WGU D269 Composition Writing with a Strategy: Practice Test
2 (Units 8-13) - Questions with Correct Answers
100 questions
1. Popular sources such as magazines are written for:
A. Specialist researchers only
B. Peer reviewers
C. Courts
D. General audiences
Correct Answer: D. General audiences
Rationale: Accessibility.
2. Lateral reading means:
A. Reading only the article itself
B. Reading sideways
C. Skimming headings
D. Checking what other sources say about a website or author
Correct Answer: D. Checking what other sources say about a website or author
Rationale: Fact-checking strategy.
3. Boolean operator AND in a database search:
A. Broadens results
B. Excludes terms
C. Searches exact phrases
D. Narrows results to sources containing all terms
Correct Answer: D. Narrows results to sources containing all terms
Rationale: Narrowing.
4. Search engine results ranked first are:
A. Always the most credible
B. Peer-reviewed
C. Government approved
D. Not necessarily the most credible
Correct Answer: D. Not necessarily the most credible
Rationale: Ranking vs credibility.
5. A tertiary source, such as an encyclopedia:
A. Presents original experiments
B. Is a personal letter
C. Is a court transcript
D. Summarizes and compiles information from other sources
Correct Answer: D. Summarizes and compiles information from other sources
Rationale: Overview.
6. Purpose in source evaluation asks whether:
A. The source aims to inform, persuade, sell or entertain, and whether it is biased
B. It has a table of contents
C. It is in English
D. It has an index
Correct Answer: A. The source aims to inform, persuade, sell or entertain, and whether it is
biased
Rationale: Intent and bias.
,7. Interviews and surveys conducted by the writer are:
A. Primary research
B. Secondary research
C. Tertiary sources
D. Plagiarism
Correct Answer: A. Primary research
Rationale: Original data.
8. Triangulating sources means:
A. Using one source three times
B. Confirming information with multiple independent sources
C. Using triangles
D. Citing only one author
Correct Answer: B. Confirming information with multiple independent sources
Rationale: Verification.
9. Authority in source evaluation asks:
A. How long the source is
B. Who the author or publisher is and their qualifications
C. Whether it has pictures
D. Whether it is free
Correct Answer: B. Who the author or publisher is and their qualifications
Rationale: Credentials.
10. Sponsored content online:
A. Is peer-reviewed
B. Is always neutral
C. Is a government source
D. Is paid advertising and may be biased
Correct Answer: D. Is paid advertising and may be biased
Rationale: Purpose.
11. A source that includes a clear author, date, publisher and references is generally:
A. Less credible
B. Fictional
C. Plagiarized
D. More transparent and easier to evaluate
Correct Answer: D. More transparent and easier to evaluate
Rationale: Transparency.
12. A .com website should be evaluated carefully because:
A. It is always false
B. It is always peer-reviewed
C. It is government-run
D. It may be commercial and have a persuasive or selling purpose
Correct Answer: D. It may be commercial and have a persuasive or selling purpose
Rationale: Purpose check.
, 13. Informed consent is required in primary research involving people because:
A. It is a formatting rule
B. It increases word count
C. It is optional always
D. Participants must understand and agree to participate
Correct Answer: D. Participants must understand and agree to participate
Rationale: Ethics.
14. A researcher finds a blog post claiming a miracle cure with no citations. The best response
is to:
A. Treat it as unreliable unless verified by credible sources
B. Cite it as fact
C. Share it
D. Use it as the main evidence
Correct Answer: A. Treat it as unreliable unless verified by credible sources
Rationale: Skepticism.
15. A source's DOI (Digital Object Identifier) is:
A. A page number
B. A permanent identifier for locating scholarly works
C. An author's ID
D. A publication date
Correct Answer: B. A permanent identifier for locating scholarly works
Rationale: Persistent link.
16. Qualitative research uses:
A. Only statistics
B. Only experiments
C. Only surveys with numbers
D. Non-numerical data such as interviews and observations
Correct Answer: D. Non-numerical data such as interviews and observations
Rationale: Descriptions.
17. A preprint is:
A. A peer-reviewed article
B. A textbook
C. A research paper shared before formal peer review
D. A news story
Correct Answer: C. A research paper shared before formal peer review
Rationale: Not yet reviewed.
18. When paraphrasing, the writer should:
A. Read the passage, set it aside, write it in their own words and then check accuracy
B. Use a thesaurus to swap words
C. Keep the original sentence structure
D. Omit the citation
Correct Answer: A. Read the passage, set it aside, write it in their own words and then check
accuracy
Rationale: Effective method.
2 (Units 8-13) - Questions with Correct Answers
100 questions
1. Popular sources such as magazines are written for:
A. Specialist researchers only
B. Peer reviewers
C. Courts
D. General audiences
Correct Answer: D. General audiences
Rationale: Accessibility.
2. Lateral reading means:
A. Reading only the article itself
B. Reading sideways
C. Skimming headings
D. Checking what other sources say about a website or author
Correct Answer: D. Checking what other sources say about a website or author
Rationale: Fact-checking strategy.
3. Boolean operator AND in a database search:
A. Broadens results
B. Excludes terms
C. Searches exact phrases
D. Narrows results to sources containing all terms
Correct Answer: D. Narrows results to sources containing all terms
Rationale: Narrowing.
4. Search engine results ranked first are:
A. Always the most credible
B. Peer-reviewed
C. Government approved
D. Not necessarily the most credible
Correct Answer: D. Not necessarily the most credible
Rationale: Ranking vs credibility.
5. A tertiary source, such as an encyclopedia:
A. Presents original experiments
B. Is a personal letter
C. Is a court transcript
D. Summarizes and compiles information from other sources
Correct Answer: D. Summarizes and compiles information from other sources
Rationale: Overview.
6. Purpose in source evaluation asks whether:
A. The source aims to inform, persuade, sell or entertain, and whether it is biased
B. It has a table of contents
C. It is in English
D. It has an index
Correct Answer: A. The source aims to inform, persuade, sell or entertain, and whether it is
biased
Rationale: Intent and bias.
,7. Interviews and surveys conducted by the writer are:
A. Primary research
B. Secondary research
C. Tertiary sources
D. Plagiarism
Correct Answer: A. Primary research
Rationale: Original data.
8. Triangulating sources means:
A. Using one source three times
B. Confirming information with multiple independent sources
C. Using triangles
D. Citing only one author
Correct Answer: B. Confirming information with multiple independent sources
Rationale: Verification.
9. Authority in source evaluation asks:
A. How long the source is
B. Who the author or publisher is and their qualifications
C. Whether it has pictures
D. Whether it is free
Correct Answer: B. Who the author or publisher is and their qualifications
Rationale: Credentials.
10. Sponsored content online:
A. Is peer-reviewed
B. Is always neutral
C. Is a government source
D. Is paid advertising and may be biased
Correct Answer: D. Is paid advertising and may be biased
Rationale: Purpose.
11. A source that includes a clear author, date, publisher and references is generally:
A. Less credible
B. Fictional
C. Plagiarized
D. More transparent and easier to evaluate
Correct Answer: D. More transparent and easier to evaluate
Rationale: Transparency.
12. A .com website should be evaluated carefully because:
A. It is always false
B. It is always peer-reviewed
C. It is government-run
D. It may be commercial and have a persuasive or selling purpose
Correct Answer: D. It may be commercial and have a persuasive or selling purpose
Rationale: Purpose check.
, 13. Informed consent is required in primary research involving people because:
A. It is a formatting rule
B. It increases word count
C. It is optional always
D. Participants must understand and agree to participate
Correct Answer: D. Participants must understand and agree to participate
Rationale: Ethics.
14. A researcher finds a blog post claiming a miracle cure with no citations. The best response
is to:
A. Treat it as unreliable unless verified by credible sources
B. Cite it as fact
C. Share it
D. Use it as the main evidence
Correct Answer: A. Treat it as unreliable unless verified by credible sources
Rationale: Skepticism.
15. A source's DOI (Digital Object Identifier) is:
A. A page number
B. A permanent identifier for locating scholarly works
C. An author's ID
D. A publication date
Correct Answer: B. A permanent identifier for locating scholarly works
Rationale: Persistent link.
16. Qualitative research uses:
A. Only statistics
B. Only experiments
C. Only surveys with numbers
D. Non-numerical data such as interviews and observations
Correct Answer: D. Non-numerical data such as interviews and observations
Rationale: Descriptions.
17. A preprint is:
A. A peer-reviewed article
B. A textbook
C. A research paper shared before formal peer review
D. A news story
Correct Answer: C. A research paper shared before formal peer review
Rationale: Not yet reviewed.
18. When paraphrasing, the writer should:
A. Read the passage, set it aside, write it in their own words and then check accuracy
B. Use a thesaurus to swap words
C. Keep the original sentence structure
D. Omit the citation
Correct Answer: A. Read the passage, set it aside, write it in their own words and then check
accuracy
Rationale: Effective method.
