Exercise 1: Copy Editing

INSTRUCTIONS: Use the proper copy-editing symbols to correct all the mechanical, spelling
and AP style errors in the following sentences. None of the possessives have been formed
for you.
During the 1990s, a nine year old girl in Ruston Louisiana won a trophy, 5000 dollars, and a trip to the
United States Capital Bl;dg.
Thomas Shriver Junior an employee of the Roess Company in Fairbanks Alaska has a Ph.D. in
economics and will be here Mon, Tues., & Wed.
Prof. Rebecca Malone of Forty-two Fifth Avenue works in the History Department and shares an office
in Rm. 247 of the Humanities Bldg.
Afterwards, 7 persons, all United States citizens, testified that the US navy payed the Westinghouse
Corporation $14,200,000 dollars.
The Washington Post reported Tue. That the suspect is White, in her 30s, about 5 ft., 2 inches tall,
and weighs about one hundred pds.
Only one media reported that the President of the National Rifle Assn. met with sixteen members of
the US Congress on August 23, 2008.
During the 1960s, a committee of the United States Congress estimated that the program would cost
$7 to $8.4 billion dollars.
The boy, age 7, had 42 cents and said his mother, the Mayor, will attend the P.T.A meeting Nov. 28 if
the temperature remains above 0.
It was an unusual phenomena. During the twentieth century, the odds were 9 to 1 that 80 % of the
Mayors would be reelected to a 2nd term.
Moving backwards, the 14 yr old babysitter in martin Tn. Said goodbye, then picked up the bible and
ran towards her home on Roe St.

Exercise 2: Copy Editing

INSTRUCTIONS: Use the proper copy-editing symbols to correct all the mechanical, spelling
and AP style errors in the following sentences. None of the possessives have been formed
for you.
During the 1990s, a nine year old girl in Ruston Louisiana won a trophy, 5000 dollars, and a trip to the
United States Capital Bl;dg.
Thomas Shriver Junior an employee of the Roess Company in Fairbanks Alaska has a Ph.D. in
economics and will be here Mon, Tues., & Wed.
Prof. Rebecca Malone of Forty-two Fifth Avenue works in the History Department and shares an office
in Rm. 247 of the Humanities Bldg.
Afterwards, 7 persons, all United States citizens, testified that the US navy payed the Westinghouse
Corporation $14,200,000 dollars.

The Washington Post reported Tue. That the suspect is White, in her 30s, about 5 ft., 2 inches tall,
and weighs about one hundred pds.
Only one media reported that the President of the National Rifle Assn. met with sixteen members of
the US Congress on August 23, 2008.
During the 1960s, a committee of the United States Congress estimated that the program would cost
$7 to $8.4 billion dollars.
The boy, age 7, had 42 cents and said his mother, the Mayor, will attend the P.T.A meeting Nov. 28 if
the temperature remains above 0.
It was an unusual phenomena. During the twentieth century, the odds were 9 to 1 that 80 % of the
Mayors would be reelected to a 2nd term.
Moving backwards, the 14 yr old babysitter in martin Tn. Said goodbye, then picked up the bible and
ran towards her home on Roe St.

Exercise 3: Copy Editing

INSTRUCTIONS: Using the proper copy-editing symbols provided on the inside cover of
your textbook, correct the errors in the following stories. Except for some obvious errors,
the stories style (the abbreviations, punctuation and spelling, for example) is correct.
There is one exception, however. You will have to form all the possessives. None have
been formed for you.
Girl Scouts
the countys Girl Scout Council no loonger will acept any checks during its annual cookie sale-athon.
During its last sale-a-thon, the council lost $4,284 due to worthlesschecks.
That may not sound like a lot, but its a serious loss for us, said Linda Goree, the Girl Scoust
county executive. It cuts into our profits, but al so wastes too many hours of our timme.
Next year, Goree said, thecountys Girl Scouts will accept only cash
Two factors agravated the prov problem during the scouts last sale-a-thon, Goree continued.
first, more pepople paid by check. Second, a larger percentage of the checks teh Girl Scouts received
bounced.
Some people pay by check beause they dont have the cash, Goree said. Or, they want to
place a large order. We have people who place orders for $100 or more, and thosse poeple are
especially likely to pay by check. we also receive checks for a little as one or two dollars.
Scout leaders call people who signed the checks that bounce and, in most cases,ask them to mail neW
checks to the cty. office. The scout leadesr are unable to reach everyone, however. Smoe People
have moved. Other s do not have telephonesor do not seem to answer their tele phones.
usually its an honest mistake, ad andpeople are embarrassed when we call them, Goree said.
THey want to take care of the problem right away. Other people say they want to pay but dont have
the money, and we can usually work something out with them. Unfortunately, there are other people
who get mad at us, like its our fault or something, and refuse to pay. Or, they write new checks that
also bounce. It puts our leadess in a terrible situaton. A Girl Scout leadershouldnt have to deal with
problems like that. Also, its not a good situation or example for our girls, and thats the reason for our
ne w policy, why well no longer accept any checks.

Mens Longevity
Being a middle-aged man and single can be deadly, too sociologists at your
college warned today
The sociologists, Margo Matos and LeeAnne verkler, found that middle-aged men who remain
single double their chances of dying.
For 10 years, Matos and verkler tracked one thoussand men in the state. All of the men were
40 old years at the start of the study, and half were married. Matos and Verkler fuond that 11.7
percent of the men who remained unmarried died before their 50th birthday, compared to only 5.9
percent of themen who remained married.
Some of the maried men were divorced or widowed during the study, and 7.1 percnt of those
who remainedd alone for at least half the period also died.
We arent sure of all the reasons, verkler said. Thats what well look at next. WE think poor
diet plays a role. Also the use of alcohol, smoking, a lack of exercise and low incomes. Men who live
by themselves seem to do more drinking and smoking, and many dont PREprepare good meals for
themselves. Plus theres the absence of social support. It ehlps to have someone to talk with,
someone who shpares your li fe and is there to provide help when you need it.
Matos and Verkler found that men also live longer if they have a roommate. It doesnt matter
who the persn is, a parent, child orfreind, Verkler said. Weve found, however,that none of the
alternatives are as conducive to a long life as a stable marriage. those are the man who live the
longest, the men who are happily marrried.
Outstanding Teacher
Wilma DeCastro is an English teacher at Kennedy High Schol and, six months ago, was named
the citys Teacher ofthe Year. Today she resigned.
All my life I wanted to be a teachher, DeCastro said. Ive really enjoyed it, but I have two little
girls and Cant afford it any longer. I want a good live for may family, and now wecant afford to buy a
decent house in a good neighborhood, a newcar, nice clothes, or so many of the other things we
want. wee skimp on everything, even food.
There years ago, DeCastro began to sell real estate during her sumer vacations. For th e last
year, she has continued to sell real estate part-time, primarily weakends
I cant do it any longer, she said. I cant wrok two jobs, do a good job at both of the jobbs, and
a.lso have time for my daughters, so Ive decided to go into real estate full time. I can triple salary
my salary. INN a few years, if I work hard, I should be able to do even better than that. eventually,
Id like togo into businss for myself.
Greg Hubbard, superintendent of the citys school system, said: Of coures were sorry to see
her leave. Wed like to keep her, to be able to pay all our teachers mr more, espec ially our best
teachers. But theres no moneey for higher salaries. NO one wants to pay higher taxes.
DeCastro is 28 and started teaching at the high schoo0l six years ago. she aws named
Teacher OF The Year because of her popularity, but also because she inspired several studentsto
start a literary maga zine that has won adozenprizes
Heroic Girl
while walking to school this moningmorning, an 11-year-old girl noticed a gunman robbuing two
clerkS in a convenence store on Colonial Drive
The girl, Kathryn Kunze of94 Jamestown Drive, raran to a nearby telepone, dialed 911, then
returned to the store and noticed an empty car par ked naearby withits motor running. she reachedd
inside, shut off the cars motor and took the keys.
Imagine what the rober thought when he ran out of the storee, jumped into HIS car and
realized the keys weregone, said Sgt. Tammy Dow. she was one smart girl, and Brave, too.
The Gunman went bavck into the stoer and asked the clerks there for the keys to there cars.
Bothclerks, however, said that they had walked to work and did not own a car.
The gunman then walked to a near,by park, and the police Aarrested him there five minutse

later.
William j. Chuey, 27, of 57l0 michigan Ave was charrged with armed robbery.
Polic e officers later questioned the girl at school. I saw this man with a gun, just like on
telivision she said. Then I saw thecar. It was running, and I just figured it was the robbers, so I took
his keys and ran here.
Kathryns mother, said she was pproudand frightenedby her daughters actions. IMm
proud she thought so quickly, Mrs. Lauren Kunze said. But I dont wnat her to trfy anything like that
ever again.
Roadbed Trails
RAilroads have abandoned hundreds of m iles of old roadbeds in the state, and the
governortoday revealed plans to convert the roadbeds into trawils for bicyclists hikers, horseback
riders and runners.
The govenor said her budget for nxextt year will include an extra $10 million for the Departmentof
natural Resources, which will use the money to ac quire and maintainn the trials
The initial
outlay is modest, the gov. said. But we hope the program will expand so, in five or 10 years,well
have hundreds of miles of these trials. Eventually, the people using themshould be able to hike or ride
from one end of the state to another.
A representative for the states railrods said that most will probably agree to sell their
abandoned roadbeds tothe state, provided they receive a fair pricee,
We arent us ing the roadbeds for anything, he said, and there arent many other buyers.
they were our leasst profitable routes, and thats why we abandoned them.
During a press Conference this mohningthis morning, the governor added: We need more land
for recreation, and this is the prefect solution. wee think we can acquire the roadbeds for a
reasonable price, annd well start with some of the mmost scenic. Wellalso concentrate, at least
initialy, on roadbeds near the states population centers, os theyre conveni ent for a majority of the
people using them.
THE governor said the
biggest expense, after acquiri;ng the roadbeds, will be improving their bridges.. Well need better
flooring and railings to protect the public, and that will cost some money, she said. The railoads
havve already tor n up the tracks,o selling them for scrap.
Repossessing Cars
Police Chief Tony sullivan Wants to ebgin seizing t he cars driven by drunken drivers.
While testifyingbefore a legislative commmittee in the state capital this morning, Sullivan said
police oficers in the state need the authority to to seize the vehicles used by motorists convicted three
or more times of drunken driving. Sullivans pproposal would al so apply to motorists convicted of
driving with a license suspended or revoked because of drunken drvingand to motorists convicted of
driving undre the Influence of drugs.
Were runninng across too many repeat offjenders, sullivan said. They ignore the laws now in
eff ect, and its time to do something about it. It doesnt do any good to just take away their lcenses.
Theyll drivewithout one.
Sullivan said some motorists in the statehave been convicted of drunken driving more than a
dozentimes . Weve gott peopel whove served a year in jail, some whove served five years, Sullivan
said. It doesnt seemtodo any good. weather they have a liense or not, they start to drink and
drive again as soon as they get out. If wetake away their cars, theyll havetostop. U nless theyre
ultra-rich, theres a limit to howmany cars they can afford to buy.
Tobacco Ban
Beginning next fall, students in the citys public shcools will have to leave their cigarettes and
other tobaco products at home.

The School Board last night voted 6 to 1 to BAN the possession and use of all obacco tobacco
products on school grounds.
The boards policy will apply to evferyone, said gary Hubbard, superintendent
of schools. its not just for ourstudents. The policy will also apply to our teachers, other school
personnel and, in addition, to any visitors using our facilities.
Students found smoking on school property will be reprimanded for a firs t ofense, detained for
a secnod and ex;pelled for three days for a third. School personnel will be reprimanded by their
principal. Other people wlil be asked to stop using the tobacco products or to leave the school
grounds.
Previously, hubbard said, we allowed stud ents to smokee inn some designated areas both
inside and outside our bldgs.: in our football stadium s, for example. Its badfortheir health, and we
decided last night that we werent being consistent. It doesnt make any sense for us to tell students,
in their classes, about the dangers of smoking, andthan to allow them to smokeunder our
supervision. Besides, We were geting a lot of complaints from nonsmokesr.