Sentence Correction Question Answers and Explanations
Below you will find the answers and some explanations to the Sentence Corrections questions to help you understand why the answers are the correct ones. After each explanation, you will find links to websites that will help you practice the skill that each answer is challenging you to understand.(Please note that the sources used for Skill Practices I and II are Evelyn Farbman's A Writer's Guide: Sentence Sense website, Houghton Mifflin's E-library Student Resource Center site, Plain English Network, Augsburg College On-Line Writing Lab, HyperGrammar from the Writing Centre at the University of Ottawa, and Purdue University's Online Writing Lab)
1.The answer here is d.
The skill here is verb agreement or proper verb form. Of the choices given, the only word that fits with "Mr. Wilson" is "plans." A good way to get this answer is to hear how the other choices don't sound right. This might be hard if you're not that confident with the language yet. With verb forms, often the "s" at the end connects with a singular noun. This gets confusing because we normally associate "s" with plurals. It's as if it's the opposite with verbs. 2.
The answer here is c.
With this answer, you're being challenged to understand that one event, the baby getting too hot, caused Sam to try to cool her. The key is to see the "cause and effect" relationship between the two events. The word "therefore" is the only word in the choices given that provides a "cause and effect" relationship. 3.
The answer here is c.
The key here is the comma. The part that begins with "One that" is not a sentence; with the period before the word "One" a fragment results because the phrase can't stand alone as a sentence. It needs the comma before it to keep it as one sentence. D is a good choice, too, but it is too wordy. 4.
The answer here is b.
Here what you needed to see was that b gives you the only that has each part of the series looking the same. By series, I mean the three things in a row all have the same ending, "ing." The others have a "to" thrown in or the word "also." A series has to be what they call parallel, meaning they need to look the same. 5.
The answer here is c.
There are a couple of things going on here. First, the less wordy of the choices is the right one in this case, as it often is on these tests. In the first possible answer, why use eleven words and then use the word "this" for the noun to work with the word "is"? Why not just turn the beginning part into a noun in the first place to link with "is"? Well, that's what is done in answer c. The nine words in answer c beginning with the word "Crossing" is actually a noun (-ing verb forms are actually nouns called gerunds). (By the way, any sentence answer that uses "the fact that" like choice d does will never be a right answer--there's always a better way or shorter way to say something without using that phrase.) The skills below should help you understand long noun forms better. 6.
The answer here is b.
This one is about keeping it simple. Why confuse things by saying what was "noticed" before instead of after the word "noticed"? Also, answer c is a more active approach to sentence writing. What is meant by active is that the objects follow the verb rather than the other way around. Note that answer d keeps the order right, but it is again much too wordy. A clear crisp sentence does not need those commas, which can cause a hurky-jerky reading. See below for some practice with active voice. 7.
The answer here is c.
This one is all about subject/verb agreement. "Which" is plural because it refers to "books." Therefore, "were" must follow and the only answer with the word "were" is c. 8.
The answer here is d.
The problem you need to figure out with this sentence is how to correct what's called a comma splice. A comma splice happens when you use a comma to do what a period should do or what a connecting word like "so" can do to unite two sentences. Answer d is the simplest way to do that. 9.
The answer here is b.
This kind of situation actually can create some amusing images. The rule is that an introductory phrase must modify the subject of a sentence. That being the case, if the subject is Larrison Hall then the image is that this huge building is actually driving down Newman Springs Road. The students are the ones "coming in" not Larrison Hall. Only b and c offer that choice, and c is too wordy and awkward. 10.
The answer here is b.
This is a comma splice error again. See the explanation in number 8 above. Below find some different comma splice practice activities.