Passage Correction Questions and Answers

Answer: C

Correct answer: is

The number of is singular and takes a singular verb: the number of candidates is rising. It contrasts with a number of, which means several and takes a plural verb: a number of candidates are rising from their seats. The article alone decides the agreement, which is why the pair appears so often in examinations. The logic is that the number names one figure, while a number of is merely a way of saying many, leaving the plural noun as the real subject. The intervening participial phrase appearing for the test is a further distraction; like a prepositional phrase, it cannot supply the subject. Stripping it out leaves the number is rising. A related pair works by meaning rather than by article: the majority of the work is done but the majority of the workers are absent.

Answer: B

Correct answer: is

Mathematics ends in -s but is singular, naming one subject of study, so the verb is is. A family of nouns behaves the same way, and the group is a standard examination point: mathematics, physics, economics, politics, statistics, ethics, civics, news, measles, mumps and innings. So the news is good and physics is my favourite subject. Several of them switch to the plural when they refer to something other than the discipline: the statistics were misleading means the figures, not the subject; his politics are extreme means his views. The meaning decides. The mirror-image group looks singular but is plural: police, cattle, people, poultry and vermin, all of which take plural verbs.

Answer: A

It should read take it for granted.

Take for granted is the fixed phrase, with for. The it is the anticipatory object standing in for the that-clause that follows.

Answer: B

Correct answer: to study

Advise takes an object followed by an infinitive: advised the boy to study. It belongs to the large group of verbs that share this pattern - ask, tell, allow, permit, order, request, persuade, encourage, warn, remind, force, expect and want. So he warned them to be careful, she reminded me to call. Advise can also be followed directly by a gerund with no object at all: the teacher advised studying harder. What it cannot take is a preposition before the gerund, which is the error here. A spelling point often tested alongside this one: advise with an s is the verb and advice with a c is the noun, which is uncountable - one gives a piece of advice, never an advice or advices. The same s-and-c distinction separates practise from practice.

Answer: D

Correct answer: take

Bring means to convey something towards the speaker; take means to convey it away from the speaker. Since the book is to go from here to the library, the correct verb is take. The pair works exactly like come and go: one comes here and goes there, brings something here and takes something there. Both pairs are defined by the position of the speaker rather than by the direction of travel in itself. Fetch is a third member of the family and means to go, collect and return - a round trip. Fetch me the book asks someone to go and bring it back. Carry describes only the manner of transport and says nothing about direction, so it does not repair the sentence. The error is extremely common in Indian English, where bring is often used for both directions.

Answer: D

Correct answer: one’s

The indefinite pronoun one must be followed by one’s, and by one and oneself in the corresponding positions. Mixing it with his, their or your is inconsistent. So the whole sentence should read: One should always keep one’s promises to be trusted, and similarly one must do one’s duty and one should not deceive oneself. British usage is firm on this; American usage allows one…his, but Indian competitive examinations follow the British convention, so one’s is expected. The alternative is to avoid one altogether and rewrite with you or people: you should always keep your promises. What cannot be done is to begin with one pronoun and continue with another. The same consistency is required of everyone and somebody, though there the plural their is now widely accepted.

Answer: D

Correct answer: walk

Would rather is followed by a bare infinitive - the verb with no to: I would rather walk. The second half of the comparison follows the same form, which is why the sentence continues than take a taxi rather than than to take. Both verbs must match. The expression belongs with a small group that takes the bare infinitive: had better, would sooner, rather than, let, make in the active voice, and the modal auxiliaries. So you had better leave now, not had better to leave. Would rather can also be followed by a clause in the past tense to express a preference about someone else’s action: I would rather you came tomorrow. That past form is subjunctive and does not refer to past time. For a past preference not acted on, the form is would rather have walked.

Answer: D

Correct answer: (no preposition)

Resemble is a transitive verb and takes a direct object with no preposition at all: the two sisters resemble each other. It belongs to a group of verbs that are transitive in English but attract a preposition by analogy with the corresponding noun or with usage in other languages. The set is worth learning: discuss, describe, emphasise, investigate, order, request, resemble, accompany, reach, enter, approach, attack, await, obey and marry. One does not discuss about a matter, reach at a station or marry with someone. The nouns derived from several of them do take prepositions - a resemblance to, a discussion about, an emphasis on - which is exactly where the confusion comes from. Resemble like compounds the error by adding a second comparison word to a verb that already means to be like.

Answer: C

Correct answer: would come

When the reporting verb is in the past tense, the verb in the reported clause moves back one step in time. Will becomes would, so he said that he would come. The full sequence is worth learning as a set: present becomes past, present continuous becomes past continuous, present perfect and simple past both become past perfect, will becomes would, can becomes could, may becomes might, and must becomes had to. The adverbs shift too, which is why tomorrow has already become the next day in this sentence - the examiner has left that clue in place. Today becomes that day, yesterday becomes the previous day, here becomes there, and this becomes that. The one exception is a universal truth, which keeps its present tense: he said that the earth revolves round the sun.

Answer: C

Correct answer: a

European begins with the consonant sound yoo, so it takes a, not an. The article is chosen by sound rather than by spelling, and the initial letter E is misleading here. The same applies to a university, a uniform, a union, a unique case, a useful tool, a one-rupee note and a one-eyed man - every one of which begins with a vowel letter but a consonant sound. One is pronounced wun, which is why it joins the list. The mirror case is a silent h, where a consonant letter opens a vowel sound: an hour, an honest man, an heir, an honourable member. Note that a hotel and a historian take a, because the h in those is pronounced. Reading the phrase aloud is the only reliable method.