INSTRUCTIONS
- In the following questions, some part of the sentence is underlined.
- Which of the options given below the sentence should replace the part underlined to make the sentence grammatically correct?
- If the sentence is correct as it is given, then choose option E, ‘No Correction required’, as the answer.
Good teachers want their students to do well, but getting students responding is not always easy.
a) to become responsive
b) to respond
c) to become more responsive
d) becoming more responsive
e) No correction required
EXPLANATION
The error lies in the idiomatic usage of ‘respond’. ‘Getting students to respond’ is proper idiomatic usage, whereas ‘getting students responding’ is not. Option (a) is grammatically correct but changes the meaning of the sentence.
ANSWER
Option (b)
Two new students, one from Hyderabad and the other one in the wheelchair, join the class on Monday.
a) the other having a wheelchair, join
b) the other one on a wheelchair, joins
c) the other one in the wheelchair, join
d) the other one who is seen sitting in the wheelchair, join
e) No correction required
EXPLANATION
The error lies in the disagreement of subject and verb. The subject of the sentence is ‘two new students’, which is plural. The verb ‘joins’ doesn’t agree with it. Option (d) is grammatically correct but is wordy.
ANSWER
Option (c)
All the wild animals who are rendered homeless because of the forest fire have been shifted to a zoo.
a) who are made to abandon their homes in the forest fire
b) which are rendered homeless because of the forest fire
c) which made the forest fire make them render homeless
d) who are homeless because of the fire in the forest
e) No correction required
EXPLANATION
The noun ‘animals’ can not be referred to by the relative pronoun ‘who’, which is used to refer to human beings but not animals. Hence changing ‘who’ to ‘which’ corrects the error in the underlined part.
ANSWER
| Option (b)
The newly enacted law requires employers to inform an employee of their legal right to paid leaves and overtime pay.
a) employers to inform employees that he has a
b) employers to inform employees that there is a
c) that employers inform an employee of their
d) that employers inform the employees that they have a
e) No correction required
EXPLANATION
The underlined part contains an error in the usage of pronoun. ‘Employee’ is singular and thus ‘their’ can’t refer to it. Every other option except (b) is grammatically wrong. In option (d), the usage of ‘they’ is ambiguous.
ANSWER
| Option (b) |
Had the partnership between Kohli and Rahane continued for another hour, India can have won the match.
a) India definitely went on to win the match
b) the match could have never been won by India
c) India had the possibility of winning the match
d) India would have won the match
e) No correction required
EXPLANATION
The given sentence is an example of a third conditional or type IV conditional sentence, used to indicate a past unreal action. The main clause in such sentences uses the modal verb ‘would’ followed by perfect (continuous) tense.
ANSWER
Option (d)
Besides offering physiological rewards such as toned muscles, karate, if practised regularly, can turn the body into a dangerous weapon.
a) one can turn the body into a dangerous weapon by regularly practising karate
b) when karate is practised regularly, the body is turned in to a dangerous weapon
c) when practised regularly, the benefits of karate can turn in to the dangerous body
d) the body can be turned into a dangerous weapon by regular practice of karate
e) No correction required
EXPLANATION
The question is about the modifiers. The subject of the sentence is ‘karate’ and it is modified by the introductory phrase. The given sentence is correct as it is. All the other options either modify the meaning or are grammatically wrong.
ANSWER
Option (e)
A recent survey concluded that most of the students in government-run schools by India can barely read or write.
a) of schools in India run by the government
b) in government-run schools in India
c) of government-run schools of India
d) in government schools run by India
e) No correction required
EXPLANATION
The underlined part contains an error in the usage of prepositions. The schools are run by the government and they exist in India, hence ‘in’ is the correct preposition before India, not ‘by’ as used in the given sentence. All the other options are wrong.
ANSWER
Option (b)
As it rained for four days on the trot, hence the flood water has risen to dangerous levels, forcing the authorities to open the gates of the reservoir.
a) the flood water has risen to dangerous levels
b) forcing the flood water to rise to dangerous levels
c) hence the water from the floods rose to dangerous levels
d) because the floodwaters have risen to dangerous levels
e) No correction required
EXPLANATION
As the sentence begins with the subordinating conjunction ‘as’, the independent clause should not begin with another subordinating conjunction. ‘Hence’ in the underlined part must be eliminated to correct the sentence. (Although ‘water’ is a countable noun, using the plural form is not uncommon when used with ‘flood’.)
ANSWER
Option (a)
While India improved on its previous best of 65 at the 2010 Guangzhou Asian
Games, it remains miles below Asian powerhouses like China and Japan, the top two in Jakarta.
a) it stays way below Asian powerhouses like China and Japan
b) it remains miles behind Asian powerhouses like China and Japan
c) India remained well below Asian powerhouses like China and Japan
d) it stayed beneath Asian powerhouses like China and Japan
e) No correction required
EXPLANATION
The error is in the usage of the prepositions. Although ‘below’, ‘beneath’ and ‘behind’ are prepositions of place, the appropriate preposition for this context is ‘behind’. We normally use below’ when one object is in a lower position than the other.
ANSWER
Option (b)
New sanctions are announced by Washington, on the eve of US Secretary of State’s visit to Pakistan, and the threat of imposing more punishment have certainly soured the atmospherics in Pakistan.
a) Newer sanctions are announced by Washington
b) New sanctions were announced by Washington
c) As new sanctions are announced
d) New sanctions announced by Washington
e) No correction required
EXPLANATION
There are two subjects in the given sentence, and both of them are phrases. One is ‘ the threat of imposing more punishment’, and the other, that begins the sentence, must also be a phrase. But as given, it is an independent clause and must be changed to a phrase by eliminating the verb ‘are’.
ANSWER
Option (d)