Which of phrases given below each sentence should replace the phrase printed in bold type to make the grammatically correct? If the sentence is correct as it is, mark 'E' as the answer.
Because of his ill health, the doctor has advised him not to refrain from smoking
Answer: C
It should read to refrain from.
The sentence says his health is bad, so the doctor's advice must be to give up smoking. Not to refrain from means to carry on smoking, which reverses the sense.
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They have a scheme of rewarding the best of the performers every year
Answer: E
No correction is required.
The best of the performers is correct: the superlative takes the definite article, and the group it selects from must be plural. Each alternative either drops the article or makes the group singular.
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What happens to all those travellers on the ship was not known?
Answer: D
It should read what happened to.
The clause is the subject of was not known, so it is a noun clause and the tense must match the past main verb. Happen to is the right preposition - happen of and happen in are not English in this sense.
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Making friends is more rewarding than to make enemies
Answer: D
It should read making enemies.
The two things compared must have the same grammatical form. The first is a gerund, making friends, so the second must be a gerund too.
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In the sentence below, a part is printed in bold. Choose the alternative that best replaces it. If no improvement is needed, choose ‘No correction required’.
Neither of the two candidates have submitted their application on time.
Answer: B
Correct answer: has submitted
Neither, like either, each and none of the two, is singular, so it takes a singular verb: has submitted. The plural candidates standing immediately before the verb is what misleads the ear - it is the object of the preposition of, not the subject. The subject is neither, and a noun inside a prepositional phrase can never be the subject of the sentence. The same rule governs each of the boys is, one of my friends has, and every one of them was. Note that neither…nor follows a different rule when it joins two subjects: there the verb agrees with the nearer one, as in neither the manager nor the clerks were present. The other options fail on the same count - all are plural or continuous forms that cannot follow a singular subject.
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In the sentence below, a part is printed in bold. Choose the alternative that best replaces it. If no improvement is needed, choose ‘No correction required’.
The results of the examination was announced yesterday afternoon.
Answer: C
Correct answer: were announced
The subject is the results, plural, so the verb is were announced. Of the examination is a prepositional phrase and cannot supply the subject. This is the mirror image of the trap that usually appears in these questions. Ordinarily a singular head noun is followed by a plural one - the quality of the products is - and the ear is pulled towards the plural. Here the head noun is plural and the noun after of is singular, so the same inattention produces the opposite error. Either way the remedy is identical: strike out everything between the head noun and the verb, and read what remains. The results were announced settles it. The tense and voice are otherwise right - a completed action at a stated past time takes the simple past, and the results received the action, so the passive is correct.
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No sooner do the bells ring than the curtain rose
Answer: B
It should read did the bells ring.
No sooner ... than requires inversion, and the sentence is past, so did the bells ring. The subject bells is plural, which rules out the singular alternatives.
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The moment the manager came to know of the fraudulent action of his assistant, he order immediately dismissed him.
Answer: B
Correct answer: ordered his immediate dismissal
The main clause needs a finite verb, and the sentence gives it two words that cannot both be verbs - order and dismissed. Making ordered the finite verb and turning the second idea into its object cures this: he ordered his immediate dismissal.
Note that immediate, not immediately, is needed once dismissal becomes a noun - adjectives modify nouns, adverbs modify verbs. That is why immediately ordered his dismissed and ordered for immediately dismissal of him both fail.
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The meeting was attended to by all invitees
Answer: B
It should read attended by all.
Attend in the sense of being present at takes a direct object and no preposition. Attend to means to deal with, which is not what invitees do to a meeting.
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If he has to spend five hours in the queue, it was really a wastage
Answer: D
It should read is really a wastage.
The if-clause is present - if he has to spend - so the main clause must be present too. Really is the adverb modifying is, and it comes before the noun phrase.
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