Read the paragraph from an e-mail. (1) The torrential rain that postponed the festival has finally ceased, but it left a trail of disaster. (2) Rescheduling the annual Pickle Palooza is going to be a huge undertaking. (3) The ceremonial pickle podium floated off during the downpour and hasn’t been seen since. (4) A flock of ducks have taken up residence on it and have been chasing off anyone who comes near them. (5) And, there is a puddle the size of a small lake where the festival field was.

What is the best way to reorganize the paragraph to make the writer’s viewpoint clear to the reader?

1, 3, 4, 2, 5
2, 1, 3, 5, 4
3, 1, 2, 4, 5
4, 5, 1, 2, 3

Which of the following is best written: 1. my favorite day of the year is july 24 my birthday 2. my favorite day, of the year, is july 24 my birthday 3. my favorite day of the year is july 24-my birthday 4. my favorite day of the year is (july 24) my birthday

[he] let his gaze wander to the swirling water of the stream racing madly beneath his feet. a piece of dancing driftwood caught his attention and his eyes followed it down the current. how slowly it appeared to move! what a sluggish stream! what contrasting words are used to describe the stream in this passage?

Which line in this excerpt from the great gatsby by f. scott fitzgerald contains a simile? about half way between west egg and new york the motor-road hastily joins the railroad and runs beside it for a quarter of a mile, so as to shrink away from a certain desolate area of land. this is a valley of ashes—a fantastic farm where ashes grow like wheat into ridges and hills and grotesque gardens where ashes take the forms of houses and chimneys and rising smoke and finally, with a transcendent effort, of men who move dimly and already crumbling through the powdery air. occasionally a line of grey cars crawls along an invisible track, gives out a ghastly creak and comes to rest, and immediately the ash-grey men swarm up with leaden spades and stir up an impenetrable cloud which screens their obscure operations from your sight.