Copyediting sample 72:
Starting the CE Tool test

The "following operation" does not push any button, but the reader will "press" the button. Copyediting takes care of dangling modifiers and poor usage. Also, a copyeditor avoids using more than one word for the same thing: Changing operation to test in the first sentence makes a single word, a more precise word, denote what occurs automatically. Finally, a copyeditor can make a subtle change to make the emphasis more appropriate. The test is now sufficiently emphasized in the first sentence and should be deemphasized in the second. Changing "This test" to "The test" in the finished version puts the second sentence's emphasis where it belongs: on how long the test will take.

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