Which of the following sentences follows the rules of punctuation and capitalization?

Correct Answer: D

Rationale: The sentence follows the rules of punctuation and capitalization for dialogue.

Correct Answer: C

Rationale: The correct answer is C: 'The upholstered couch and rocking chair we bought together look great in the living room.' This sentence has correct subject-verb agreement with a compound subject. 'The crowd standing outside the club are getting restless' (Choice A) has incorrect agreement as 'crowd' is singular and should be paired with 'is'. 'Most of the cookies we left out on the counter was eaten by the dog' (Choice B) has incorrect agreement as 'cookies' is plural and should be paired with 'were'. 'Ricotta cheese and pesto tastes great on pizza' (Choice D) has incorrect agreement as 'cheese' and 'pesto' form a compound subject that is plural and should be paired with 'taste'.

Correct Answer: C

Rationale: The correct answer is choice C: "I'm tired," she said. Direct speech involves quoting the exact words spoken by someone, typically indicated by quotation marks. In this sentence, the speaker's words are directly quoted within quotation marks, making it an example of direct speech. Choices A, B, and D do not directly quote the speaker's words within quotation marks, making them indirect speech examples.

Correct Answer: D

Rationale: Choice D correctly uses quotation marks to indicate the specific phrase 'the storm of a century.' In this sentence, the indirect quote is highlighted within the quotation marks. Choices A, B, and C do not correctly use quotation marks with an indirect quote. Choice A incorrectly places a comma inside the quotation marks, which should be outside. Choice B does not have any quotation marks around the indirect quote. Choice C uses double quotation marks unnecessarily around the indirect quote.

Correct Answer: B

Rationale: The correct answer is B: 'It wastes effort.' Editing while writing the first draft can be counterproductive as it interrupts the flow of ideas and slows down the writing process. Instead of focusing on perfecting each sentence or paragraph, it is more beneficial to get all ideas down first during the initial drafting phase. Choice A is incorrect as editing is not part of the prewriting stage. Choice C is incorrect because editing may affect the quality of judgment but is not the primary reason to avoid it during the first draft. Choice D is incorrect because changes in organization can be made during the revision stage, not necessarily while writing the initial draft.