Exercise in Compound Nouns and Modifiers

Each space in the paragraph below is preceded by an "opportunity for error" (in blue bold font) in the formation of compounds. If the compound structure is correct, write a C in the space; if it is incorrect, write an I. When you're finished, click on the "submit application" at the bottom of the page and the computer will check your answers.

UNHAPPY IN NEW YORK
Two and a half years ago, my fifty-two year-old brother-in-law , a highly-respected (and, might I add, well paid ) vice president of a bank, moved to the forty-third floor of a high-rise apartment building in New York City. The building was brand-new and still about three-quarters empty. For us, this was unheard of luxury, and I remember standing in my in-laws' living-room , looking out at all those sky-scrapers and down on Central Park under a full-moon in a coal-black sky, and thinking, "This is it! This is the best the twentieth-century has to offer!"

But my sister's-in-law reaction was not a happy one. We should've known all-along that our little understood and long-suffering relative would not be overly happy in that over-populated environment. In fact, her resistance to living there was greater than expected . In a matter-of-fact moment, and in her usual self-confident and thought provoking way, she said, "When I'm fifty five years of age , I'll be out of here."

And she was nearly-right , too, for a year-and-a-half later, they'd left behind the rat-race pace and helter skelter lifestyle of Manhattan's upper-west-side and moved back to their much-loved and happily familiar suburban hide-away in upstate-New-York , northeast of Albany.

Please note: the computer's responses for this quiz are based on the author's understanding of material in The Chicago Manual of Style and other resources. Conventions for the creation and spelling of compound words vary over time and from authority to authority, however, and students may have good reasons for writing a compound in a different way. If you've missed more than a couple of the compound structures above, you might consider reviewing our section on Compound Words or consulting the The Chicago Manual of Style for a full review. If you'd like to see these paragraphs with the computer's responses filled in, click on the Answer Sheet. DO NOT CLICK on this, however, until you've filled in all the spaces and submitted the application so the computer can check your answers.

Compounds

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