The Grammar Income Test is one of those ideas teachers wish scholars had invented. It is a test that measures a student's grammatical knowledge and then uses that measurement to predict the student's potential income. To motivate interest in conventions, give your students this test.

          As demonstrated in the research of Dr. Edward McCormick, an individual's habits of grammar correlate with her or his income. Test results indicate that one can predict with 80% accuracy the income of an individual based on his answers to the questions below. Use this quiz to see what income level your grammatical patterns place you.

          Instructions: Mark each sentence as "C" if it is grammatically correct, "I" if it is incorrect, or "?" if you are uncertain. Wrong answers count as a minus two. A question mark, indicating you are uncertain, only counts as a minus one. Keep in mind that errors may be of any variety: spelling, punctuation, capitalization, or usage.

_____ 1. Her choice will strongly effect the outcome.

_____ 2. We have alot of work to do.

_____ 3. Mottsburgh is a busy industrial city, thousands of cars and trucks move through it every day.

_____ 4. "I suppose", she remarked "that success comes only with time."

_____ 5. The company should receive the package tomorrow.

_____ 6. Its impressive to hear what she has done.

_____ 7. She was late, however, she did make the presentation.

_____ 8. Give the book to whom?

_____ 9. When the ship arrives we can begin the journey.

_____10. We rafted down the grand mountain river.

_____11. The name of the book was "Outbreak."

_____12. There were four in the group: Ann, Jim, Theo, and Amanda.

_____13. He sings good.

_____14. You shouldn't lie on the wet grass.

_____15. He paid all the interest on the principle.

_____16. I wish to go irregardless of his decision.

_____17. He doesn't know history very well. As you can see from his answers in class.

_____18. He imagined that Hawking would have all the answers but Hawking just posed more questions.

_____19. Spiraling in the Andromeda Galaxy, Dr. Vilhelm insists that there is alien life on the Andromeda planet called Lanulos.

_____ 20. We packed all of our luggage, then we were on our way to the airport.


Scoring Answer Key: 1. I, 2. I, 3. I, 4. I, 5. C, 6. I, 7. I, 8. C, 9. I, 10. I, 11. I, 12. C, 13. I, 14. C, 15. C, 16. I, 17. I, 18. I, 19. I, 20. I. (Click here for corrected sentences.)

Number Wrong ..........Projected Salary ...............Occupational Level

0 to -4 ...................$150,000 and above .................top executive

-5 to -6 ....................$90,000 to $150,000 ..............upper management

-7 to -8 ....................$60,000 to $ 90,000 ...............key personnel

-9 to -12....................$25,000 to $ 60,000 ...............semi-skilled

-13 to -18 .................$10,000 to $ 25,000 ...............unskilled

-19 or more ..................... $0 to $ 10,000 ...............unemployable

          After students have taken and scored this test, explain that over the next few days you are going to increase their incomes by at least $30,000 each. Later, after you have worked with some of the grammatical concepts in this test, reveal that the test was fabricated. However, explain that the concept of the test is very real.

          Every day individuals who make grammatical errors are victims of a pervasive but seldom discussed prejudice. People assume that those who make frequent grammatical errors are unintelligent, not very knowledgeable, and incompetent. None of this may be true. Language habits are more indicative of social background than education and ability. However, any business executive will support the notion that grammatical skill directly affects promotion. So, the idea behind the Grammar Income Test is valid, although the scored income level may not be.