II. Three-Step Method
to the Sentence Correction Questions
A. Read the sentence.
B. Figure out what the question is testing.
C. Eliminate answer choices.
A. Read the sentence.
Do not simply read the underlined
part of the sentence. Read the complete sentence. Choice (A)
will always be a copy of the original underlined part of the
sentence. If you cannot find any errors in the original sentence,
choose A. Don't worry about spelling, capitalization, or punctuation;
they are not covered in Sentence Correction questions.
B. Figure
out what the question is testing.
This is a multiple choice exam,
so you know that one of the answer choices must be right. Therefore,
you may look at the different answer choices and see what the
changes are to figure out the problem in the sentence.
Example
"On arriving at the train
station, his friends met him and took him immediately to his
speaking engagement."
Give these answers a quick
glance:
a) On arriving at the train station, his friends met him and
took him immediately to his speaking engagement.
b) Arriving at the train station, his friends who met him immediately
took him to his speaking engagement.
c) When he arrived at the train station, his friends met him
and took him immediately to his speaking engagement.
d) When he arrived at the train station, he was taken immediately
to his speaking engagement.
e) After arriving at the train station, he was immediately taken
to his speaking engagement.
Notice that certain parts of
the sentences change from choice A to choice E. These are the
"controversial" parts of the sentence that contain
variable elements.
a) On arriving at the
train station, his friends met him and took him immediately
to his speaking engagement.
b) Arriving at the train station, his friends who met
him immediately took him to his speaking engagement.
c) When he arrived at the train station, his friends
met him and took him immediately to his speaking engagement.
d) When he arrived at the train station, he was taken
immediately to his speaking engagement.
e) After arriving at the train station, he was immediately
taken to his speaking engagement.
The bolded parts of the sentence
represent areas that change; the non-bolded are the areas that
are fixed throughout the answer choices and therefore must not
have problems. Thus, we may narrow the problem areas of the sentence.
Choice C is correct because it clarifies the subject of the modifying
phrase.
C. Eliminate
answer choices.
The
process of elimination is very important here. Eliminate a choice
once you find one error in it. Gradually, you should be down
to one or two choices, and you may make a reasonable guess. Use
the process of elimination scrap
paper charts to narrow your choices.
D. Sample Questions
1. The threat of discrimination
lawsuits helps ensure <that pay be the same for jobs historically
held by minorities as for jobs requiring comparable skill that
are> usually held by whites.
(A) that pay be the same for jobs historically held by minorities
as for jobs requiring comparable skill that are
(B) that pay for jobs historically held by minorities should
be the same as for a job requiring comparable skills
(C) to pay the same in jobs historically held by minorities as
in jobs of comparable skill that are
(D) to pay the same regardless of whether a job was historically
held by minorities or is one demanding comparable skills
(E) to pay as much for jobs historically held by minorities as
for a job demanding comparable skills
In choice B, 'should' is illogical after 'requires', or at least
unnecessary, and so is better omitted; in choices B and E, 'job'
does not agree in number with jobs; and in choices B, D, and
E, the wording illogically describes the 'comparable skills'
rather than the 'jobs' as being "usually held, by whites."
Choices C, D, and E produce the ungrammatical construction 'requires
of... employers to pay', in which of makes the phrase incorrect.
In C, .the use of in rather than 'for' is unidiomatic, and 'jobs
of comparable skill' confusedly suggests that the jobs rather
than the workers possess the skills. In D, the phrase beginning
'regardless. . .' is awkward and wordy in addition to being illogical.
Choice A is best
2. Hand ale pumps may slightly
improve the flavor of ale over gas-powered kegs, but modern pub
managers contend that <hand ale pumps cost twice as much
as gas-powered kegs>.
(A) hand ale pumps cost twice
as much as maintaining gas-powered kegs
(B) hand ale pumps cost twice as much to maintain as gas-powered
kegs do
(C) maintaining hand ale pumps costs twice as much as gas-powered
kegs do
(D) maintaining hand ale pumps costs twice as much as it does
for gas-powered kegs
(E) to maintain hand ale pumps costs twice as much as for gas-powered
kegs
This sentence compares the costs
required to maintain two kinds of roads. B, the best choice,
is able to maintain parallelism in the comparison as well. Choice
A incorrectly shifts the meaning by comparing the cost of hand
ale pumps with the cost of maintaining gas-powered kegs. Choice
C does the opposite: it compares the cost of maintaining hand
ale pumps with the cost of gas-powered kegs themselves. Choice
D further confuses the sentence by adding a nonparallel clause,
it does for, in which it has no clear referent. Choice E introduces
the infinitive phrase to maintain.., and wrongly attempts to
complete the comparison with the nonparallel prepositional phrase
for....
3. This week's bingo session
will have <an even greater amount of winners> than
won last week.
(A) an even greater amount of winners
(B) an ever larger amount of winners
(C) an amount of people even winners
(D) a number of people even winners
(E) an even greater number of winners
Notice that three choices contain the word amount and two choices
contain number. People, because they can be counted, come in
numbers rather than amounts. (E) is best because of the remaining
two because the phrase an even greater amount of people clearly
refers to more people, while a number of people even larger could
be referring to bigger people.
4. <With> only one percent of the world's population,
the English people have dramatically altered the course of the
world.
A) With
B) Although accounting for
C) Being
D) Despite having
E) As
The trick with this sentence correction question is the contrast
between the size of the English population and the activities
of its citizens. Choices D and B are the only ones that establish
the contrast, and only B, the best choice, expresses meaning
accurately with the phrase 'Although accounting for.' 'With'
in choice A and 'Despite having' in choice D confusingly suggest
that English people somehow possess, rather than constitute,
one percent of the world's population. Choices E and C lose the
contrast between the opening phrase and the main clause, and
As is unidiomatic in E.
5. The public's widespread
interest in the life of <ancient Egyptians and their general
curiosity about extraterrestrial life has> generated considerable
interest in science fiction.
A) ancient Egyptians and their general curiosity about extraterrestrial
life has
B) ancient Egyptians and they are generally curious about extraterrestrial
life which has
C) ancient Egyptians, as well as their general curiosity about
extraterrestrial life, have
D) ancient Egyptians, as well as its general curiosity about
extraterrestrial life, has
E) ancient Egyptians, as well as general curiosity about extraterrestrial
life, have
The sample sentence has two errors. First, it is vague about
what the word 'their' refers to (the public or the ancient Egyptians)
and then there is a problem with subject/verb agreement (public
is singular, meaning that it has to math 'has'. Logically, it
would seem the reference is to the public, but public is singular;
so we would have to use its, not their. Choice (B) is awkward.
Choices (C), (D), and (E) change the sentence's structure so
that the word belief becomes the only subject-now we need a singular
verb. Only (D) contains the singular verb has.
The scope of
this grammar guide is to give you a basic introduction to grammar.
If you still need help, consider buying a book on grammar.
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