With transitive verbs (taking an object), adverbs may come after the object, but never between verb and object.
"He told the story rapidly." [Correct]
"He slowly told the story."[Correct]
"He told rapidly the story ." [Incorrect]
"He told slowly the story."[Incorrect]
OG10 - 92
Never before had taxpayers confronted so many
changes at once as they had in the Tax Reform Act
of 1986.
C) at once as many changes that there were with
Option C , incorrectly places adverb at-once in between
transitive verb ( confronted ) and its direct object (changes).
OG10-97
Iguanas have been an important food source in
Latin America since prehistoric times, and it is
still prized as a game animal by the campcsinos,
who typically cook the meat in a heavily spiced
stew.
[E] being still prized as a game animal
The sentence logical structure is
IC,and IC,modifier.
In oprtion E , staring the sentence with being .....
the sentense is changed to PP and then next IC
becomes who .... spiced stew. This is not what the
sentence is suppose to mean.
OG101
Less Vs Lower
Even though the direct costs of malpractice disputes
amounts to a sum lower than one percent of the $541
billion the nation spent on health care last year,
doctors say fear of lawsuits plays a major role in
health-care inflation.
C) amounted to less
D )amounted to lower
E )amounted to a lower sum
For the object of preposition to ( amounted to ..... ) we need a
noun (less) and not a adjective (lower).
OG 108
Adj+Adj+Noun
Reporting that one of its many problems had been
the recent extended sales slump in women's
apparel, the seven-store retailer said it would start
a three-month liquidation sale in all of its stores.
C] its many problems is the recently
The adverb recently distorts the
meaning of the sentence by illogically suggesting that
what was recent was only the extension of the slump,
and not the slump itself.
Less Vs Lower
Even though the direct costs of malpractice disputes
amounts to a sum lower than one percent of the $541
billion the nation spent on health care last year,
doctors say fear of lawsuits plays a major role in
health-care inflation.
C) amounted to less
D )amounted to lower
E )amounted to a lower sum
For the object of preposition to ( amounted to ..... ) we need a
noun (less) and not a adjective (lower).
OG 108
Adj+Adj+Noun
Reporting that one of its many problems had been
the recent extended sales slump in women's
apparel, the seven-store retailer said it would start
a three-month liquidation sale in all of its stores.
C] its many problems is the recently
The adverb recently distorts the
meaning of the sentence by illogically suggesting that
what was recent was only the extension of the slump,
and not the slump itself.
OG 109
Legislation in the Canadian province of Ontario requires of both public and private employers that pay be the same for jobs historically held by women as for jobs requiring comparable skill that are usually held by men.
Legislation in the Canadian province of Ontario requires of both public and private employers that pay be the same for jobs historically held by women as for jobs requiring comparable skill that are usually held by men.
(C) to pay the same in jobs historically held by women as in jobs of comparable skill that are
After "requires of employers" we have to have a "that"... (if we had "require employers" we could use a "to").
OG 110
Cause Effect Reversals
It has been estimated that the annual cost to the United
States of illiteracy in lost industrial output and tax
revenues is at least $20 billion a year.
E)lost industrial output and tax revenues cost the
United States at least $20 billion a year because of
illiteracy
Choice E is particularly
garbled in reversing cause and effect, saying that it is lost
output and revenues rather than illiteracy that costs the
United States over $20 billion a year.
OG113
Cluase Analysis
Visitors to the park have often looked up into the
leafy canopy and saw monkeys sleeping on the
branches, whose arms and legs hang like socks on a
clothesline.
The whose correspondes to Branches. The best way to
correct this problem is to remove relative clause.
....monkeys sleeping on the branches, with arms and legs ....
OG132
Countable Vs Non-Countables
According to a study by the Carnegie Foundation
for the Advancement of Teaching, companies in
the United States are providing job training and
general education for nearly eight million people,
about equivalent to the enrollment of the nation's
four-year colleges and universities.
A )equivalent to the enrollment of
E )as many as are enrolled in
As quantitative expressions, equivalent and equal
often modify nouns referring to uncountable things,
as in
"an equivalent amount of resistance" or
"a volume of water equal to Lake Michigan."
To establish numerical comparability between
groups with countable members, the phrase
as many as is preferable.
OG 110
Cause Effect Reversals
It has been estimated that the annual cost to the United
States of illiteracy in lost industrial output and tax
revenues is at least $20 billion a year.
E)lost industrial output and tax revenues cost the
United States at least $20 billion a year because of
illiteracy
Choice E is particularly
garbled in reversing cause and effect, saying that it is lost
output and revenues rather than illiteracy that costs the
United States over $20 billion a year.
OG113
Cluase Analysis
Visitors to the park have often looked up into the
leafy canopy and saw monkeys sleeping on the
branches, whose arms and legs hang like socks on a
clothesline.
The whose correspondes to Branches. The best way to
correct this problem is to remove relative clause.
....monkeys sleeping on the branches, with arms and legs ....
OG132
Countable Vs Non-Countables
According to a study by the Carnegie Foundation
for the Advancement of Teaching, companies in
the United States are providing job training and
general education for nearly eight million people,
about equivalent to the enrollment of the nation's
four-year colleges and universities.
A )equivalent to the enrollment of
E )as many as are enrolled in
As quantitative expressions, equivalent and equal
often modify nouns referring to uncountable things,
as in
"an equivalent amount of resistance" or
"a volume of water equal to Lake Michigan."
To establish numerical comparability between
groups with countable members, the phrase
as many as is preferable.
OG134
Will Vs Should
Will Vs Should
The canadian scientists have calculated that a meteorite
should/will strike a human ......
Should carries a suggestion , where as the scientists mean
it is ought to happen. So WILL is correct over here.
OG135
Structure
Intar, the oldest Hispanic theater company in New
York, has moved away from the Spanish classics and
now it draws on the works both of contemporary
Hispanic authors who live abroad and of those in the
United States.
The above is a run-on sentence :
it intrudes between the halves of the
compound verb has moved... and [now] draws to introduce
a new grammatical subject, thereby creating a run-on
sentence:
the inclusion of it requires a comma after classics to set off
the new independent clause.
===>
Intar, the oldest Hispanic theater company in New
York, has moved away from the Spanish classics [IC] and,
now it draws on the works both of contemporary
Hispanic authors who live abroad and of those in the
United States.[IC]
OG155
Structure
Federal authorities involved in the investigation
have found the local witnesses are difficult to locate,
reti cent. and are suspicious of strangers.
A) the local witnesses are difficult to locate, reticent,
and are
B )local witnesses to be difficult to locate, reticent,
and are
A and B convert the third element into
a second, coordinate predicate for the object clause by
repeating the verb are.
C )that local witnesses are difficult to locate, reticent,
and = OK
D )local witnesses are difficult to locate and reticent,
and they are
E) that local witnesses are difficult to locate and
reticent, and they are
D and E convert the third element
into a second, coordinate object clause by introducing the
words they are.
The "local witnesses are difficult to locate,
reti cent. and are suspicious of strangers" is a clause and must be
introduced by a relative pronoun "that".
OG205
Structure
The peaks of a mountain range, acting like rocks in a streambed, produce ripples in the air flowing over them; the resulting flow pattern, with crests and troughs that remain stationary although the air that forms them is moving rapidly, are known as "standing waves."
(A) crests and troughs that remain stationary although the air that forms them is moving rapidly, are
(B) crests and troughs that remain stationary although they are formed by rapidly moving air, are
(C) crests and troughs that remain stationary although the air that forms them is moving rapidly, is
(D) stationary crests and troughs although the air that forms them is moving rapidly, are
(E) stationary crests and troughs although they are formed by rapidly moving air, is
(A) crests and troughs that remain stationary although the air that forms them is moving rapidly, are
(B) crests and troughs that remain stationary although they are formed by rapidly moving air, are
(C) crests and troughs that remain stationary although the air that forms them is moving rapidly, is
(D) stationary crests and troughs although the air that forms them is moving rapidly, are
(E) stationary crests and troughs although they are formed by rapidly moving air, is
For E,
....,[PP]with stationary crests and troughs [DC]although the air that forms them is moving rapidly, ....
OG> incorrectly introduces a dependent
adverbial although clause into a prepositional phrase
(with crests ...)
For C,
...,....,with [IC]crests and troughs that remain stationary [DC]although the air that forms them is moving rapidly,....
OG>correctly puts the although clause inside the predicate
of the relative clause (that... rapidly)
