TOP ROW. There is no special exercise in this section for the numbers and characters on the top row, However, at this point the respective finger reaches should be memorized. It should be noted that all the typing performance tests have numbers that make up at least 5 percent of the exercise. One of the exercises later in this section will have numbers in it.

Practicing for Speed

At this point, you should be able to progress through all the preceding exercises without looking at the keyboard and with very few typing errors. However, typing speed is probably still very slow.

Figure 2-8, view A, consists of one sentence repeated over and over. This sentence causes all the fingers to reach for keys. By typing it repeatedly, you should start to get speed and rhythm into your typing. The exercise consists of 556 strokes. This means that if you can type this whole exercise within 5 minutes and have NO ERRORS, you will have typed 22 words per minute.

Figure 2-8, view B, is a more difficult exercise and should not be attempted until the exercise in figure 2-8, view A, is mastered. The view B exercise consists of 630 strokes and contains longer words and several numbers. If you can type this whole exercise in 5 minutes without any errors, you will have typed slightly over 25 words per minute. Figure 2-8, view B, closely resembles the typing performance test that is administered for advancement.

THE TEST

The typing performance tests are given under conditions as close to working conditions as possible.

Copy Material

The test is made up of unfamiliar, untechnical material. It must contain 5 numbers for every 100 words.

The paper to be used is the standard size (8 1/2 x 11 inches), and the margin stops are to be set for 80 space lines. The test is to be double spaced between lines; therefore, the line space lever should be set at the double lines. Erasures or x-ing out characters are not permitted.

Grading the Test

Although the actual performance test is graded by someone from the local education services office, you (as an AZ striker) should know how to grade a test so that you can tell how well you are progressing in the typing exercises.

COUNTING THE STROKES.

Each space and each character in a line is counted as 1 stroke. For example, the following sentence contains 17 strokes:

He is a good guy.

Although there are only 12 characters and one punctuation mark in this line, there are 4 spaces between words (which also count as strokes).

ERRORS. Only one error is charged per word. Therefore, when taking the performance test, if you know that you have made an error at the beginning of a word (especially a long word), you would be wise to depress the space bar once and start the next word because nothing you can do will correct the error for test purposes.

The following errors are considered one typing error for test purposes:

1. A character transposed.

2. A character omitted.

3. A character erroneously inserted.

4. A misspelled word.

5. A word incorrectly hyphenated.

6. A word omitted from a sentence.

7. An error in punctuation counts as an error in the preceding word.

8. An error in spacing counts as an error in the preceding word.

9. Crowding of letters in a word.

10. Piling of letters in a word.

11. Strikeover of a letter in a word.

12. Faulty shifting.

13. Improper indention.

The finished copy of the test paper must look just like the test.

The only allowable difference is in the length of the lines.

FORMULA FOR GRADING THE TEST. To determine the number of words typed per minute, you should take the following steps:

1. Count the total number of strokes that have been typed.