Free Year 7 Colons and brackets Practice | Skillo

Question 1 — Easy

Choose the option that correctly uses a hyphen. The sentences are about a student journalism project at a high school in Adelaide.

Answer: Option D is correct — A hyphen is used to join two or more words that function together as a compound modifier before a noun. 'Well-researched' correctly uses a hyphen when it precedes the noun 'article'.

Question 2 — Medium

Choose the correctly punctuated sentence about the Great Barrier Reef's most important features.

Answer: A colon is used after a complete main clause to introduce a list or explanation. In option A, 'Scientists have identified three threats to the reef' is a complete clause, and the colon correctly signals that the list follows. Option B uses a comma instead of a colon, which is insufficient to introduce a formal list. Option C places the colon after 'identified', splitting the clause before it is complete. Option D places the colon mid-list, separating only two items rather than introducing the whole list.

Question 3 — Hard

Which sentence uses brackets correctly to add non-essential information about a school science fair project?

Answer: Brackets enclose non-essential information that can be removed without changing the core meaning of the sentence. In option A, the bracketed clause 'which she started in Term 2' is correctly enclosed and the sentence still reads clearly without it. Option B opens a bracket but never closes it, leaving the sentence unbalanced. Option C places the opening bracket mid-clause and the closing bracket at an unrelated point, disrupting the meaning. Option D brackets 'first prize', which is essential information rather than a non-essential aside.