15. Which of the following is a sentence
fragment?
A. Jonathan waited.
B. Jonathan waited for the taxi.
C. Jonathan waited for the taxi all
morning.
D. None of the above.
16. Which of the following sentences is
correct?
A. It’s time for the company to up-
date it’s privacy policy.
B. It’s time for the company to up-
date its privacy policy.
C. Its time for the company to up-
date its privacy policy.
17. Which of the following sentences is
correct?
A. Luke and my wedding was the
best day of my life.
B. Mine and Luke’s wedding was the
best day of my life.
C. Luke’s and my wedding was the
best day of my life.
D. None of the above.
www.vtbar.org
18. Which of the following sentences is
correct?
A. The Judge’s written opinion im-
plied that she did not believe De-
fendant’s testimony about the ac-
cident.
B. The Judge’s written opinion in-
ferred that she did not believe
Defendant’s testimony about the
accident.
19. Which of the following sentences is
correct?
A. It’s hard to say how the price of
gasoline will affect the economy
in the long run.
B. It’s hard to say how the price of
gasoline will effect the economy
in the long run.
20. What is the main problem with the
sentence below?
A knowledge of correct trial proce-
dure is the duty of all of the members
of the bar of this state.
A. Abstract subject.
B. Passive voice.
C. Too many prepositions.
D. Too many nominalizations.
E. Nothing – it’s perfect!
THE VERMONT BAR JOURNAL • WINTER 2016-17
Answers
1. C
2. E
3. A , but C under the minority view.
4. E
5. B
6. B
7. A and then C.
8. A
9. D
10. B
11. A
12. B
13. C or B, if you liked Professor John-
son’s article in the Fall Vermont
Bar Journal.
14. B
15. D
16. B
17. C
18. A
19. A
20. A
A. I earned my Juris Doctorate from
Boston University School of Law.
B. I earned my Juris Doctor from
Boston University School of Law.
C. Both are correct
Explanations
1 & 2. Most lawyers know to prefer the ac-
tive voice to the passive voice. The
active voice is more direct, forceful
and vigorous than the passive voice
and better reflects the way read-
ers expect things to happen. With
the active voice, the actor does the
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