Chicago Style Workout 5:
How to Proofread

abdominauxLet’s build some editorial muscle!

Today’s workout, “How to Proofread,” centers on paragraphs 2.110–18 in CMOS 17. Advanced editors might tackle the questions cold; learners can study that section of the Manual before answering the questions.

Remember: The workouts are all about Chicago! If you’re an expert in MLA, AP, or New York Times style, you might be surprised to find that your instincts don’t quite match Chicago’s. That doesn’t mean that your answer is necessarily “wrong”—it just means it isn’t Chicago style.

(Subscribers to The Chicago Manual of Style Online may click through to the linked sections of the Manual. We also offer a 30-day free trial of CMOS Online.)

[Editor’s update: This quiz has now been updated to refer and link to the 17th edition.]

Chicago Style Workout 5: How to Proofread

Note: These questions are designed to test knowledge of The Chicago Manual of Style. Other style guides may have different rules and guidelines. All the items this month are true/false statements.

1. In proofreading parlance, copy refers to the edited manuscript.
a.
b.
2. Whether type has been set from electronic files or from paper, the proofreader must mark only the proofs, never the manuscript.
a.
b.
3. No more than three succeeding lines should end in a hyphen.
a.
b.
4. All full pages of text must align at the bottom.
a.
b.
5. A change to the spelling of a particular term should never be indicated globally; instead, each change must be marked throughout the manuscript.
a.
b.
6. For a systematic error—such as issues with font or special characters—it may be preferable to indicate a single, or “global,” instruction for making the change.
a.
b.
7. Normally, where an illustration or a table occupies a full page, no running head or page number should appear.
a.
b.
8. A page may end with the first line of a new paragraph (an “orphan”).
a.
b.
9. A page may begin with the last line of a paragraph (a “widow”) if the line is full measure.
a.
b.
10. The last word in any paragraph should not be broken—that is, hyphenated, with the last part of the word beginning a new line.
a.
b.

 

Photo: Abdominaux, Sancho McCann

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