Shana,

I would select “A,” just as the student has.  Selection “A” preserves the active voice parallelism in the subordinate clause (not always required, but good practice for students who are learning to distinguish verb voices), but sacrifices an important idea (“surprised”) contained in option “B.”  However, the big question in this sentence pivots on the central issue:  Is Rosa’s surprise the central point in this sentence?  IF that is the case, then her “surprise” should be moved from the subordinate position to the main clause.

Tom

Thomas Edson
Professor
Dept. of English, Literature, & Journalism
Mt. San Antonio College
1100 Grand Ave.
Walnut, CA 91789
909.274.4945





On Mar 10, 2015, at 11:46 AM, Beth Young <[log in to unmask]> wrote:

Honestly, I can't see any reason for the student's answer to be marked wrong, or any reason to prefer the "correct" answer.  

Beth

________________________________________
From: Assembly for the Teaching of English Grammar [[log in to unmask]] on behalf of Shana Schmidt [[log in to unmask]]
Sent: Tuesday, March 10, 2015 2:06 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Assessment question

Please help us settle a debate about this sample 8th grade Kansas state assessment question.

Rosa was admiring the moon when ____________.

Which of the following completes the sentence in the active voice?

A. she spotted a shooting star (this what student selected)

B. she was surprised by a shooting star (this is marked as the correct answer)

C. shooting star was spotted by her

D. a shooting star was wished upon by her



Thanks for your help on settling this debate so we can explain to the student.

Shana



Sent from my iPad
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