Each underlined section corresponds to an answer choice. Select the answer choice that contains an error, or select Choice E if there is no error.
- “Are you all ready for the English exam? asked mom.“
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- No error
When used as a name, Mom should be capitalized. When used as a noun (e.g., “Our mom told us”), it’s lowercase. Spelling, capitalization, and punctuation are correct in the other underlined parts.
- According to the fire marshal’s statistics, smoking cigarettes in bed are the cause of many tragic fires.
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- No error
The incorrectly plural verb are should be is to agree with the singular subject smoking.
- Signs of decay that should be recognized by every citizen includes oil spills along the shoreline as well as the absence of wildlife.
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The singular verb includes should be plural here to agree with the plural subject signs.
- Either Philip or Joe will always finish their trigonometry homework in class.
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- No error
The possessive pronoun modifying “trigonometry homework” should be the singular his here to agree with the singular “Either Philip or Joe,” not the plural their.
- Who else beside Jim Smith won a scholarship?
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- No error
The preposition here should be besides, meaning “except” or “in addition to,” not beside, meaning “next to” or “alongside of.”
- I appreciate your helping me in the kitchen when my mom is at work.
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- No error
The word Mom is used as a name here, so it should be capitalized.
- I am certain that the English scholarship winner will be hear.
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- No error
Hear is the wrong word; it should be the adverb here.
- Talking with my grandfather about World War II effected me more than I thought it would have.
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- No error
The verb should be affected (influenced), not effected.
- The president is all together opposed to the bill.
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The phrase should be altogether (entirely), not all together.
- Tsetse flies, which carry the dreaded disease called sleeping sickness, attacks both humans and cattle.
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Because the subject tsetse flies is plural, the verb must be attack.
- According to Aunt Grace, this kind of a sweater is the warmest for the winter months.
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Remove the unnecessary of a; write this kind of sweater.
- Many reading lists for high‑school students include translations from Scandinavian writers such as Lagerlog, Undset, and Ibsen.
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- No error
This sentence is grammatically correct as written.
- Will they ascent to our proposal?
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Use the verb assent (agree), not the noun ascent.
- Earlier synthetics, such as Bakelite, have went the way of the dinosaur.
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The past participle of go is gone, so it should read have gone.
- After the attack by the U‑boat, the Lusitania sunk in 18 minutes; over 1,000 people drowned.
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The simple past tense of sink is sank: the Lusitania sank.
- The teacher discussed the rule that the compliment of thirty degrees is sixty degrees.
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In geometry the term is complement of an angle, not compliment.
- As you approach the intersection, drive as cautious as you can.
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Use the adverb cautiously, not the adjective cautious.
- The queen’s counsil could not agree on the correct policy.
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The noun should be council (advisory group), not counsil.
- Scurvy, one of the diseases that modern science has conquered, result from a lack of vitamin C.
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The singular subject Scurvy takes the singular verb results.
- Some people say that compact discs offers a brighter treble and truer base than conventional records.
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Plural subject compact discs needs plural verb offer.
- I learned about the Roaring Twenties from my great‑grandmother and he.
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The object of the preposition from should be the objective pronoun him, not he.
- Mrs. Jones was formally head of the history department at Center High School.
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The adverb should be formerly (previously), not formally.
- The British navy, members of which are called “limeys,” were responsible for first using limes to prevent scurvy during long sea voyages.
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The singular collective noun navy takes the singular verb was responsible.
- Please write and tell my mother and I about your trip to San Francisco.
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After a preposition (tell), use the objective pronoun me, not I.