purchased at the mall, and that will go with other outfits in her closet.
C) If you eat right, drink plenty of water, and are avoiding drugs and alcohol, you should be healthy.
D) We hung Chinese lanterns and erected tents for the party.

Question 6

Which one of the following sentences has a problem with parallelism?

A) Simone decided to buy a new car because her old car needed a lot of work and
Because new cars were easy to finance.
B) Where did I put my keys, wallet, and passport?
C) Isadora takes in stray cats, dogs, and birds.
D) You should open a savings account and thought about investments.

Question 7

Choose the word or phrase that would best complete the following sentence.
Read the paragraph, highlight key ideas, and _______________ notes in the margins.

A) make
B) be making
C) made
D) will make

Question 8

Choose the word that would best complete the following sentence.
This ice cream is smooth, cool, and _______________.

A) refreshment
B) refreshing
C) refreshed
D) refresh

Question 9

Choose the word or phrase that would best complete the following sentence.
We made it over the obstacle course, _______________ the swamps, and around the enemy campsite without detection.

A) wading
B) swimming
C) running
D) through

Question 10

Choose the word or phrase that would best complete the following sentence.
A treasure awaits you if you can unlock the secret of the riddle, find the map, and _______________ the key.

A) wins
B) win
C) winning
D) won

Question 11

What is parallelism?

Question 12

Underline the parallel structures in the following sentence.
Alyssa wrote a poem, submitted it to a magazine, and got published.

Question 13

Underline the parallel structures in the following sentence.
I think it's time we packed our bags, called a taxi, and went home.

Question 14

Identify the errors in the parallel structure of the following sentence.
A fear of public speaking, being afraid of spiders, and a fear of high places are all common phobias.

Question 15

Rewrite the sentence in Question 4 to correct the parallel structure.

Question 16

Underline the errors in parallelism in the following paragraph. Then correct them by rewriting the paragraph.

-hate going to the dentist more than I hate spiders, snakes, and watching scary movies on the television. When I get to the dentist's office, I text on my cell phone, balance my checkbook, or do crossword puzzles-anything to distract my mind. The dentist always tells me to sit back, breathe deeply, and trying to relax. That's easy for her to say since she's not the one in the chair and since she will be the person in charge. I can feel my heart racing, my palms get sweaty, and my muscles clenching whenever the drill starts to buzz. I'm usually so exhausted by the time I get out of the dentist's office that I have to go home, unplug the phone, and soak in the tub for at least an hour.