Our Lord’s Grace Montessori School and Colleges

Commonwealth Avenue, Diliman, Quezon City

PUBLICATION AND EDITING (COMM 14)

MIDTERM EXAMINATION
February 12, 2004
9:30-12:30

Name: _________________________________________________________________

I. Euphemisms and Verbs

A. Euphemisms (10 pts)

1. List the real meanings of these euphemisms:

a. Impoverished ___________________________________
b. Sanitary Landfill ___________________________________
c. Distorts the Truth ___________________________________
d. Eccentric ___________________________________
e. Detention Facility ___________________________________

2. List five euphemisms for each of these words:

a. Toilet ___________________________________
b. Drunk ___________________________________
c. Lie ___________________________________
d. Steal ___________________________________
e. Mistake ___________________________________

B. Verbs

3. List five stronger more colorful and more descriptive verbs that could be used in each of the ff.
sentences. (20 pts)

a. The newspaper will be made weekly. _________________________________________

b. The committee has had several meetings. _____________________________________
c. A study is being done. _____________________________________________________
d. Students made the lowest scores in mathematics. _______________________________
e. The center has the following services: testing, counseling and job placement.
__________________________
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4. Improve the verbs in the following sentences.

a. The fire did P1.5 million worth of damage. ______________________________________

b. The research has been done by Filipino scientists. _______________________________
c. The oil paintings were done by Malang. ________________________________________
d. A 67-year-old woman had P100,000 swindled from her by two men. __________________
e. He encourages premedical students to do volunteer work for social agencies.
_____________________________________

II. Improving sentences. Rewrite the following sentences, correcting all the errors and problems they
contain. Some sentences contain more than one error or problem. (20 pts)

1. Simplifying.

a. The license fees are renewed on an annual basis.

________________________________________________________________________
b. He said it is the responsibility of public television to make its programs of benefit to the
viewing public. ____________________________________________________________

2. Avoiding slang and cliches.

a. The club president said he plans to call it quits.

________________________________________________________________________
b. Charges leveled by police indicated that he was dealing in drugs.
________________________________________________________________________

3. Avoiding faculty wording.

a. Smaller grocery stores usually know their customers.

________________________________________________________________________
b. Minutes after the man left the bar, he collided with another car.
________________________________________________________________________

4. Defining and explaining

a. Suzanne Mathis suffered a broken femur.

________________________________________________________________________
b. Rape is a first-degree felony if the victim is unconscious.
________________________________________________________________________

5. Avoiding the Negative

a. The restaurant was not far away.

________________________________________________________________________
b. There was no injury to the driver of the bus.
________________________________________________________________________
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III. News Writing. Write a complete news story on the Police Response Time (see attached paper). As you
write the story, present both sides of each controversy as fully and as fairly as possible. Write also a
headline for the story. Place your answers at the back of this page. (10 pts)

IV. Leads. Critically evaluate the following leads. (20 pts)

A. News. Explain why it is a good or bad lead. If it is a bad lead, change the lead.

1. Six automobiles were broken into Friday at the Pan Pacific Hotel, Malate, Manila, and property
valued at more than P250,000 was stolen. ____________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
2. Two persons remain hospitalized after a collision on South Superhighway at 2:30 a.m. Thursday.
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
3. The results of a P500,000 study about policies the city might adopt to lower its utility bills were
revealed today. __________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
4. Ramon Magsaysay High School is the only school in the city that has a school-community liaison
counselor. ______________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
5. A school bus carrying 46 students to an elementary school in the city was involved in a collision on
Roxas Boulevard at 8:10 a.m. today.

B. Feature. Decide which topics are most interesting and which leads are most effective. If lead is
bad, change the lead.

1. Pancho is a short, dark-skinned, curly-haired 20-year-old with flashing black eyes, a bouncing step
and a Spanish accent. ____________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
2. “It must be the most peculiar house in the city,” said Katie Villacruz. ________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
3. In the past few months a new service has become available in this area. That service is cable
television. ______________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
4. The student governments at universities in the region are having problems. __________________
______________________________________________________________________________
5. Bert turned to Anne and said coolly, “I’m terribly sorry, dear.”
Anne was calm and resigned herself to fate, as is often the case when death appears inevitable.
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________

V. Writing Lead. You can write your leads at the back of this page. (10 pts)

1. Refer to “Local Historian.” (see attached paper) Write a “who” lead.

2. Refer to “Drug-Alcohol Policy” (see attached paper) Write a “why” lead.
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