Grammar Test B
(Botany Edition)
1. Many species of cactus whose spikes
are distant relatives of the thumbtack serve as excellent accessories for an
instructor's chair.[Note: assume all species have spikes]
2. Visited by pollinating insects over
the course of its life, the head of the student who refused to drop finally
dried out, fell to the ground and spilled it's seeds on the ground.
3. Her efforts to defend the rare dune
tansy earned her the gold veitch Medal, the highest award given to a non-British
citizen by the Royal Horticultural Society.
4. Subsequent observations of neviusia
cliftonii in the Lake Shasta area surprisingly have revealed the shrub to be
a huge fan of pianist Bill Evans and Ravi Shankar's ragas.
5. Two populations that were found on
Limestone substrates have been trained to accept a cluttered closet as an excellent
place for it to flourish.
6. Daddy got drunk and fell face first
into a vernal pool where he choked on a clump of spring wildflowers that were
so brilliant they must have been praising allah.
7. Awaiting the next winter rains, September
finds the vernal pools dry and nervous about continued suburban sprawl.
8. Large dense clumps of pampas grass
along the American River resemble shoppers at a strip mall queueing up for the
release of "Action Jackson: The Sequel" at Blockbuster; in addition
the grass irritates many citizens as they pass by on their way to Target to
purchase the movie's action figures.
9. The Dancing Usher Guy uses a compound
derived from jimsonweed to make him jittery and because it is illegal, he must
carry a whizzinator with him through the airports of major American cities to
beat any random drug tests he may be given.
10. Flashing its silky petals, and
laughing at itself has always been a favorite ploy of the Tiburon jewel-flower
to garner attention that maybe undeserved.
11. The naive co-ed suspected her lover
had fashioned his foreskin from a grape skin, even though Lim Phang, a west
Sacramento babe magnet, claimed he was all man.
12. At 7.30 he was scheduled to dance
to the electronica version of "Cotton-Eyed Joe" with The Dancing Usher
Guy, while he wore three bright green stems of licorice plant that stuck out
from the airholes in his River Cats ball cap.
13. The unprepared hiker felt a natural
urge come on while he was in the midst of a patch of Taiwan raspberry so he
had no other choice but to march onward unwiped.
14. Those conservation watchdogs who
the Mojave Desert, the Great Basin, and Sierra Nevada thank everytime they hear
their names have renewed their oath to protect the White and Inyo Mountains.
15. A birthday cake whose batter is
made from invasive plants will take along while to digest, but a cupcake made
of frosting died with extract from the ground blossoms of red sesbanias, another
invasive plant, goes down easily.
16.Researchers at UC Davis finally
figured out how the hairy seed pods of the Spanish broom scatter and Sacramento
Weed Warriors, like Tess' cousin, conduct removal of the large pesky stands
of this scourge of a plant.
17. If I were the kind of girl whose
busline regularly got noticed, then the members of nuestra familia on
the outside wouldn't treat me like a carpet of freeway daisies.
18. The liars lay on a mat of wildflowers
like potatos au gratin, but they lied about laying on a rock that was
covered with lichen and the shadows of the wrens.
Change the following passive voice construction into an active voice sentence.
(3 pts. each)
19.The 12-minute time lapse film of
the propagating male and female hemp plants aired by the local Sierra Club was
considered too risque and graphic by many Evangelicals.
20. At the annual plant sale more volunteers
were needed to keep the Brazilian flame bush from tickling the customers and
the desperately morose hummingbirds.
Correct the following faulty parallel construction. (4 pts.)
21. The giant alumroot was satisfied
with its view of the river and the high drama of the garden but could not get
used to its feeling of vulnerability and nakedness from the gaze of the vineyard.
Construct a single sentence from the following shorter sentences that has
a participial phrase subordinated to a main, independent clause. (5 pts.)
22.
a) The hirsute blossom of the passion vine was angered by the criticisms
of the bristlecone pine.
b) The hirsute blossom of the passion vine left the forest on the back of
an old witch.
c) The witch was checking on her patch of sensemilla
d) The witch was going to use the sensemilla as one of the ingredients for
her "flying ointment."
Extra Credit: Construct a single sentence that contains all the following
parts of speech:
1) a dependent clause with an infinitive
2) a participial phrase (after the
main independent clause)
3) a gerund phrase