From the marked areas A, B, C and D, identify the one that is wrong, correct it, and explain why it is wrong.
1. The (A) ROV asked a handicapped person (B) in a wheelchair to (C) hail taxis and, in less than five minutes, a taxi came and (D) got out to help.
2. A job-seeker was rejected but (A) the Personnel Manager who rang up (B) with the bad news promised to help him (C) looked for a job (D) elsewhere.
3. A rich man is looking into possible (A) ventures (B) in Philippines to develop (C) a choice piece of real estate in (D) the reclaimed area of Manila.
4. The chronic hostility between the police and young (A) blacks who spent their time in the streets (B) were responsible for (C) most of the riots (D) in Britain.
5. I am deeply disturbed by a common (A) phenomena I observed (B) in major cities, (C) which, (D) if unchecked, may flourish here.
6. If you believe you have (A) what we are looking for and wish to (B) embark on a satisfactory career in an organization that provides excellent growth and opportunities, (C) submit your application immediately, (D) give details of your personal particulars, qualifications and experience.
7. The Indonesian Foreign Minister said there should be conciliation, (A) not confrontation, at the international conference (B) on Cambodia with regard to (C) iron out differences between the ASEAN and the Chinese views on (D) how to resolve the conflict.
8. The (A) guided group discussion, (B) as with other teaching methods, (C) is designed to assist students in solving (D) recognizing difficulties.
9. In (A) today's age of space exploration, traditional boundaries become less important, as (B) man finds it necessary (C) relying more and more on (D) all the peoples of the world.
10. (A) All too often, those students who seem (B) highly motivated at the outset continue to exhibit (C) such a behavior, while those who (D) lack of this quality change their behavior very dramatically.
Answers
Answers
1.
D
Reason : The subject of D is "a taxi", which cannot possibly get out to help. It must be the ( taxi ) driver who got out to help :
2.
C
The English verb help takes several patterns, one of which is either "help + object + to infinitive " or "help + object + infinitive " : to look for/look for
3.
B
Generally speaking, proper nouns are not preceded by the definite article the. But the is required for some names of countries, including the one in question : in the Philippines.
4.
B
The wrong concord between the subject and the verb is a very common error in English, especially when the subject and the verb are split by some other elements between them. As the subject "chronic hostility " is singular in number, the verb should be singular too : was
5.
A
There are irregularities in the formation of plural number nouns in English. As a rule, plurality of nouns is indicated by means of the inflectional suffix -s. But many plural number nouns are not formed in this way, e.g. crisis : crises; criterion : criteria. Hence : phenomenon ( singular )
6.
D
When two or more clauses appear one after another, it is necessary to use a suitable conjunction to combine them : submit your application immediately and give. Alternatively, the second verb may be turned into a present participle : ... giving ...
7.
C
To is the marker of the infinitive and goes with base-form verbs. However, if to is part of an idiomatic expression, it is a preposition to be followed by an object, noun or pronoun, or gerund, e.g. I look forward to your visit/it/seeing you. Hence : with regard to ironing out.
8.
D
Both the present participle and the past participle are widely used as noun modifiers. The former is active in nature and indicates a continuous condition; the latter is passive in force and denotes completion of action : recognized.
9.
C
An important verb pattern involves the use of the "to infinitive" or an infinitive phrase to serve as the objective case. It takes this formula : "verb + it + necessary/possible etc. + to infinitive", which applies to the pattern in question : to rely
10.
D
Very often, a transitive verb = intransitive verb + preposition ( e.g. await = wait for ) . it is wrong if a preposition is added to the former or taken away from the latter. As the verb lack is a transitive verb, the use of of is unnecessary : lack. If lack is used as a noun, it takes the preposition of. e.g. There is a lack of manpower for this project.