Directions: Correct the following sentences (if necessary) and give reasons for your corrections.
Question 1: The result of all these lengthy legal actions, counterclaims, and appeals, stretching over several months, were simply huge bills from the lawyers and nothing else.
Answer: The result of all lengthy legal actions, counterclaims, and appeals, stretching over several months, was simply huge bills from the lawyers and nothing else. [Subject-Verb Agreement]
Question 2: Neither his brother nor his sister were able to help him.
Answer: Neither his brother nor his sister was able to help him. [Subject-Verb Agreement]
Question 3: I am so exhausted I can’t scarcely keep my eyes open.
Answer: I am so exhausted I can scarcely keep my eyes open. OR I am so exhausted I can’t keep my eyes open. [Double Negatives]
Question 4: Although the party’s political machine did produce the crucial Dalit votes, but the candidate was defeated by the alliance formed by independents and reformers.
Answer: Although the party’s political machine did produce the crucial Dalit votes, (but) the candidate was defeated by the alliance formed by independents and reformers. [Use of Conjunctions]
Question 5: A necklace of diamonds, presented by friends of the bride, were among the presents on view.
Answer: A necklace of diamonds, presented by friends of the bride, was among the presents on view.
[Subject-Verb Agreement]
Question 6: Whom did you say he was?
Answer: Who did you say he was? [Pronoun Case]
Question 7: Only in the interest of establishing clear lines of communication among their government and ours has the President acceded to their demands in regard to the tariff dispute.
Answer: Only in the interest of establishing clear lines of communication between their government and ours has the President acceded to their demands in regard to the tariff dispute. [Use of Prepositions]
Question 8: I cannot open the drawer in which I put the paper in.
Answer: I cannot open the drawer in which I put the paper (in). [Use of Prepositions]
Question 9: Joel complained to the governors, whom he suspected were misusing the school funds.
Answer: Joel complained to the governors, who he suspected were misusing the school funds. [Pronoun Case]
Question 10: Touched that the guest artist had practised as long and as strenuously the way they had, the exhausted members of the orchestra gave her a standing ovation.
Answer: Touched that the guest artist had practised as long and as strenuously as they had, the exhausted members of the orchestra gave her a standing ovation. [Use of Comparative Structures]
Question 11: He designed kennels for dogs which were very hygienic.
Answer: He designed dog kennels which were very hygienic. [Use of Relative Pronouns]
Question 12: Before medicine was considered a science, many people who practised it were regarded magicians.
Answer: Before medicine was considered a science, many people who practised it were regarded as magicians.
[Use of Prepositions]
Question 13: She felt that she could not give in with his demands, which she thought were completely unreasonable.
Answer: She felt that she could not give in to his demands, which she thought were completely unreasonable.
[Use of Prepositions]
Question 14: Neither of these books are any good to me.
Answer: Neither of these books is any good to me. [Subject-Verb Agreement]
Question 15: Asking the union negotiators to choose between higher wages or increased pension benefits seems perfectly reasonable when one considers the most recent sales figures.
Answer: Asking the union negotiators to choose between higher wages and increased pension benefits seems perfectly reasonable when one considers the most recent sales figures.
