Directions (1-15): The following questions of sentence correction, a part of the sentence is given in bold. Out of the given options, find out the grammatically correct statement that can replace the bold part in the given questions.
Q1. Retail sales rose 0.8 of 1 percent in August, intensifying expectations that personal spending in the July-September quarter more than doubled that of the 1.4 percent growth rate in personal spending for the previous quarter.
(a) that personal spending in the July-September quarter more than doubled that of
(b) that personal spending in the July-September quarter would more than double
(c) of personal spending in the July-September quarter, that it more than doubled
(d) of personal spending in the July-September quarter more than doubling that of
(e) of personal spending in the July-September quarter, that it would more than double that of
Q2. The commission has directed advertisers to restrict the use of the word “natural” to foods that do not contain color or flavor additives, chemical preservatives, or nothing that has been synthesized.
(a) or nothing that has been
(b) or that has been
(c) and nothing that is
(d) or anything that has been
(e) and anything
Q3. Plants are more efficient at acquiring carbon that are fungi, in the form of carbon dioxide, and converting it into energy-rich sugars.
(a) Plants are more efficient at acquiring carbon than are fungi,
(b) Plants are more efficient at acquiring carbon than fungi,
(c) Plants are more efficient than fungi at acquiring carbon,
(d) Plants, more efficient than fungi at acquiring carbon,
(e) Plants acquire carbon more efficiently than fungi,
Q4. The lroquois were primarily planters, but supplementing their cultivation of maize, squash, and beans with fishing and hunting.
(a) but supplementing
(b) and had supplemented
(c) and even though they supplemented
(d) although they supplemented
(e) but with supplementing
Q5. As contrasted with the honeybee, the yellow jacket can sting repeatedly without dying and carries a potent venom that can cause intense pain.
(a) As contrasted with the honeybee,
(b) In contrast to the honeybee’s,
(c) Unlike the sting of the honeybee,
(d) Unlike that of the honeybee,
(e) Unlike the honeybee,
Q6. Neuroscientists, having amassed a wealth of knowledge over the past twenty years about the brain and its development from birth to adulthood, are now drawing solid conclusions about how the human brain grows and how babies acquire language.
(a) Neuroscientists, having amassed a wealth of knowledge over the past twenty years about the brain and its development from birth to adulthood, are
(b) Neuroscientists, having amassed a wealth of knowledge about the brain and its development from birth to adulthood over the past twenty years, and are
(c) Neuroscientists amassing a wealth of knowledge about the brain and its development from birth to adulthood over the past twenty years, and are
(d) Neuroscientists have amassed a wealth of knowledge over the past twenty years about the brain and its development from birth to adulthood,
(e) Neuroscientists have amassed, over the past twenty years, a wealth of knowledge about the brain and its development from birth to adulthood,
Q7. None of the attempts to specify the causes of crime explains why most of the people exposed to the alleged causes do not commit crimes and, conversely, why so many of those not so exposed have.
(a) have
(b) has
(c) shall
(d) do
(e) could
Q8. In a previous designs, the weight of the discus used in track competition is concentrated in a metal center, but now it is lined with lead around the perimeter, thereby improving stability in flight and resulting in longer throws.
(a) In a previous design, the weight of the discus used in track competition is concentrated in a metal center, but now it is
(b) According to a previous design, the weight of the discus used in track competition was concentrated in a metal center, but not it is
(c) Once designed with its weight concentrated in a metal center, the discus used in track competition in now
(d) The discus used in track competition, once designed with its weight concentrated in a metal center, but now
(e) The discus used in track competition was once designed having its weight concentrated in a metal center and now
Q9. In virtually all types of tissue in every animal species, dioxin induces the production of enzymes that are the organism’s trying to metabolize, or render harmless, the chemical that is irritating it.
(a) trying to metabolize, or render harmless, the chemical that is irritating it
(b) trying that it metabolize, or render harmless, the chemical irritant
(c) attempt to try to metabolize, or render harmless, such a chemical irritant
(d) attempt to try and metabolize, or render harmless, the chemical irritating it
(e) attempt to metabolize, or render harmless, the chemical irritant
Q10. Based on accounts of various ancient writers, scholars have painted a sketchy picture of the activities of an all-female cult that, perhaps as early as the sixth century B.C., worshipped a goddess known in Latin as Bona Dea, “the good goddess.”
(a) Based on accounts of various ancient writers,
(b) Basing it on various ancient writers’ accounts,
(c) With accounts of various ancient writers used for a basis,
(d) By the accounts of various ancient writers they used,
(e) Using accounts of various ancient writers,
Q11. Emily Dickinson’s letters to Susan Huntington Dickinson were written over a period beginning a few years before Susan’s marriage to Emily’s brother and ending shortly before Emily’s death in 1886, outnumbering her letters to anyone else.
(a) Dickinson were written over a period beginning a few years before Susan’s marriage to Emily’s brother and ending shortly before Emily’s death in 1886, outnumbering
(b) Dickinson were written over a period that begins a few years before Susan’s marriage to Emily’s brother and ended shortly before Emily’s death in 1886, outnumber
(c) Dickinson, written over a period beginning a few years before Susan’s marriage to Emily’s brother and that ends shortly before Emily’s death in 1886 and outnumbering
(d) Dickson, which were written over a period beginning a few years before Susan’s marriage to Emily’s brother, ending shortly before Emily’s death in 1886, and outnumbering
(e) Dickinson, which were written over a period beginning a few years before Susan’s marriage to Emily’s brother and ending shortly before Emily’s death in 1886, outnumber
Q12. Paleontologists believe that fragments of a primate jawbone unearthed in Burma and estimated at 40 to 44 million years old provide evidence of a crucial step along the evolutionary path that led to human beings.
(a) at 40 to 44 million years old provide evidence of
(b) as being 40 to 44 million years old provides evidence of
(c) that it is 40 to 44 million years old provides evidence of what was
(d) to be 40 to 44 million years old provide evidence of
(e) as 40 to 44 million years old provides evidence of what was
Q13. Building on civilizations that preceded them in coastal Peru, the Mochica developed their own elaborate society, based on cultivating such crops like corn and beans, the harvesting of fish and shellfish, and exploiting other wild and domestic resources.
(a) based on cultivating such crops like corn and beans, the harvesting of fish and shellfish, and exploiting
(b) based on the cultivation of such crops as corn and beans, the harvesting of fish and seafood, and exploitation of
(c) and basing it on the cultivation of crops like corn and beans, harvesting fish and seafood, and the exploiting of
(d) and they based it on their cultivation of crops such as corn and beans, the harvest of fish and seafood, and exploiting
(e) and they based it on their cultivating such crops like corn and beans, their harvest of fish and shellfish, and they exploited
Q14. The end of the eighteenth century saw the emergence of prize-stock breeding, with individual bulls and cows receiving awards, fetching unprecedented prices, and excited enormous interest whenever they were put on show.
(a) excited
(b) it excited
(c) exciting
(d) would excite
(e) it had excited
Q15. For members of the seventeenth-century Ashanti nation in Africa, animal-hide shields with wooden frames were essential items of military equipment, a method to protect warriors against enemy arrows and spears.
(a) a method to protect
(b) as a method protecting
(c) protecting
(d) as a protection of
(e) to protect
Solutions
S1. Ans.(b)
Sol. Verb form; Logical predication
The sentence explains the expectations that resulted from a past retail sales trend. Since expectations look to the future but are not yet realized, the relative clause explaining these expectations should be conditional, employing the auxiliary verb would.
(b) Correct. By using the verb ‘would’, this concise sentence indicates that the expectation has not yet been realized.
S2. Ans.(d)
Sol. Idiom; Logical predication
The use of ‘do not and nothing’ in the same sentence creates a double negative and reverse the intended meaning. Anything should be used instead of nothing. Logically, a “natural” food cannot contain any prohibited ingredient, so the list of prohibited ingredients must be connected by or.
(d) Correct. This sentence correctly avoids a double negative and uses parallel elements.
S3. Ans.(c)
Sol. Logical predication; Grammatical construction
This sentence compares how efficiently plants and fungi acquire carbon and convert it into sugars. The sentence construction needs to make clear that plants and fungi are the two topics being compared, and it must also clarify that in the form of carbon dioxide refers to carbon rather than to either plants or fungi.
(c) Correct. The sentence clearly compares plants to fungi, and in the form of carbon dioxide correctly modifies carbon.
S4. Ans.(d)
Sol. Grammatical construction; Verb form
The participle supplementing would normally be expected to modify the first clause, describing or extending its meaning, but the logic of this sentence demands a contrast, not an extension. Consequently, the second part of the sentence must be revised to emphasize the contrast properly. The logic of the sentence also argues against a construction that would set the two clauses and the importance of their content equal when they clearly should not be. The best solution is to have the main clause describe the primary activity, and a subordinate clause, although they supplemented, describe the supplementary activity.
(d) Correct. Using although creates a subordinate clause in this sentence and logically links that clause with the main clause; the simple past supplemented parallels the simple past were.
S5. Ans.(e)
Sol. Idiom; Logical predication
The intent of the sentence is to contrast the honeybee and the yellow jacket. Correct idioms for such a contrast include in contrast with x, y, in contrast to x, y; and unlike x, y. In all these idioms, x and y must be grammatically and logically parallel. As contrasted with is not a correct idiom.
(e) Correct. This sentence used a correct idiom, and the honeybee is properly parallel to the yellow jacket.
S6. Ans.(a)
Sol. Grammatical construction; Logical predication
This sentence introduces the subject (Neuroscientists), pauses to explain what neuroscientists have accomplished in the past twenty years, and then concludes by explaining what neuroscientists are presently doing as a result of their past accomplishments. The second part of the sentence – the explanation – interrupts the flow of the sentence from the subject (neuroscientists) to the predicate (are now drawing solid conclusions…); it should therefore be bracketed by commas. The sentence construction should provide a main verb for the subject neuroscientists.
(a) Correct. The explanatory phrase between the subject and predicate is set off by commas, and the main clause contains both a subject (Neuroscientists) and a corresponding verb (are now drawing).
S7. Ans.(d)
Sol. Grammatical construction; Parallelism
The sentence compares one group of people, most of the people exposed to the alleged causes, with another group of people, so many of those not so exposed. To maintain the comparison, the verb in the second part should match the verb in the first part. Since the first verb is do not commit, the second verb should be the parallel ‘do’. There is no need to repeat commit crimes since it is understood in this construction.
(d) Correct. This sentence correctly uses the verb ‘do’ to complete the comparison and maintain the parallelism with ‘do not commit’.
S8. Ans.(c)
Sol. Verb Form; Grammatical construction; Logical predication
The sentence requires two tenses – past tense to describe the previous design and present tense to describe the current design of the discus. In the sentence presented here, the grammatical subject is weight, not discus, so the pronoun it grammatically refers to weight, which makes no sense.
(c) Correct. The introductory phrase describes the past design of the discus with a past participle (designed) that modifies the subject of the main clause (the discus); the main verb ‘is lined’.0 is in present tense.
S9. Ans.(e)
Sol. Diction; Rhetorical construction
The–ing form of a verb can be used as a noun (e.g., running is her favorite sport), but it is often awkward, particularly when used with a possessive, as in this case. Substituting the noun attempt for the gerund trying eliminates the problem. While chemical that is irritating it and chemical irritating it are both grammatically correct the could be appropriate in some usages, they are excessively wordy for this context.
(e) Correct. In this sentence, the noun attempt replaces the gerund trying in this construction with organism’s.
S10. Ans.(e)
Sol. Logical predication; Rhetorical construction
The underlined phrase is a modifier; it functions as an adjective to describe the noun that immediately follows it. In this case, the phrase incorrectly modifies scholars, which does not make any sense. What are the scholars doing? When the modifier begins with using, it correctly links the scholars with the modifier that describes their activity.
(e) Correct. In this sentence, using accounts of various ancient writers correctly modifies scholars in a clear and concise expression of their activity.
S11. Ans.(e)
Sol. Parallelism; Grammatical construction
The main point of the sentence is that Dickinson’s letters to her sister-in-law outnumber her letters to anyone else. To emphasize this point, outnumber should be the main verb, and the description introduced by the passive verb were written needs to be changed from a main clause to an adjectival phrase.
(e) Correct. The information about the period when Dickinson’s letters were written is contained in an adjectival phrase set off by commas, and the main verb outnumber refers clearly to letters.
S12. Ans.(d)
Sol. Idiom; Agreement
The verb estimated should be followed by the infinitive to be, not the preposition at – unless the writer intends to indicate a location at which someone made the estimate. The jawbone fragments were estimated to be a certain age. The plural subject fragments requires the plural verb provide.
(d) Correct. In this sentence, the verb estimated is correctly followed by the infinitive to be.
S13. Ans.(b)
Sol. Diction; Parallelism
The sentence describes the elaborate society of the Mochica with a series of three features, the first of which contains an example. The three features must be presented in parallel structures – e.g., cultivating, harvesting, and exploiting. The use of such to introduce the examples of crops requires that the comparison be completed with as instead of like.
(b) Correct. The three items in the series are in parallel form, and such crops is correctly followed by as.
S14. Ans.(c)
Sol. Parallelism
The bulls and cows are described in a series of participial phrases. Items in a series should be parallel: receiving awards is parallel to fetching unprecedented prices, but excited must be changed to exciting to make the third phrase, exciting enormous interest, parallel to the first two.
(c) Correct. In this sentence, exciting is parallel to receiving and fetching.
S15. Ans.(c)
Sol. Logical predication; Rhetorical construction
The underlined part of the sentence begins a phrase describing items of military equipment. It is awkward and inaccurate to describe items themselves as a method. Replacing the underlined phrase with the participle protecting creates a modifying phrase that clearly explains the purpose of the items of military equipment.
(c) Correct. In this sentence, protecting properly introduces a modifying phrase revealing the purpose of the items.
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