Beta Reader Affinity

I have a short test of six questions that I came up with just for people to take to see if they can catch some common mistakes, and see if they are a good beta reader. Before I post them though, I would just like to see if anyone would mind me doing so. Some people may not, which is okay, just an idea I had.

And this also gives the mods the oportunity to go ahead and lock this thread, which they have a nasty habit of doing to all of mine.

 

Hmmm, I don't know what the mods will think of this. However, I would suggest you get several people, like reviewers on the Archive or something, to look over these questions so you know they're fair. If it's going to make a really awesome beta look stupid one way or another, then you'll know you need to fix it.

 

This is just a little something that I concocted, taken from common SW misspellings, common grammer mistakes (from what I have observed and from such things like the SAT test) and another small test that I got from Makeyoulaugh.com. No one has to take it, so I don't think there would be any harm in posting it, I just wanted to check with everyone first.

 

Nasty habit of locking threads? *whistles innocently* Only threads that need to be closed.

The idea is okay just as long as it is degrade people's skills. Notice I said merely "okay."

Tests can score a variety of things, from grammar profficiency to the ability to identify stories and correctly piece them together.

But...

A test cannot judge how the beta-reader will interact with the author, how they will converse about a story, how ideas will be exchanged, and how advancements in style and fluidity will be made.

That is why a test is okay, but not the greatest. It should be used as a tool, and nothing more. And to have a test means that some people might, just might, base their decision about a beta-reader on their ability to pass such a test, and not on the beta-reader as a whole. Fair if you are looking for a beta-reader to correct grammer, etc, but not fair if you want to gain a beta-reader with other, sometimes more vital skills.

 

I think I'll just let ya'll be the judges by reading the questions. Respond if you want, if you don't think they're good questions, don't respond .

 

1.) Count the number of times the letter ?F? appears in this sentence.

FINISHED FILES ARE THE RE-
SULT OF YEARS OF SCIENTIF-
IC STUDY COMBINED WITH
THE EXPERIENCE OF YEARS.
(Credit to Makeyoulaugh.com)

2.) Which of these words is spelled correctly?

1- Propably
2- Probly
3- Probably
4- Probaply

3.) Which of these sentences use correct grammar? (May be more than one answer)

1- He did not know what to do, he had never felt this way before.
2- He did not know what to do; he had never felt this way before.
3- He did not know what to do: he had never felt this way before.
4- He did not know what to do. He had never felt this way before.

4.) Which of these sentences are written correctly? (May be more than one answer)

1- Yes, were going.
2- Yes, we are going.
3- Yes, we?re going.
4- No, we aren?t going.
5- No, we arent going.
6- No, we are not going.

5.) Which of these sentences are written correctly? (May be more than one answer)

1- Your ship is waiting.
2- You?re ship is waiting.
3- You?re coming with us.
4- Your coming with us.

6.) 785630932 is read backwards as:

1- 239039587
2- 236036587
3- 239036587
4- 236039587

 

Answers:


1.) Six times

2.) 3

3.) 2, 4

4.) 2, 3, 4, 6

5.) 1, 3

6.) 3

 

1. 3
2. 3
3. 2, 4
4. 2, 3, 4, 6
5. 1, 2
6. 3

Eirtae

 

Number one is 6? Correct me if I'm wrong, but I only see three.
Eirtae

 

Yes, there are indeed 6 F's in the sentence. They are hard to spot, even going over it again. The human brain turns the F in OF into a V mentally, so you normally will disregard them. Most people will spot no more than 4 in their first reading.


FINISHED FILES ARE THE RE-
SULT OF YEARS OF SCIENTIF-
IC STUDY COMBINED WITH
THE EXPERIENCE OF YEARS.

 

Duh! Gosh, now I feel so stupid.

Eirtae

 

Thanks for taking the test anyway .

 

Well, let's see how I do before I read the answers.


1.) Count the number of times the letter ?F? appears in this sentence.

FINISHED FILES ARE THE RE-
SULT OF YEARS OF SCIENTIF-
IC STUDY COMBINED WITH
THE EXPERIENCE OF.
(Credit to Makeyoulaugh.com)

Looks like six me, though at first I didn't see the "of"s.


2.) Which of these words is spelled correctly?

1- Propably
2- Probly
3- Probably
4- Probaply

Number three.

3.) Which of these sentences use correct grammar? (May be more than one answer)

1- He did not know what to do, he had never felt this way before. Nope. The comma should be either a semi-colon or should be a period to end the sentence.
2- He did not know what to do; he had never felt this way before. Sure, this works.
3- He did not know what to do: he had never felt this way before. I would not encourage this format, but the second clause DOES relate to the first, so this is technically correct.
4- He did not know what to do. He had never felt this way before. This is awkward, but correct.

I would encourage the version with the semi-colon.

4.) Which of these sentences are written correctly? (May be more than one answer)

1- Yes, were going. *cracks up* Um, no.
2- Yes, we are going. Sure.
3- Yes, we?re going. Even better in the case of dialogue, but not narrative.
4- No, we aren?t going. Sure.
5- No, we arent going. *winces* Nope.
6- No, we are not going. Sure.


5.) Which of these sentences are written correctly? (May be more than one answer)

1- Your ship is waiting. Yes, this works.
2- You?re ship is waiting. Nope. "You're" means "you are," and "you are ship" makes no sense.
3- You?re coming with us. This is good.
4- Your coming with us. And this is not.

6.) 785630932 is read backwards as:

1- 239039587
2- 236036587
3- 239036587
4- 236039587

How'd I do?