Suggestion Box

There is still the problem of who would be responsible for making sure that the "correct" answer is actually correct, and who would handle disputes over what the correct answer is. Referring to a style guide, which was suggested earlier as a solution, does not preclude varying opinions about which rule in that style guide is the correct one to apply.

Creating appropriate examples and appropriate test questions is very difficult.

In the given examples --

#1 is an example of a single independent clause, not a dependent clause.
#2 is an example of compound or conjoined independent clauses, not an independent clause.
          E could also be correct. When the independent clauses are closely related and very short, using a comma is optional.
#3 example is missing altogether.
The correct answer for #4 is "D or E," not "C and D." There is insufficient information about the context to determine the correct answer any closer than that: the correct answer might be D, or it might be E, or both D and E might be options.
#6 has three correctly punctuated answers, not one:
          E is correctly punctuated for situations where the appositive is nonrestrictive.
          A is correctly punctuated for situations where the appositive is restrictive -- there is more than one Sam in the group of people being referred to.
          #6 illustrates the problem English has with ambiguity: B is also a correctly punctuated sentence - it uses Sam as a noun of address and who (with the sense of whoever) as the subject, and it has the sense of explaining an assignment of duties to a particular person.


I also think examples teach better when there is more everyday logic to the content than can be provided by randomly filling blanks from a preset list.

The example sentence in #5 reads as an incomplete thought to me, as if there were an understood that in front of Sam and the main clause was yet to come. Adverbs can be put in various places in a sentence, but often the meaning will change, or there will be a structural reason to use a particular position.


In my opinion, this type of educational project would be a better fit as a quiz (with a quiz bank) in a member's port, where the expectation of accuracy is not so burdensome and the item owner is the designated referee/authority/maintainer, or done as member-generated bots as SM suggested in "Re: Grammar Bot Idea"  .

Trying to create appropriate examples and/or test questions, while difficult, is a good writing exercise. A group activity to create a quiz bank is something people of many ability levels could participate in.





Best,

Northernwrites___

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