Card 0 of 20
Replace the underlined portion with the answer choice that results in a sentence that is clear, precise, and meets the requirements of standard written English. One of the answer choices reproduces the underlined portion as it is written in the sentence.
Although I had not wanted to attend the jazz concert, I was soon covered in goose bumps as I listened to the beautiful music.
The sentence is best in its original form.
Compare your answer with the correct one above
Replace the underlined portion with the answer choice that results in a sentence that is clear, precise, and meets the requirements of standard written English. One of the answer choices reproduces the underlined portion as it is written in the sentence.
When you do research on the Internet, it is imperative that you evaluate each site; you must consider the date of the information, the reliability of the author, and the accuracy of the facts.
No change. This is the most concise, most correct answer.
Compare your answer with the correct one above
Bethany simply could not believe it when she was asked to join the city council; she had been waiting for an opportunity like this for years.
The sentence is best in its original form. This is a question testing your ability to make the right word choice. "Council" means committee.
Compare your answer with the correct one above
More recently, the trend reversed itself to come back to the original position.
The underlined portion is correct as is. While the sentence is somewhat awkwardly worded, the underlined portion is gramatically correct, and there is little that other answer choices do to improve the sentence.
Compare your answer with the correct one above
The identity of the killer remained a mystery for the next fifty years.
The "identity of the killer" was unknown a while, so the use of the preposition "for" is correct, as it indicates the length of time was fully taken by the mystery of the killer's identity. The sentence is correct as written.
Compare your answer with the correct one above
Replace the underlined portion with the answer choice that results in a sentence that is clear, precise, and meets the requirements of standard written English. One of the answer choices reproduces the underlined portion as it is written in the sentence.
Zany performers can make audiences laugh without having to be as clever as serious performers.
Although slightly awkward, the underlined portion is grammatically correct. The comparison needs to have both uses of the word "as," and to describe distinctly the quality being compared and what is being compared.
Compare your answer with the correct one above
Forcing the issue, the students brought up the teacher's overly long assignments.
The underlined section of the sentence is a dependent clause, meaning it defines the rest of the sentence, but is not able to stand alone. The phrase "Forcing the issue" is correct in its usage.
Compare your answer with the correct one above
Replace the underlined portion with the answer choice that results in a sentence that is clear, precise, and meets the requirements of standard written English. One of the answer choices reproduces the underlined portion as it is written in the sentence.
Children frequently want toys they have seen advertised on their favorite television shows.
The underlined portion of the sentence, while slightly awkwardly worded, is perfectly correct grammatically. All of the other answer choices have either an incorrect verb tense or a construction that muddles the meaning of the sentence.
Compare your answer with the correct one above
Replace the underlined portion with the answer choice that results in a sentence that is clear, precise, and meets the requirements of standard written English.
The law prevented both active wiretapping and snooping.
The key word in the sentence is "both." This indicates that the underlined portion holds two items, "active wiretapping" and "snooping." Thus, the use of "and" appropriately separates the two items, and no punctuation is necessary.
Compare your answer with the correct one above
Replace the underlined portion with the answer choice that results in a sentence that is clear, precise, and meets the requirements of standard written English. One of the answer choices reproduces the underlined portion as it is written in the sentence.
Rivers were once the key transportation method in civilization, but the paving of roads created concrete rivers across land masses.
The underlined portion of the sentence features a gerund, a present verb form that can be used as a noun. Thus, the phrase "the paving of roads" can appropriately be a subject in the phrase, and the sentence is correct as written.
Compare your answer with the correct one above
Replace the underlined portion with the answer choice that results in a sentence that is clear, precise, and meets the requirements of standard written English.
You and I will be the ones to go into the room first.
The appropriate use of the pronouns "you" and "I" together as the subject of the sentence is in the sentence as it is written. The correct answer is to leave it as "You and I."
Compare your answer with the correct one above
Hungry and tired, the group stopped under the tree by the river bank for the night.
The underlined phrase, although slightly awkward and over worded, is actually perfectly grammatically correct. As none of the "corrected" answer choices are grammatically correct, the unchanged form of the underlined portion is the correct answer.
Compare your answer with the correct one above
The massive effort to clean up the mess from the storm was a months long process.
While the underlined section of the sentence is rather wordy, and not perfectly stated, it is absolutely grammatically correct. More importantly, none of the other answer choices are grammatically correct. The best choice is to leave it as written.
Compare your answer with the correct one above
No one will come to our defense but ourselves in our time of need.
The use of "ourselves" is actually correct in the sentence, as it refers to the previous use of "our" in the phrase "our defense;" therefore, the correct answer is to keep the word as "ourselves."
Compare your answer with the correct one above
Replace the underlined portion with the answer choice that results in a sentence that is clear, precise, and meets the requirements of standard written English. One of the answer choices reproduces the underlined portion as it is written in the sentence.
Moving into the future, the party's leaders decided to abandon their unsuccessful strategy.
The underlined section does contain a number of punctuation marks and interesting wording, but it is entirely correct. No changes need to be made to the sentence.
Compare your answer with the correct one above
Trying to understand her students' issues, the teacher found ways to ask about their problems indirectly.
The sentence is absolutely correct as written, and needs no improvement. The various corrections all make the sentence incorrect, as "asks" does not work in an infinitive, "student's" refers to one student and contradicts "their" as mentioned later, "indirectly" is an adverb and not an adjective, and writing "try" makes the sentence unclear and a fragment.
Compare your answer with the correct one above
Replace the underlined portion with the answer choice that results in a sentence that is clear, precise, and meets the requirements of standard written English. One of the answer choices reproduces the underlined portion as it is written in the sentence.
In a democratic government, it is the ultimate responsibility of every individual to engage in the political system.
The sentence is correct as written. All of the other answer choices make a comma error that either is entirely incorrect or unnecessarily confusing.
Compare your answer with the correct one above
Replace the underlined portion with the answer choice that results in a sentence that is clear, precise, and meets the requirements of standard written English. One of the answer choices reproduces the underlined portion as it is written in the sentence.
While some people find crossword puzzles to be tedious, others claim they can provide helpful mental stimulation.
There is no error in the sentence, so its original wording is the best choice. The subject of the sentence is the plural "puzzles," so changing the pronoun to the singular "it" would be a mistake. A semicolon would create a sentence structure problem, and the last possible answer choice, "tedious, others claim that being provided by them is," unnecessarily replaces the active voice with the passive voice, making the second part of the sentence awkward and wordy.
Compare your answer with the correct one above
Replace the underlined portion with the answer choice that results in a sentence that is clear, precise, and meets the requirements of standard written English. One of the answer choices reproduces the underlined portion as it is written in the sentence.
Gus was surprised that the pizza had taken so long to get to his house.
The answer is correct the way it is because taken is the correct use of the word, take, in the past tense. The answer is also not wordy.
Compare your answer with the correct one above
Replace the underlined portion with the answer choice that results in a sentence that is clear, precise, and meets the requirements of standard written English. One of the answer choices reproduces the underlined portion as it is written in the sentence.
The most difficult aspect of going to school and work is managing my time effectively.
The answer is correct the way it is because the verb that links the sentence, is, should be a noun phrase that is representative of, the most difficult aspect. The answer is also not wordy.
Compare your answer with the correct one above