Proofreading text and labels

Name:

Date:

Class:

Quick Questions

Shade in the A or B circle for each question.

1. Which is the best description of proofreading a dashboard before publishing?

A Reading titles, labels and figures carefully to find and fix errors

B Changing the colours so the dashboard looks more attractive

2. A chart title reads 'Avarage monthly sales'. What should you do?

A Correct the spelling to 'Average monthly sales'

B Leave it, because the chart data is still correct

3. An axis shows values from 0 to 50 but has no unit. Which fix is better?

A Change the label to 'Temperature'

B Change the label to 'Temperature (°C)'

4. Your source data says 1,250 but your infographic says 1,520. What kind of error is this?

A A number error that must be corrected to match the source

B A style choice that does not need to be fixed

5. Which technique helps you notice missing words or clumsy wording in a label?

A Skimming the text quickly once

B Reading the text aloud slowly

Match the Pairs

Draw a line connecting each item on the left to its match on the right.

Left column		Right column
1Title: "Avrage Maths Mark"		ARead aloud: "Sales by month, in dollars"
2Axis label: "Rainfall (mm)"		BA spelling error in a chart title that proofreading should catch and fix to "Average".
3Reading aloud helps you hear wording mistakes, such as a missing or repeated word, that your eyes skip over.		CReviewer: "Title says 2024 but data is 2025"
4A second reader can spot errors you miss because you are too familiar with your own work.		DThe figure has a typo (it should be 31.0) and the unit is missing. Check numbers against the source and add the unit, e.g. 31.0 °C.
5Max Temp: 310		EA correct label that includes its unit, which a proofreader checks is present and right.
6Rainfall (kg): 14		FThe unit is wrong because rainfall is measured in millimetres, not kilograms. The label should read Rainfall (mm).

Definitions

proofreading

Fill in the Blanks

Complete each line of code by filling in the missing parts.

_________(chartTitle, axisLabels)

IF labelUnit _ dataUnit THEN fixLabel

_________(subtitle)

errors ← ____________.findErrors(title)

IF labelFigure != sourceFigure ____ fixNumber

Spot the Error

Shade in the letter of the line that contains an error.

Question 1

A Title: Rainfall by Month

B X axis: Month

C Y axis: Rainfal (mm)

D Data: Jan 82, Feb 74, Mar 69

Question 2

A Title: Studnets by Year

B X axis: Year level

C Y axis: Number of students

Question 3

A Source value: 4.5 km

B Label: 45 km

C Check label matches source

Question 4

A Y axis: Temperature (cm)

B X axis: Day of week

C Data: Mon 24, Tue 27, Wed 31

Question 5

A FOR each label in chart

B READ label aloud

C IF sounds wrong THEN skip it

D NEXT label

Answer Key

Proofreading text and labels

Section A: Quick Questions

A — Reading titles, labels and figures carefully to find and fix errors

A — Correct the spelling to 'Average monthly sales'

B — Change the label to 'Temperature (°C)'

A — A number error that must be corrected to match the source

B — Reading the text aloud slowly

Section B: Match the Pairs

Title: "Avrage Maths Mark" → A spelling error in a chart title that proofreading should catch and fix to "Average".

Axis label: "Rainfall (mm)" → A correct label that includes its unit, which a proofreader checks is present and right.

Reading aloud helps you hear wording mistakes, such as a missing or repeated word, that your eyes skip over. → Read aloud: "Sales by month, in dollars"

A second reader can spot errors you miss because you are too familiar with your own work. → Reviewer: "Title says 2024 but data is 2025"

Max Temp: 310 → The figure has a typo (it should be 31.0) and the unit is missing. Check numbers against the source and add the unit, e.g. 31.0 °C.

Rainfall (kg): 14 → The unit is wrong because rainfall is measured in millimetres, not kilograms. The label should read Rainfall (mm).

Section C: Definitions

proofreading — Carefully reading text, labels and figures to find and fix spelling, wording and number errors before you publish your work.

Section D: Fill in the Blanks

proofread(chartTitle, axisLabels)

IF labelUnit ≠ dataUnit THEN fixLabel

readAloud(subtitle)

errors ← secondReader.findErrors(title)

IF labelFigure != sourceFigure THEN fixNumber

Section E: Spot the Error

C — Rainfall is misspelt in the axis label. Proofreading should catch it. It should read Y axis: Rainfall (mm).

A — Students is misspelt in the chart title. Titles are the first thing readers see, so fix it to Title: Students by Year.

B — The decimal point was dropped, so the label says 45 km but the source says 4.5 km. The label should be Label: 4.5 km.

A — cm is a unit of length, not temperature. The unit must match the measure, so it should be (deg C).

C — Reading aloud is meant to find errors so they can be fixed. Skipping a label that sounds wrong leaves the error in. It should be THEN fix it.