JumpStart – Language & Critical Thinking Skills Check

I wish you _____  making that noise. It’s bothering me.

Which sentence below is correct?

A company’s profits increased significantly after it implemented a new advertising campaign. Therefore, the advertising campaign caused the increase in profits. Is this a valid conclusion? 

Choose the most correct sentence to use.

Which of the below sentences is not correct?

Please replace the underlined text with the best choice.

These books, which was published in the late eighteenth century, are very valuable.

Had I known the contractor was going to take a week to show up, I _____  what I needed and done the work myself. It would have been finished by now.

Many people who live near nuclear plants are concerned.  _____  go wrong, the effect on the surrounding area could be disastrous.

Passage: 

“The Strange Case Of Dr. Jekyll And Mr. Hyde”, by Robert Louis Stevenson 

As soon as he got home, Utterson sat down and wrote to Jekyll, 

complaining of his exclusion from the house, and asking the cause of 

this unhappy break with Lanyon; and the next day brought him a long 

answer, often very pathetically worded, and sometimes darkly mysterious 

in drift. The quarrel with Lanyon was incurable. “I do not blame our 

old friend,” Jekyll wrote, “but I share his view that we must never 

meet. I mean from henceforth to lead a life of extreme seclusion; you 

must not be surprised, nor must you doubt my friendship, if my door is 

often shut even to you. You must suffer me to go my own dark way. I 

have brought on myself a punishment and a danger that I cannot name. If 

I am the chief of sinners, I am the chief of sufferers also. I could 

not think that this earth contained a place for sufferings and terrors 

so unmanning; and you can do but one thing, Utterson, to lighten this 

destiny, and that is to respect my silence.” Utterson was amazed; the 

dark influence of Hyde had been withdrawn, the doctor had returned to 

his old tasks and amities; a week ago, the prospect had smiled with 

every promise of a cheerful and an honoured age; and now in a moment, 

friendship, and peace of mind, and the whole tenor of his life were 

wrecked. So great and unprepared a change pointed to madness; but in 

view of Lanyon’s manner and words, there must lie for it some deeper 

ground. 

What does Jekyll mean by saying “You must suffer me to go my own dark way” in his letter to Utterson? 

“How utterly farcical. How Impossible!” What sentence below cannot be used in place of these sentences?

We have rewritten the following sentence omitting “you.”
In a large city, you may have massive traffic jams on your daily commute to work.

Please choose the correct sentence.

Which word is not a synonym for superfluous?

Please rewrite the following sentence with the best choice.

After the hikers were at the bottom of the canyon, and they discovered a ghost town.

After the hikers were…

“Can I borrow your car for this evening?” “Yes, but Mom’s using it right now. If she _____ it back in time, you’re welcome to borrow it.”

Which sentence below is correct?

“The War of the Worlds”, by H. G. Wells 

Every moment I expected the fire of some hidden battery to spring upon 

him; but the evening calm was unbroken. The figure of the Martian grew 

smaller as he receded, and presently the mist and the gathering night 

had swallowed him up. By a common impulse we clambered higher. Towards 

Sunbury was a dark appearance, as though a conical hill had suddenly 

come into being there, hiding our view of the farther country; and 

then, remoter across the river, over Walton, we saw another such 

summit. These hill-like forms grew lower and broader even as we stared. 

What did the narrator and the others see in the distance while watching the Martian? 

Bonnie and Clyde were famous criminals known for their daring and ruthlessness. Which choice below is best to replace the italicized word?

Please replace the underlined text with the best choice.
My business partner is a man that has a seven hundred-acre ranch near the foothills outside of town.

Read the following excerpt and answer the question(s) below

Excerpt from NIST Framework for Improving Critical Infrastructure Cybersecurity

“Privacy and cybersecurity have a strong connection. An organization’s cybersecurity activities also can create risks to privacy and civil liberties when personal information is used, collected, processed, maintained, or disclosed. Some examples include: cybersecurity activities that result in the over-collection or over-retention of personal information; disclosure or use of personal information unrelated to cybersecurity activities; and cybersecurity mitigation activities that result in denial of service or other similar potentially adverse impacts, including some types of incident detection or monitoring that may inhibit freedom of expression or association.

The government and its agents have a responsibility to protect civil liberties arising from cybersecurity activities. As referenced in the methodology below, government or its agents that own or operate critical infrastructure should have a process in place to support compliance of cybersecurity activities with applicable privacy laws, regulations, and Constitutional requirements.”

According to the author, who has a responsibility to protect civil liberties arising from cybersecurity activities?

Read the following excerpt and answer the question(s) below

Excerpt from NIST Framework for Improving Critical Infrastructure Cybersecurity

“The development of cybersecurity performance metrics is evolving. Organizations should be thoughtful, creative, and careful about the ways in which they employ measurements to optimize use, while avoiding reliance on artificial indicators of current state and progress in improving cybersecurity risk management. Judging cyber risk requires discipline and should be revisited periodically. Any time measurements are employed as part of the Framework process, organizations are encouraged to clearly identify and know why these measurements are important and how they will contribute to the overall management of cybersecurity risk. They also should be clear about the limitations of measurements that are used.

For example, tracking security measures and business outcomes may provide meaningful insight as to how changes in granular security controls affect the completion of organizational objectives. Verifying achievement of some organizational objectives requires analyzing the data only after that objective was to have been achieved. This type of lagging measure is more absolute. However, it is often more valuable to predict whether a cybersecurity risk may occur, and the impact it might have, using a leading measure.”

In paragraph 2, the author states “This type of lagging measure is more absolute” What does ‘lagging’ mean in this context?