Passage Correction Questions and Answers

Answer: C

Correct answer: has

Each is singular and governs the verb, so each of the three candidates has been called. The plural candidates is the object of of, and a noun inside a prepositional phrase can never be the subject. Deleting the phrase leaves each has been called, which settles the question at once. The presence of the number three makes the plural sound still more natural to the ear, which is exactly why examiners include it. The whole group of singular indefinites behaves this way: each, every, either, neither, one, everyone, anyone, someone, nobody. The exception is positional. When each follows a plural subject it is adverbial and the verb stays plural: the three candidates have each been called. The word has not changed; its grammatical role has.

Answer: A

Correct answer: was given

Each, every, either, neither, everyone, somebody and nobody are all singular, whatever plural noun may follow them. So each of the boys was given. The plural boys is the object of of and cannot be the subject; the subject is each. Deleting the prepositional phrase leaves each was given, which settles it. The rule holds even when each follows the subject in apposition: the boys were each given a certificate is plural, because there the subject is the boys and each is merely an adverbial addition. Position changes the answer. Every behaves identically, and every one of them was present is correct for the same reason.

Answer: A

It should read initials.

Men referred to by two or three letters - J.F.K., M.K.G. - are known by their initials, not their short names. A short name would be a nickname or a shortened form, which is a different thing.

Answer: D

Correct answer: of handling

Capable takes the preposition of followed by a gerund: capable of handling. It is never followed by an infinitive. The word it is confused with is able, which takes the infinitive: able to handle. The two mean much the same thing but require different constructions, and either sentence would be correct if the adjective were changed to match. A number of adjectives take of plus a gerund in the same way: afraid of failing, fond of reading, proud of winning, tired of waiting, ashamed of lying, desirous of joining and confident of succeeding. The general principle is that a preposition is always followed by a gerund, never by an infinitive - which is why to handling is wrong in a different way, treating the infinitive marker to as though it were a preposition.

Answer: E

No correction is required.

They were all shocked at his failure is correct: all follows the auxiliary were, and shocked at is the usual collocation. The alternatives move all to the wrong side of the verb or change the preposition unnecessarily.

Answer: B

It should read speaks for itself.

To speak for itself is the fixed idiom - the evidence needs no explanation from me. Speaking about or to itself would mean something quite different, and the present simple is right for a general truth.

Answer: A

It should read to tolerate.

Too ... to is the fixed construction: too important to tolerate any delay. Too ... for takes a noun, not a gerund clause, so for tolerating leaves the sentence unidiomatic.

Answer: E

No correction is required.

The comparison is between one population and another, so that of any other town supplies the second term correctly. Greater than any other town would compare a population with a town, which is the error the sentence has already avoided.

Answer: B

It should read worse than I had expected.

Worse is the comparative and worst the superlative; a comparison between two things - the performance and the expectation - takes the comparative. Rather worst is impossible for the same reason.

Answer: A

It should read did you not throw.

Did already carries the past tense, so the main verb stays in the base form. Threw is the past tense and thrown the past participle; neither can follow did.