Help:Introduction to the Manual of Style/Manual of Style quiz

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Can you spot the error in these passages?

Many athletes have recently started using the new training regime despite concerns from researchers about its effectiveness.

Solution

Avoid statements likely to become outdated like recently. Instead, use a construction like In 2024, many athletes started using the new training regime.

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Herbal teas are not made from the leaves of the tea plant, Camellia sinensis. Therefore, they are not technically teas, they are tisanes.

Solution

This passage includes a comma splice, an instance where a comma joins two independent clauses. It could be fixed by changing the last comma to a semicolon: Therefore, they are not technically teas; they are tisanes.

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When the centre was established, its official colors were green and gold. Three years later, the trustees, supported by President Wales, voted to change them to blue and white.

Solution

This passage mixes varieties of English: "centre" is spelled using British English, but "colors" is American English. This could be resolved either by changing centre to center or by changing colors to colours.

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The time from exposure to onset of symptoms is typically less than a week but may range from 2 to 9 days.

Solution

This passage incorrectly uses numerals. 2 and 9 should be written out as two and nine instead.

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In spring, American Black Bears emerge from hibernation having lost around a third of their body weight. Their metabolic rate remains at a reduced level for up to 21 days afterwards.

Solution

This passage features incorrect capitalization. It's American black bear, not American Black Bear.

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Samuel Clemens (November 30, 1835 - April 21, 1910), better known as Mark Twain, was famous for his wit. He once wrote to a journalist that “the report of my death was an exaggeration.”

Solution

There are two subtle punctuation errors here. First, the dates should be joined by an en-dash (–), not a hyphen (-). Second, the quote should use straight quote marks ("..."), not curved ones (“...”).

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Centrifugal force can cause the vestibular system to give you a false sense of which way is down.

Solution

This passage uses you inappropriately. It could be fixed by switching to give one a false sense.

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