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AP Style Vocab

Instructions:

Answer 50 questions in 15 minutes.
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Match each statement with the correct term.
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This is a study tool. The 3 wrong answers for each question are randomly chosen from answers to other questions. So, you might find at times the answers obvious, but you will see it re-enforces your understanding as you take the test each time.

1. Amtrak
This acronym - drawn from the words American travel by track - may be used in all references to the National Railroad Passenger Corp. Do not use AMTRAK. The corporation was established by Congress in 1970 to take over intercity passenger operations f
Lowercase with periods avoid the redundant 10 a.m. this morning
Ketchup
Not amidst

2. demolish - destroy
Precede with a hyphen: break-in - cave-in - walk-in - write-in
Use figures except for noon and midnight
Proper name of some trains and buses
Something cannot be partially demolished or destroyed

3. Salt Lake City
2 c's and m's
The city in Utah stands alone in datelines
Teammate
Use alone in datelines on stories from the Republic of San Marino

4. email

5. Compound Plurals
See AT&T Inc.
Most significant word is made plural: daughters-in-law - assistant attorneys general - major generals
Tail wind
Acronym for instant message; sometimes used as a verb IM'ing - IM'ed. acceptable on second reference for instant messaging

6. dollars
2 c's and m's
Means in a hopeful manner; never use
Bulk or quantity; I had less than $50 in my pocket
Lowercase use figures and $ sign

7. biennial
Is possessive
Every two years
Acceptable as first reference for International Business Machines Corp. Headquarters is in Armonk - NY
A trademark for a type of nonstick coating

8. implausible
Implausible
Acronym for improvised explosive device. IED is acceptable on second reference. Roadside bomb is preferable
A unit of power - mostly associated with electricity. Electrical energy is measured in watt-hours (or kilowatt-hours or mega-watt hours). Do not use 'megawatts Per hours.' Abbrev.: W - kW - MW.
Singular criteria is the plural

9. Addresses
Wastebasket
Two words unless used as adjective before a noun in a nautical sense
@ sign not used when needed spell them out and provide an explanatory editor's note
Spell out and capitalize first through ninth use figures for others Ave. Blvd. St. only ones allowed to be abbreviated when numbered address is present. Do Not abbreviate compass points if number is omitted

10. holidays
Use KANSAS CITY - Kan. - or KANSAS CITY - Mo. - in datelines to avoid confusion between the two
Acceptable as first reference for International Business Machines Corp. Headquarters is in Armonk - NY
Once limited to accepting deposits and making home mortgage loans - they are not banks. Since enactment of the Financial Institutions Reform Recovery Act in 1989
Capitalize them

11. bad/ badly
Capitalize ZIP lowercase code only five number no comma 70791
Headquarters of this airline is in Madrid - Spain
To argue to the contrary
Bad should not be used as an adverb only exceptation is I feel bad.

12. mortar
Device used to launch a mortar shell; it is the shell - not the mortar - that is fired
Use the ampersand when it is part of a company's formal name or company position title: House & Garden - Procter & Gamble - Wheeling & Lake Erie Railway. The ampersand should not otherwise be used in place of and.
Two words unless used as adjective before a noun in a nautical sense
ASCAP is acceptable on second reference. Headquarters is in New York

13. IED
Acronym for improvised explosive device. IED is acceptable on second reference. Roadside bomb is preferable
Someone or something first in rank - authority - importance or degree ex. school principal
Do NOT use teenaged
Use instead of Italy in datelines on stories from communities on this island

14. ensure
Every two years
Tablecloth
Gun is an acceptable term for any firearm
Means to guarantee

15. KGB
Acceptable on first reference - but the story should contain a phrase identifying it as the former Russian secret police and intelligence agency. The initials stand for the Russian words meaning Committee for State Security
One who leaves a country emigrates from it
Equal to one-sixth of a fluid ounce - or one-third of a tablespoon. The metric equivalent is approximately 5 milliliters
Homicide without malice or premeditation

16. kibbutz
Not compound subject; requires a verb that agrees with the nearer subject
Abbreviate Ill. in datelines or stories. Postal code: IL
Don't use unless asked
An Israeli collective settlement. The plural is kibbutzim

17. SARS
Wastebasket
Use figures EXCEPT for zero spell out minus and degrees; temperatures get higher & lower
Acceptable in all references for severe acute respiratory syndrome - but it should be spelled out somewhere in the story
Uses periods in most two letter words; CIA - FBI - GOP; Never use organizations full name then an acronym;

18. M-1 - M-16
These and similar combinations of a letter and figure(s) designate rifles used by the military. The forms: an M-1 rifle - an M-16 rifle
AMA is acceptable on second reference. Also: the medical association - the association. Headquarters is in Chicago
If comprise or compose doesn't fit - sense of form or make up
Acceptable on first reference - but the story should contain a phrase identifying it as the former Russian secret police and intelligence agency. The initials stand for the Russian words meaning Committee for State Security

19. sandbag (n.)
A firearm designed or made to be fired from the shoulder and having a rifled bored. It uses bullets and cartridges for ammunition. Its size is measured in calibers. The form: a .22-caliber rifle
The verbs: sandbagged - sandbagging. And: sandbagger
Firefighter preferred over fireman or firewoman
Lowercase spell out numbers less than 10

20. mpg/mph
Acceptable in all forms
To exclude
Device used to launch a mortar shell; it is the shell - not the mortar - that is fired
A unit used to measure the power of nuclear explosions. One kiloton has the explosive force of 1000 tons of TNT. The atomic bomb dropped Aug. 6 - 1945 - on Hiroshima - Japan - in the first use of the bomb as a weapon had an explosive force of 20 kilo

21. Iberia
Headquarters of this airline is in Madrid - Spain
Is pronoun that is always a subject
Firefighter preferred over fireman or firewoman
The ammunition storage and feeding device within or attached to a firearm. It may be fixed to the firearm or detachable

22. American Newspaper Publishers Association
See Newspaper Association of America
Saudi Aramco is acceptable on second reference. (Formerly the Arabian American Oil Co.)
A compact - relatively inexpensive handgun
Acceptable in all forms

23. impassable - impassible - impassive

24. Abbreviations

25. decades

26. alumna
Equals 1000 hertz (1000 cycles Per second) - replacing kilocycles as the correct term in applications such as broadcast frequencies. Abbrev.: kHz.
Plural alumnae woman
Firefighter preferred over fireman or firewoman
Tape recording (n.) tape-record (v.)

27. kidnap - kidnapped - kidnapping - kidnapper
Never alright; sometimes all-right as a compound modifier
State of reclining lie - lay - lain - lying
Yep.
Kindergarten

28. Proper names plural
Connotes success in argument and almost always implies an editorial judgement DON'T USE instead deny - dispute - rebut - or respond to
Most ending in z or es or s add es: Joneses - Gonzalezes - Charleses
Capitalize ZIP lowercase code only five number no comma 70791
Use Saudi as the adjective in referring to the people or culture of Saudi Arabia. It's Saudi diplomacy - not Saudi Arabian diplomacy. For the Saudi monarchy - follow the syle on British and other monarchies. Foreign Minister Prince Saud Al-Faisal wou

29. newspaper titles
DO NOT PLACE IN QUOTES
The city in California stands alone in datelines
State of reclining lie - lay - lain - lying
Lowercase (without quotation marks) the bugle call for 'lights out -' also sounded at military funerals

30. stationary
Lowercase - because it denotes not a single period but any series of cold periods marked by glaciation alternating with periods of relative warmth. Capitalize the proper nouns in the names of individual ice ages - such as the Wisconsin ice age. The m
Abbreviate St. in the names of saints - cities - and other places: St. Jude - St. Paul - Minn.; St. John's - Newfoundland; St. Lawrence Seaway
Spatial relationships
To stand still

31. Sault Ste. Marie - Mich. - Sault Ste. Marie. - Ontario
Physical distance
The abbreviation Ste. instead St. because the full name is Sault Sainte Marie
It's = it is; its possessive form of neuter pronoun
Is pronoun that is always a subject

32. Tass

33. each
A firearm typically used to fire small spherical pellets called shot. Shotguns usually have a smooth bore barrel - but some contain a rifled barrel - Which is used to fire a single projectile. Size is measured according to gauge - except for the .410
Two words unless used as adjective before a noun in a nautical sense
Use figures EXCEPT for zero spell out minus and degrees; temperatures get higher & lower
Takes singluar verb two people look at each other

34. Kelvin scale
See shot
A scale of temperature based on - but different from - the Celsius scale. It is used primarily in science to record very high and very low temperatures. The Kelvin scale starts at zero and indicates the total absence of heat (absolute zero). Zero on
Is pronoun that is always a subject
Anemia - anemic

35. rebut
To argue to the contrary
After a girl reach the age 18 use woman or young woman
Untrue statement - lie -lied -lying
No e

36. who
Is pronoun that is always a subject
An Israeli collective settlement. The plural is kibbutzim
Only used in a direct quote or part of a title
Tape recording (n.) tape-record (v.)

37. watt

38. immigrate
Don't use unless asked
The measure of the size of a shotgun. Gauge is expressed in terms of the number Per pound of round lead balls with a diameter equal to the size of the barrel. The bigger the number - the smaller the shotgun. The forms: a 12-gauge shotgun - a .410-gau
One who comes into a country immigrates
A measurement of the diameter of a gun barrel except for most shotguns. Measurement is in either millimeters or decimal fractions of an inch. The word caliber is not used when giving the metric measurement. The forms: a 9 mm pistol - a .22-caliber ri

39. Sardinia
Lowercase spell out numbers less than 10
Use singular verb and pronoun 'it' when referring to the team as a collective unit. However - the team name takes a plural verb: The Orlando Magic are close to setting a franchise record
Try to avoid abbreviations; use apostrophe in master's degree but not in Master of Science; only use B.A. - M.A. - LL.D. and Ph.D. when needed to identify individual on first reference if after a name set off with commas
Use instead of Italy in datelines on stories from communities on this island

40. Teflon
Telecast (n.) televise (v.)
Also: keynote speech
A trademark for a type of nonstick coating
The metric term for 1000 meters. (Abbrev.: km) A kilometer is equal to approximately 3 -281 feet - or five-eighths (0.62) of a mile. To convert to miles - multiply by 0.62 (5 kilometers x 0.62 equals 3.1 miles).

41. American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals
This organization is limited to the five boroughs of New York City and neighboring Suffolk County in providing animal adoption services - although it has offices elsewhere that offer legal advice and other services to other animal welfare organizatio
The ammunition storage and feeding device within or attached to a firearm. It may be fixed to the firearm or detachable
Use Saddam in second reference to Iraq's Saddam Hussein
A lightweight fully automatic gun firing handgun ammunition

42. telephone numbers
A unit of measurement for digital data storage. In the metric system - a kilobyte is 1000 bytes; in computer binary terms - it is 1 -024 bytes. Thus - 64KB means 64 times 1 -024 bytes - or 65 -536 bytes (not 64000). Abbrev.: KB. (similarly - MB for m
A firearm typically used to fire small spherical pellets called shot. Shotguns usually have a smooth bore barrel - but some contain a rifled barrel - Which is used to fire a single projectile. Size is measured according to gauge - except for the .410
Use figures. The form: 212-621-1500. For international numbers use 011 (From the United States) - the country code - the city code and the telephone number: 011-44-20-7535-1515. Use hyphens - not periods. The forms for toll free numbers: 800-111-1000
Physical distance

43. teamster
A prefix denoting 1000 units of a measure. Move a decimal point three places to the right - adding zeros if necessary to convert to the basic unit: 10.5 kilograms equals 10 -500 grams
Capitalize teamster only if the intended meaning is that the individual is a member of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters - Chauffeurs - Warehousemen and Helpers of America
A weapon - usually supported on some type of carriage - that fires explosive projectiles. The form: a 105 mm cannon
A rifle that is capable of being fired in fully automatic and semi-automatic modes - at the user's option. Designed for - and used by - military forces. Also used by some law enforcement agencies. The form: an M16 assault rifle.

44. Satan
But lowercase devil and satanic
Impostor
Sanitarium - sanitariums
Precede with a hyphen: break-in - cave-in - walk-in - write-in

45. amnesty
Acceptable in all references to the International Brotherhood of Teamsters
Twice a year
The metric term for 1000 grams. A kilogram is equal to approximately 2.2 pounds or 35 ounces. To convert to pounds - multiply by 2.2 (9 kilograms x 2.2 equals 19.8 pounds)
See pardon - parole - probation

46. take up (v.) takeup (n. and adj)
APT is acceptable on second reference. Headquarters is in Reston - Va.
Take up (v.) takeup (n. and adj.)
Use figures EXCEPT for zero spell out minus and degrees; temperatures get higher & lower
Lowercase with periods. Avoid the redundant 10 a.m. this morning.

47. i.e.
Abbreviation for the Latin id est or that is and is always followed by a comma
Preferred spelling for the capital of Nepal
Use figures EXCEPT for zero spell out minus and degrees; temperatures get higher & lower
Acceptable on second reference for surface-to-air missile(s)

48. whom
Abbreviate Kan. in datelines or stories. Postal code: KS
When someone is the object of a verb or preposition
Acceptable in all references for severe acute respiratory syndrome - but it should be spelled out somewhere in the story
Lowercase spell out numbers less than 10

49. Capitol
Connotation of wrongdoing use acknowledge or said instead of admitted
Capitalize building in Washington
Take-home pay
Noun and verb denoting completeness or supplementing something

50. a.m. - p.m.
Acceptable in all forms
Lowercase with periods avoid the redundant 10 a.m. this morning
Don't use unless asked
To receive