Directions: Correct the following sentences (if necessary) and give reasons for your corrections.
Question 1: The whole block of buildings including two furniture stores and a drapery establishment were destroyed in the fire.
Answer: The whole block of buildings including two furniture stores and a drapery establishment was destroyed in the fire. [Subject-Verb Agreement]
Question 2: I would like to meet Mr. Smith, whom I take is the man you mean.
Answer: I would like to meet Mr. Smith, who I take is the man you mean. [Pronoun Case]
Question 3: Although the news had come as a surprise to all in the room, everyone tried to do their work as though nothing had happened.
Answer: Although the news had come as a surprise to all in the room, everyone tried to do his work as though nothing had happened. [Subject-Verb Agreement]
Question 4: Who were you talking to just now?
Answer: Whom were you talking to just now? [Pronoun Case]
Question 5: The road was lined with trees just like France.
Answer: The road was lined with trees just as in France. [Use of Conjunction or Preposition]
Question 6: He is doing his best to propitiate his master, whom he fears may be seriously offended by what has happened.
Answer: He is doing his best to propitiate his master, who he fears may be seriously offended by what has happened. [Pronoun Case]
Question 7: The Board was united in their support of the company’s legal actions and appeals.
Answer: -The Board was united in its support of the company’s legal actions and appeals. OR
-The Board were united in their support of the company’s legal actions and appeals.
[Subject-Verb Agreement]
Question 8: The poems which he occasionally deigned to regale the fashionable world were invariably bad—stereotyped, bombastic, and even ludicrous.
Answer: The poems with which he occasionally deigned to regale the fashionable world were invariably bad—stereotyped, bombastic, and even ludicrous. OR
-The poems which he occasionally deigned to regale the fashionable world with were invariably bad—stereotyped, bombastic, and even ludicrous. [Use of Prepositions]
Question 9: The volunteer worker is a retired school teacher who is extremely concerned of the appallingly low rate of adult literacy in her community.
Answer: The volunteer worker is a retired school teacher who is extremely concerned about the appallingly low rate of adult literacy in her community. [Use of Prepositions]
Question 10: The reviewers agree that this is one of the most interesting novels that has recently been issued.
Answer: The reviewers agree that this is one of the most interesting novels that have recently been issued.
[Subject-Verb Agreement]
Question 11: Unlike the children of a century ago, compulsory education today caters for every child up to the age of fifteen.
Answer: Unlike the children of a century ago, the children of today are catered for by compulsory education up to the age of fifteen. [Parallelism with Comparative Structures]
Question 12: Our next-door neighbours are extremely noisy, but even more so are they quarrelsome.
Answer: Our next-door neighbours are extremely noisy, but they are even more quarrelsome.
[Parallelism with Clauses]
Question 13: No sooner had he arrived, when he was taken straight up to the stranger.
Answer: No sooner had he arrived, than he was taken straight up to the stranger. [Use of Conjunctions]
Question 14: The new committee arranged everything as it was before, except the weekly meetings were discontinued.
Answer: The new committee arranged everything as it was before, except that the weekly meetings were discontinued. [Use of Relative Pronouns]
Question 15: The recent heat-wave was certainly hotter, or at any rate equal to, any we have experienced in the last ten years.
Answer: The recent heat-wave was certainly hotter than, or at any rate equal to, any we have experienced in the last ten years. [Faulty Ellipsis]
