Test: Verbs- 1 - GMAT MCQ

The Non-Proliferation Treaty requires that a nation prevents the spread of nuclear weapons, promotes the practice of peaceful uses of nuclear energy, and furthers the goal of achieving nuclear disarmament.

Meaning Analysis

• The Non-Proliferation Treaty requires
  • that a nation
    • prevents the spread of nuclear weapons,
    • promotes the practice of peaceful uses of nuclear energy,
    • and furthers the goal of achieving nuclear disarmament.                

This sentence talks about the non-proliferation treaty. It says that the treaty requires a nation to do the following:

1)     Prevent the spread of nuclear weapons,

2)     Promote the practice of peaceful uses of nuclear energy, and

3)     Further the goal of achieving nuclear disarmament.                  

Error Analysis

When “required” is followed by “that”, it demands the use of the subjunctive form. So, the verbs “prevents,” “promotes,” and “furthers” should be written as “prevent,” “promote,” and “further” respectively.

Answer Choices

A

that a nation prevents the spread of nuclear weapons, promotes the practice of peaceful uses of nuclear energy, and furthers

Incorrect:   

This choice has the error pointed out in the error analysis.

B

from a nation that the nation should prevent the spread of nuclear weapons, promote the practice of peaceful uses of nuclear energy, and further

Incorrect:      

This choice has the same verb form error as in choice A.  Note that “from a nation” is a prepositional modifier inserted between “requires” and “that”. So “requires…that” still needs the subjunctive form.        

C

a nation to prevent the spread of nuclear weapons, to promote the practice of peaceful uses of nuclear energy, and to further

Correct: 

This choice rectifies the only error of the original sentence by removing “that” and changing the verbs into “to + verb” forms.  Note that both “subjunctive” form and “to verb” form can be used with “require”.

D

that a nation should prevent the spread of nuclear weapons, the practice of peaceful uses of nuclear energy should be promoted, and that it should further

Incorrect:

1)     The helping verb “should” cannot be used in a context that requires the subjunctive form.

2)     The second entity in the list, the independent clause “the practice… should be promoted” is not parallel to the other two, which are dependent clauses starting with “that”.

E

a nation to prevent the spread of nuclear weapons, promote the practice of peaceful uses of nuclear energy, and to further  

Incorrect:    

The verb “promote” is not parallel to the other two entities of the list since these entities are preceded by “to”. Either the preposition “to” should be placed only before the first entity or it should be placed before each entity.

Although Chilean novelist Isabel Allende’s City of the Beasts is categorized as a ‘young adult’ novel, its themes, including the colonization of supposedly ‘uncivilized’ nations and the scientific discovery of new species, provide considerable scope for ‘adult’ speculation on serious topics deserving academic discussion.

Meaning Analysis  

• Although Chilean novelist Isabel Allende’s City of the Beastsis categorized as a ‘young adult’ novel,
• its themes,
  • including
    • the colonization of supposedly ‘uncivilized’ nations and
    • the scientific discovery of new species,
• provide considerable scope for ‘adult’ speculation on serious topics
  • • deserving academic discussion.                             

The sentence presents a contrast as indicated by the presence of the word “although”. It says that City of the Beasts is a novel written by Chilean novelist Isabel Allende. The contrast here is that even though the novel is categorized as a ‘young adult’ novel, its themes present significant scope for ‘adult’ speculation on serious topics that deserve academic discussion. These themes include the colonization of supposedly “uncivilized” countries and the scientific discovery of new species.

Error Analysis

1)     Use of the simple present tense verb “provide” is correct as it presents general information about the novel.

2)     The pronoun “its” correctly refers to the noun ‘City of the Beasts’.

3)     The modifier “including” correctly refers to the noun “its themes”.

4)     The parallelism is perfectly maintained between the noun entities “the colonization…” and “the scientific discovery…” 

5)     There are no errors in this sentence.

Answer Choices

A

its themes, including the colonization of supposedly ‘uncivilized’ nations and the scientific discovery of new species, provide

Correct: This choice has no errors as pointed out in the error analysis.

B

the colonization of supposedly ‘uncivilized’ nations and the scientific discovery of new species included in its themes and provide

Incorrect:

1)     This choice distorts the meaning of the sentence by changing the intended contrast. As per the original sentence, the novel is categorized as a ‘young adult’ novel, but its themes present ample scope for speculations on serious topics. As per this choice, the novel is categorized as a ‘young adult’ novel, but the two mentioned topics are included in its themes. There is no logical contrast between these two pieces of information.

2)     This choice distorts the meaning on another front as well.  Per the original sentence, the two specific topics were presented as examples of the themes that provide speculation on serious topics.  However, per this choice, these two topics are the only two topics that provide the scope for speculation on serious topics.

3)     Presence of “and” before the verb “provide” implies that there should be another verb in this list of two verbs.  However, there is no other verb to complete this list.  Note that the word “included” is a modifier and not a verb.

C

the colonization of supposedly ‘uncivilized’ nations and the scientific discovery of new species are included in its themes, which provide

Incorrect:

This choice repeats the illogical contrast error of Choice B.  

D

yet its themes, including the colonization of supposed ‘uncivilized’ nations and the scientific discovery of new species, provide

Incorrect:

1)     In the presence of “although”, the use of “yet” leads to redundancy as they both present a contrast.  

2)     Use of the adjective “supposed” is incorrect to modify another adjective “uncivilized”. The adverb “supposedly” should be used to modify this adjective.  Note that in the context of this sentence, it makes sense for “supposedly” to modify “uncivilized”.  It does not make sense to modify “nations” since “supposed nations” will not render logical meaning – nations are real nations and not imagined or supposed.

E

its themes, which include the colonization of supposed ‘uncivilized’ nations and the scientific discovery of new species, nevertheless provide

Incorrect:

1)     This choice retains the “supposed” modification error of Choice D.

2)     In the presence of “although”, the use of “nevertheless” leads to redundancy as they both present a contrast.

Landmine detection equipment and sensors are becoming more lightweight and easier to use, and so do landmines, those instruments of war causing civilians worldwide to be injured or killed. 

Meaning Analysis

• Landmine detection equipment and sensors are becoming
  • more lightweight,
  • and easier to use,
• and so do landmines,  
  • those instruments of war causing civilians worldwide to be injured or killed.   

This sentence tells us that the landmine detection equipment and sensors are becoming lighter in weight and easier to use. It further states that the same is true for the landmines, which are the instruments of war that cause people to be injured or killed worldwide. 

Error Analysis

The helping verb “do” in the second clause is incorrect. This verb refers to the action “are becoming” in the first clause: i.e., the second clause states that landmines are also becoming more lightweight and easier to use. So, we need to use “are” in the second clause and not “do”.

Answer Choices

A

and so do landmines, those instruments of war causing 

Incorrect:       

This choice has the error pointed out in the error analysis. 

B

and so are landmines,  they are the instruments of war that cause 

Incorrect:       

This choice incorrectly connects the independent clause “they are the instruments…” to the rest of the sentence by using only a comma.

C

and also landmines, the instruments of war that cause 

Incorrect:        

1)     There is no verb for the subject “landmines”. So, this choice does not make it clear what the landmines do.   

2)     The use of “also” with “and” is redundant.   

D

and landmines, which are the instruments of war that cause     

Incorrect:       

This choice repeats the missing verb error of Choice C.        

C

and so are landmines, the instruments of war that cause   

Correct:        

This choice correctly uses the verb “are” in the second clause.

Although it has not been considered the world’s most-inclining tower anymore after extensive renovations performed by engineers sharply reduced its tilt, the legendary Leaning Tower of Pisa nevertheless continues to attract hundreds of tourists annually.  

Meaning Analysis

• Although it has not been considered the world’s most-inclining tower anymore
  • after extensive renovations performed by engineers sharply reduced its tilt,

the legendary Leaning Tower of Pisa nevertheless continues to attract hundreds of tourists annually.

The sentence presents some contrasting information about the legendary Leaning Tower of Pisa. The contrast is that even though this tower is not considered the world’s most tilted tower anymore, it still attracts hundreds of tourists every year. The sentence also tells us why this tower lost its status. It is so because engineers carried out extensive renovation work that reduced the tilt of this tower.

Error Analysis

1)     Both “although” and “nevertheless” present a contrast. Using both in the same sentence leads to a redundancy error.  

2)     Use of the present perfect tense verb “has not been considered” is incorrect. From the context of this sentence, it is a clear that the Leaning Tower of Pisa is not considered the most tilted tower in the world in the present. It is a general fact about the tower. Hence, the simple present tense should be used in this context.

Answer Choices

A

Although it has not been considered the world’s most-inclining tower anymore after extensive renovations performed by engineers sharply reduced

Incorrect: This choice has the errors pointed out in the error analysis. 

B

It is not considered the world’s most-inclining tower anymore after engineers performed extensive renovations to sharply reduce

Incorrect:  The two independent clauses “It is not considered…” and “the legendary… continues…” are joined only by a comma.  Also, this choice changes the intended meaning.  This choice states that the renovations were done with the intent to sharply reduce the tilt.  While this meaning is logical, it is not what the original intended meaning is. Per the intended meaning, the renovations led to the reduction of the tilt.  The original sentence does not indicate any sense of intent. 

C

Though it is not considered the world’s most-inclining tower anymore for engineers’ extensive renovations sharply reduce

Incorrect:

1)    This choice repeats the redundancy error of Choice A.

2)    Use of the simple present tense verb “reduce” is not correct because engineers performed the extensive renovations in the past. These renovations have already reduced the tilt. Hence, this verb must be written in the simple past tense.

D

Not considered the world’s most-inclining tower anymore after engineers performed extensive renovations and had sharply reduced

Incorrect:  

1)    The past perfect tense verb “had reduced” is incorrect in this context since this action took place after the renovations were performed. 

2)    As per this choice, the engineers reduced the tower’s tilt. However, according to the intended meaning, the tower’s tilt was reduced by the renovations done by the engineers.

E

Not considered the world’s most-inclining tower anymore after extensive renovations performed by engineers sharply reduced

Correct:  This is the correct answer choice.   Notice that the opening verb-ed modifier “not considered” correctly refers to the legendary “Leaning Tower of Pisa”.

Kennedy's belief that the Eisenhower administration had allowed a missile gap to develop between the US and the Soviet Union was proven wrong when intelligence reports revealed that the missile program of the Soviet Union was far behind that of the US.

Answer Choices

A : Correct

revealed that the missile program of the Soviet Union was far behind that of

B

had revealed that the missile program of the Soviet Union was far behind that of

C

revealed that the missile program of the Soviet Union was far behind

D

have revealed that the missile program of the Soviet Union has been far behind

E

have revealed that the missile program of the Soviet Union was far behind that

In order to improve reliability, Hyundai has used corrosion resistant coating on the inner body on the surface of Sonata; Hyundai's frames have been built to last and they are.

Meaning Analysis

This sentence shows the measure that Hyundai has taken to improve reliability. It also states the positive effect of this measure.

The question tests your knowledge of verb sequencing.

Error Analysis

The original sentence has verb tense error. As explained above, the sentence presents the measure that Hyundai has taken. This measure is described using present perfect tense – has used. Now the impact of this measure should be expressed in simple present tense by indicating the effect that takes place after the measure was implemented. The use of present perfect tense – frame have been built to last – does not communicate this sequencing. Moreover, helping verb "are" cannot be used for the verb "last" since "are last" is not grammatical.

Answer Choices

A

have been built to last and they are

This choice has verb sequencing error as explained in sentence analysis

B

are now built to last and they do

 Correct

C

are built to last and they have

This choice is incorrect because the verb sequencing does not make sense. Using present perfect tense for the effect "they have lasted" implies that this event took place prior to the event "of building the frames to last"

D

had been built to last and they have

Use of past perfect tense is incorrect.

E

are being built to last and they do

Use of present continuous tense is non-sensical since it implies that the frames are currently being built.

Some of the most significant buildings of the early Scottish Celtic period have long since been destroyed by the time the Middle Ages had ended.

Meaning Analysis  

• Some of the most significant buildings of the early Scottish Celtic period have long since been destroyed
  • by the time the Middle Ages had ended.                             

The sentence says that by the time the Middle Ages came to an end, some of the most important buildings of the early Scottish Celtic period had already been destroyed. 

Error Analysis

1)     Use of the present perfect tense verb “have… been destroyed” is incorrect because this action took place in the past and was over before a certain point in the past (i.e. by the time the Middle Ages ended). 

2)     Use of the past perfect tense “had ended” is incorrect because the buildings disappeared before the Middle Ages ended. Hence, the correct verb tenses should be “had been destroyed” and “ended”.  

Answer Choices

A

Some of the most significant buildings of the early Scottish Celtic period have long since been destroyed by the time the Middle Ages had ended. 

Incorrect: This choice has the errors stated in the error analysis. 

B

By the time the Middle Ages ended, some of the most significant buildings of the early Scottish Celtic period had long since been destroyed.

Correct:

This is the correct answer choice as it corrects both the verb tense errors of the original sentence.                 

C

Having long since been destroyed by the time the Middle Ages ended, the early Scottish Celtic period had some of the most significant buildings. 

Incorrect:

1)     The opening verb-ing modifier “having…” illogically modifies “the early Scottish Celtic period”, suggesting that the period was destroyed long ago.  The buildings were destroyed, not the period.

2)     This choice changes the focus of the sentence. As per the original sentence, the main point is that some of the most important Scottish Celtic buildings were destroyed long back. As per this choice, the main point is that the early Scottish Celtic period had many buildings.   

D

Some of the most significant buildings of the early Scottish Celtic period long since destroyed by the time the Middle Ages had ended.    

Incorrect:

1)     There is no verb for the subject “some of the most significant buildings.” Note that “destroyed” is a verb-ed modifier in this choice since it describes what happened to the buildings. It is not an action that was performed by the buildings.

2)     This choice repeats the past perfect tense error found in Option A.

E

Some of the most significant buildings of the early Scottish Celtic period, by the time the Middle Ages had ended, these had long since been destroyed. 

Incorrect: 

1)     The subject “Some of the most significant buildings of the early Scottish Celtic period has no verb.

2)     The demonstrative pronoun “these” is used incorrectly. It should be followed by the noun that it refers to.

3)     This choice retains the “had ended” verb tense error of Choice A.  

If the parking spaces in cities were restricted to vehicles using environment-friendly fuels and equipped with pollution-reducing filters, the pollution in the air would be reduced by at least 50 percent.  

Meaning Analysis  

• If the parking spaces in cities were restricted to vehicles
  • using environment-friendly fuels and
  • equipped with pollution-reducing filters,
• the pollution in the air would be reduced by at least 50 percent.

The sentence says that if cities allow parking spaces only for vehicles using environment-friendly fuels and equipped with pollution-reducing filters, then the pollution in the air would be reduced by at least 50%.   

Error Analysis

1)     Since the sentence uses the “if… then…” construction to present a hypothetical situation, use of “were” and “would be reduced” is correct.

2)     The verb-ing modifier “using…” and the verb-ed modifier “equipped…” correctly modify the preceding noun entity “vehicles”. Since they perform the same function, they are grammatically as well as logically parallel to each other.

3)     There are no errors in this sentence.

Answer Choices

A

using environment-friendly fuels and equipped with pollution-reducing filters, the pollution in the air would be 

Correct: This choice has no errors as found in the error analysis. 

B

that use environment-friendly fuels and equipped with pollution-reducing filters, the pollution in the air would be 

Incorrect:

The relative pronoun modifier “that use” is not grammatically parallel to the verb-ed modifier “equipped”.

C

using environment-friendly fuels and equipped with pollution-reducing filters, the pollution in the air had been 

Incorrect:

Use of the past perfect tense verb “had been reduced” in the “then clause” is not correct because the “if” clause uses the conditional “were”.  So, the conditional “would” should be used in the “then” clause.

D

that use environment-friendly fuels and are equipped with pollution-reducing filters, the pollution in the air will be    

Incorrect:

Use of the simple future tense verb “will be reduced” in the “then clause” is not correct because this verb shows certainty of action and not a hypothetical situation.           

E

using environment-friendly fuels and equipping with pollution-reducing filters, the pollution in the air would be    

Incorrect:

Use of “equipping” is incorrect because its usage suggests that the “vehicles” equipped something with pollution-reducing filters rather than conveying that they were equipped with the same.   

Chrysler did not invent the minivan, but after seeing that baby boomers hauled their extended families and equipment in light trucks and matadors, they quickly modified one of its commercial vehicles to produce the first minivan model.

Meaning Analysis

This sentence states a few facts about Chrysler and minivan. 
1: Chrysler did not invent the minivan.
2: Chrysler saw that baby boomers hauled luggage and families in light trucks.
3: Chrysler then modified its commercial vehicles to produce minivan model.

This question tests your ability to understand the meaning correctly and determine the correct verb sequencing. There are 3 verbs in this sentence and hence proper understanding of meaning is required to establish verb sequencing.

Error Analysis

The original sentence has pronoun number error. In the clause ‘they quickly…”, the pronoun “they” should be “it” since it refers to Chrysler which is a collective noun and hence is always singular. Also notice how “its commercial…” is used in the non-underlined portion of the sentence where “its” refers to Chrysler.

Verb Sequencing - Among the three verbs, two are related and one is an independent event. The first event “did not invent” is an independent event that happened before the next two events took place. The second event “hauled” takes place before the last event “modified”. Thus based on this sequencing, this sentence uses correct verb tenses as follows:

Did not invent = simple past as is
Hauled = simple past as is (Since the use of phrase "after seeing" establishes the verb sequencing between the two verbs “hauled” and “modified”, use of past perfect tense for the earlier event is optional and simple past is also appropriate)
Modified = simple past as is

Answer Choices

A

hauled their extended families and equipment in light trucks and matadors, they quickly modified

This choice has pronoun number error as identified in the error analysis. 

B

hauled their extended families and equipment in light trucks and matadors, it quickly modified

Correct

C

had been hauling their extended families and equipment in light trucks and matadors, they quickly modified

This choice has two errors – Pronoun Number and Verb Tense.
1: Pronoun Number error is same as in Choice A.
2: Verb Tense of verb 'had been hauling' is incorrect. It should be simple past since it states a fact at a point in time in the past. The past perfect continuous tense makes it appear as though this action was a continuous action. This is not correct.

D

were hauling their extended families and equipment in light trucks and matadors, it had quickly modified

This choice has verb sequencing errors. Past continuous tense for the verb" were hauling" is non-sensical since "hauled" is a fact of the past and not a continuous action that took place in the past. Secondly, past perfect tense in "it had quickly modified" is not correct since it breaks the intended sequence of the verbs.

E

 hauled their extended families and equipment in light trucks and matadors, quickly modifying

This choice is worded such that it results in an incomplete sentence. It is not clear what happens after seeing that baby boomers hauled.... Furthermore, the wording of modifier "quickly modifying..." changes the intended meaning of the sentence since now it implies that baby boomers quickly modified one of Chrysler's vehicles to produce minivan model.

Since a majority of Brownstone Inc.’s employees who work in the production division do not have the technical expertise to operate complex machinery, the management of the company has decided to add a compulsory training program for them.

Meaning Analysis

• Since a majority of Brownstone Inc.’s employees
  • who work in the production division
  • do not have the technical expertise to operate complex machinery,
• the management of the company has decided to add a compulsory training program for them.        

This sentence tells us that the management of Brownstone Inc. has decided to bring in a compulsory training program for many of its employees who work in the company’s production division. This decision has been made because these employees do not have the relevant knowledge to run complex machinery.

Error Analysis

1)     The simple present tense verbs “work” and “do not have” are correctly used to present facts that are true in the present context. The present perfect tense verb “has decided” is correctly used to represent a recent event whose effects are still going on.

2)     The modifier “who” correctly refers to Brownstone Inc.’s employees.

3)     This sentence presents a cause and effect relationship. The dependent clause “since a majority…” presents the cause, and the independent clause “the management of the company….” presents the effect.

4)      This sentence does not have any error.   

Answer Choices

A

who work in the production division do not have the technical expertise to operate complex machinery, the management of the company has decided

Correct:

This choice has no errors as discussed in the error analysis. 

B

working in the production division and not having the technical expertise to operate complex machinery, it was decided by the management of the company

Incorrect:   

1)     There is no verb for the subject “a majority of Brownstone Inc.’s employees”

2)     The sentence is set up in present context.  Thus the use of simple past tense verb “was decided” is incorrect. 

3)     The segment of people defined as majority in this choice is different from the segment defined as majority in the original sentence.

1. Original sentence – People work in production < Majority of these people lack technical expertise. 
2. This choice – Majority work in Production and lack technical expertise.

C

work in the production division and do not have the technical expertise to operate complex machinery, the decision by the management of the company was

Incorrect:         

1)     This choice changes the intended meaning of the sentence as choice B does. 

2)     This choice also has verb tense as choice B does.

D

who do not have the technical expertise to operate complex machinery work in the production division, the management of the company has decided

Incorrect: 

This choice also changes the intended meaning of the sentence.  According to the original sentence, a majority of the people working in the production division do not have technical expertise. However, according to this choice, a majority of the company’s employees who do not have technical expertise work in the production division.

E

work in the production division, not having the technical expertise to operate complex machinery, the company’s management has made the decision

Incorrect:     

This choice has the same meaning error as Choices B does.

As the city council wants to cut down the city’s average yearly expenditure on its power supply to buildings housing public sector offices, the council members opine that the city council will easily slash its current expenditure to half if they would replace the air-conditioning units that had been currently in use with more environment-friendly ones.  

Meaning Analysis

• As the city council wants to cut down the city’s average yearly expenditure on its power supply to buildings
  • housing public sector offices,
• the council members opine
  • that the city council will easily slash its current expenditure to half
    • if they would replace the air-conditioning units
      • that had been currently in use with more environment-friendly ones.

The sentence says that the city council wants to reduce the city’s average yearly expense on power supply to those buildings that have public sector offices. In order to do so, the council members think that if the council replaces the air-conditioning units that currently run in these offices with more environment-friendly ones, it will easily reduce the current expenditure to half.

Error Analysis

1)    The plural pronoun “they” does not agree in number with its singular noun antecedent “council”.

2)    This sentence uses the “if… then…” construction. The “then” clause – “the city council will easily slash…” – in the non-underlined portion of the sentence is written in the simple future tense. This requires the “if” clause to be written in the simple present tense. Hence the use of “would” is incorrect.

3)    Also use of past perfect tense verb “had been” is incorrect because the air-conditioning units are currently in use.

Answer Choices

A

they would replace the air-conditioning units that had been  

Incorrect: This choice has the errors found in the error analysis.  

B

it replaces the air-conditioning units  

Correct:

This choice corrects all the errors of Choice A. The singular pronoun “it” correctly refers to “the council”, and use of the simple present tense verb “replaces” in the “if” clause is correct. This choice also removes the past perfect verb tense error.        

C

it would replace the air-conditioning units  

Incorrect:

This choice repeats the “would” verb tense error of Choice A.   

D

they replaced the air-conditioning units that are

Incorrect:

1)    This choice repeats the pronoun error of Choice A.  

2)    Use of the simple past tense verb “replaced” in the “if” clause is incorrect as the “then” clause is written in the simple future tense.    

E

it were to replace the air-conditioning units that were

Incorrect:

1)    This choice retains the verb tense error of Choice D. Use of the conditional verb “were to” is incorrect because the “then” clause is written in the simple future tense. 

2)    Use of the simple past tense verb “were” is incorrect because the air-conditioning units are currently in use.

Scientists published studies in the American Ceramics Society Bulletin have found that Pyrex glassware, once marketed as “from icebox to oven” cookware that has not expanded or compressed when exposed to high heat or low temperatures, no longer stands up well to some of the temperature changes involved in cooking.

Meaning Analysis

The sentence talks about the scientific studies that portray the change in performance of one of the materials. Pyrex glassware was once marketed for preparing food at extremely low or extremely high temperature. However, now it is no longer able to withstand temperature changes involved in cooking.

The question tests your ability to understand the sentence structure, functions of modifier and the intended contrast.

Error Analysis

There are two errors in the original sentence:

1. Verb error: There are two verbs for the subject “Scientists” – “published” and “have found”
2. Verb tense: “has not expanded or compressed” is incorrect usage since this action of expansion or compression is not happening now. It happened in the past.

Answer Choices

A

published studies in the American Ceramics Society Bulletin have found that Pyrex glassware, once marketed as "from icebox to oven" cookware that has not expanded or compressed when exposed to high heat or low temperatures, no longer stands up well to some of the temperature changes involved in cooking

Incorrect. There are two errors in this sentence, as identified above

B

 publishing studies in the American Ceramics Society Bulletin have found that Pyrex glassware, once marketed as "from icebox to oven" cookware that did not expand or compress when exposed to high heat or low temperatures, no longer stands up well to some of the temperature changes involved in cooking

This is correct. It cares of both the errors in the original sentence.

C

publishing studies in the American Ceramics Society Bulletin have found that Pyrex glassware once marketed it as “from icebox to oven” cookware that had not expanded or compressed when exposed to high heat or low temperatures, no longer stands up well to some of the temperature changes involving cooking

Incorrect. There are three errors in this sentence:
 

1. Pronoun error: Pronoun “it” does not have an antecedent.

      2. Verb tense error: Use of past perfect tense “that had not expanded or compressed” is incorrect. Actions of marketing and ‘expanding & contracting” took place at the same time.

      3.  Meaning: “involving cooking” should be “involved in cooking” to communicate that changes “are involved” in cooking.

D

publishing studies in the American Ceramics Society Bulletin has found that Pyrex glassware was once marketed as “from icebox to oven” cookware that did not expand or compress when exposed to high heat or low temperatures and that it no longer stands up well to some of the temperature changes involved in cooking

1. SV error: Use of singular verb “has” for plural verb “Scientists”
2. Meaning: Per the original sentence, scientists found just one fact about Pyrex that its current performance is a contrast to it its earlier performance. Per this choice, scientists found two things about Pyrex – “that Pyrex was once marketed…” & “that it no longer…”.

E

publishing studies in the American Ceramics Society Bulletin have found that although Pyrex glassware no longer stands up well to some of the temperature changes involved in cooking, it is marketed as “from icebox to oven” cookware that did not expand or compress when exposed to high heat or low temperatures

Incorrect. There are two errors in this sentence:
 

1. Meaning: Per this choice, Pyrex is still marketed as temperature-proof cookware whereas in the original sentence, Pyrex was marketed as temperature-proof cookware in the past.
2. Verb tense: Use of “did not expand or compress” is incorrect because per this choice, Pyrex is still marketed. These two verbs should be in simple present tense. 

After their analysis, consultants mandated that the Ship Easy mail-order company should increase the number of advertisements it posts on websites so as to increase the number of their customers who place orders online.

Meaning Analysis

• After their analysis, consultants mandated
  • that the Ship Easy mail-order company should increase the number of advertisements
    • it posts on websites so as to increase the number of their customers
      • who place orders online.                       

This sentence tells us that according to analysts the Ship Easy mail-order company should increase the number of advertisements posted by the company on websites. The purpose of increasing the number of advertisements is to increase the number of customers who place online orders.

Error Analysis

1)     The helping verb “should” cannot be used after the verb “mandate”. The verb “mandate” requires the use of a subjunctive verb.

2)     The plural pronoun “their” incorrectly refers to the singular noun “company”.

Answer Choices

A

that the Ship Easy mail-order company should increase the number of advertisements it posts on websites so as to increase the number of their

Incorrect:

This choice has the errors pointed out in the error analysis. 

B

the Ship Easy mail-order company that the number of advertisements it posts on websites should be increased to increase the number of its

Incorrect:        

1)     The use of “should” is incorrect as in option A. 

2)     There is no verb for the subject “the Ship Easy mail-order company”. Note that it is illogical to consider the noun “company” an object of the verb “mandate”. The consultants did not mandate the company. Their mandate was that the company increase the number of advertisements.

C

that the Ship Easy mail-order company increase the number of advertisements it posts on websites so as to increase the number of its

Correct:   

This choice correctly uses the singular pronoun “its” to refer to the noun “company”. Also, the verb “increase” is used correctly in subjunctive form.

D

the Ship Easy mail-order company increase the number of advertisements posted on websites in order to increase the number of their

Incorrect:

This choice has the same pronoun error as in choice A.

Also, this choice distorts the meaning of the original sentence.  Per the original sentence, it is clear that only those advertisements are being talked about that are posted by Ship Easy.  However, per this choice, the advertisements that are being talked about are not specifically posted by Ship Easy. “Advertisements posted on websites” may very well include the advertisements that are posted by other companies. 

E

that the Ship Easy mail-order company increase the number of advertisements it posts on websites and increase the number of its

Incorrect:  

The connector “and” changes the intended meaning of the sentence since the sentence of intention or purpose as indicated in the original sentence by using “so as to” is no longer communicated.

Although dark matter was first postulated in 1932 to account for the orbital velocities of stars in the Milky Way, it did not drive the discovery of more information about it to be done by astrophysicists until it was the 1990s.  

Meaning Analysis

• Although dark matter was first postulated in 1932 to account for the orbital velocities of stars in the Milky Way,
• it did not drive the discovery of more information about it to be done by astrophysicists
  • until it was the 1990s.

This sentence presents a contrast. It says that dark matter was first hypothesized in 1932 to explain the orbital velocities of stars in the Milky Way. However, it was only in the 1990s that astrophysicists started to discover more information about it.

Note that the way the sentence is written, it appears as though dark matter was responsible for not driving astrophysicists to discover more about it. This meaning is illogical since dark matter itself cannot be responsible.

Error Analysis

As pointed out in the meaning analysis, the construction of the sentence does not convey the meaning of the sentence very clearly.   

Answer Choices

A

it did not drive the discovery of more information about it to be done by astrophysicists until it was the 1990s

Incorrect: This choice has errors pointed out in the error analysis.

B

it was not until the 1990s that astrophysicists were driven to discover more information about it

Correct:

This choice corrects the meaning error since it is worded in a way that the intended meaning is communicated clearly. 

C

it was not the drive of astrophysicists’ discovery of more information about it until the 1990s

Incorrect:

This choice distorts the intended meaning of the sentence. Dark matter was not the drive for astrophysicists to find more information about it.

D

until the 1990s astrophysicists have not been driven to discover more information about it

Incorrect:

Use of the present perfect tense verb “have been driven” is not correct because astrophysicists were driven to find more information about dark matter in the 1990s. This action of being driven is over in the past. 

E

not until the 1990s was it that it has driven astrophysicists to discover more information about it

Incorrect:

1. The way “was it” has been used in this sentence is ungrammatical.
2. Use of the present perfect tense verb “has driven” is not correct for the same reason already explained in Choice D. 

A study published by the Journal of Cognitive Intelligence proves that dolphins that are provided adequate training from birth are as adept at identifying patterns as humans did and are able to solve problems faster than humans and that when faced with complex decision-making in unknown environments they followed the same processes as humans did. 

Meaning Analysis

The sentence talks about the findings of a study published by the journal. The study found two things about the dolphins:

1. Dolphins are equally adept in identifying patters as humans are and are faster in solving problems than humans.
2. Dolphins follow the same processes as human do when faced with complex decision-making in unknown environments.

The question tests your ability to identify the correct parallel list, identify the correct comparisons, and use correct verb tenses.

Error Analysis

There are two errors in the original sentence:

1. In “as adept at identifying patterns as humans did”, the use of “did” is incorrect since “did” is in past tense while “are” is in present tense. The verb tenses in comparison must be consistent.
2. “they followed the same processes as humans did” – The sentence presents universal truths about dolphins. Hence every quality of the animal must be written in simple present tense. Use of “followed” and corresponding “did” is incorrect.

Answer Choices

A

as adept at identifying patterns as humans did and are able to solve problems faster than humans and that when faced with complex decision-making in unknown environments they followed the same processes as humans did

Incorrect. Errors as identified in error analysis

B

as adept at identifying patterns than humans and are able to solve problems faster than humans and that when faced with complex decision-making in unknown environments they followed the same processes as humans do

There are two errors in this option:
 

1. Incorrect use of idiom: Use of “as... than” is idiomatically incorrect.

      2. Verb tense error: Same “followed” verb tense error as in choice A.

C

more adept at identifying patterns than humans are, are able to solve problems faster than humans, and when faced with complex decision-making in unknown environments they followed the same processes as humans do

There are three errors in this option:

1. Meaning: Per the original sentence, dolphins are equally adept as humans are in identifying patters. Per this option, dolphins are more adept than humans. So, the meaning communicated by this option is different from the intended meaning.
2. Verb tense error: Same “followed” verb tense error as in Choice A.
3. Parallelism error: Per the original choice, the study found about two characteristics of the dolphins. The first characteristic has two comparisons under it. Per this choice, study found three different characteristics of the dolphins. This is not the intended list.

D

as adept at identifying patterns as humans are and are able to solve problems faster than humans and that when faced with complex decision-making in unknown environments they follow the same processes as humans do

Correct. This option corrects the two errors in the original sentence without introducing any new errors.

E

adept at identifying patterns as humans and are able to solve problems faster than humans and that when faced with complex decision-making in unknown environments they follow the same processes as humans

In this choice "as" is followed by "humans", a noun entity. This usage means that dolphins play the role of humans in complex decision-making situations in unknown environment– this is illogical and not intended in the original sentence.

The International Trade Commission has mandated that organizations caught violating international trade laws should be reprimanded for such violations by being banned from the international trade market for a period of one year following each infraction.

Meaning Analysis

• The International Trade Commission has mandated
  • that organizations caught violating international trade laws should be reprimanded for such violations by being banned from the international trade market for a period of one year following each infraction.                         

This sentence tells us that the International Trade Commission has mandated something. It has dictated that organizations that are caught violating international trade laws be penalized for such violations. The sentence also tells us how this penalization should be done - by banning the organizations from the international trade market for one year following each infraction. 

Error Analysis

The verb “mandated” requires the subjunctive form as follows:  “The ITC mandates that organizations be reprimanded.”   Thus use of “should” is incorrect. 

Also, use of passive voice in the expression “by being banned” somehow implies illogically that the organizations will themselves take the action of banning.  The correct expression to communicate the logical meaning is – by banning them.  

Answer Choices

A

that organizations caught violating international trade laws should be reprimanded for such violations by being banned

Incorrect:

This choice has the error discussed in the error analysis. 

B

organizations that are caught violating international trade laws be reprimanded for such violations by having such organizations banned

Incorrect:

1. In this choice, “that” is incorrectly placed after the subject “organizations”. According to the rules for the usage of the subjunctive form, “that” should be placed after the verb “mandate”.
2. This placement error also leads to the illogical meaning that the organizations themselves are mandated. According to the intended meaning, the mandate is that such organizations be reprimanded. 

C

that organizations caught violating international trade laws be reprimanded for such violations by banning them

Correct:

This choice corrects both the errors of the original choice without introducing any new errors.

D

that, when international trade laws are violated by organizations, they should reprimand these organizations for such violations by banning them

Incorrect: 

1. There is no logical antecedent in the sentence for the plural pronoun “they”. The original sentence does not tell us who will ban such organizations.
2. The use of “should” is incorrect as explained in the error analysis.

E

organizations that are caught violating international trade laws that they should be reprimanded for such violations by being banned

Incorrect:

1. This choice uses incorrect placement of “that” as explained in the POE for choice B.
2. The use of “should” is incorrect as explained in the error analysis.
3. This choice repeats the passive voice meaning issue of choice A.

Archeologists speculated for decades about why the Anasazi had moved from Chaco Canyon to an unknown location at the time when their culture appears to have been at the peak of its evolution.  

Meaning Analysis

• Archeologists speculated for decades about
  • why the Anasazi had moved from Chaco Canyon to an unknown location at the time
    • when their culture appears to have been at the peak of its evolution.

The sentence says archeologists contemplated for years about something. This something is why the Anasazi moved from Chaco Canyon to an unknown place at the time when their culture seems to have been at the peak of its evolution.

Error Analysis

1)    From the context of the sentence, we can understand that use of the simple past tense verb “speculated” is incorrect because it’s not that the archeologists speculated about the Anasazi’s move to an unknown location in the past, and they do not do so in the present. This is a mystery they have not been able to solve since they started contemplating it. Hence, use of the present perfect tense will correct this verb tense error to show that this action of speculating started sometime in the past and still continues.  

2)    Use of the past perfect tense “had moved” is incorrect because there is no other related past event that requires sequencing. So, this action must be written in the simple past tense. 

3)    Also notice that use of the simple present tense verb “appears” is CORRECT. This is so because the sentence expresses some information about the Anasazi that is true at the current time: i.e., from our present perspective, this culture appears a certain way. The phrase “to have been” clearly conveys that the culture was at the peak in the past. Hence, the verb phrase “appears to have been” means “it seems that the culture was at its peak”. 

Answer Choices

A

speculated for decades about why the Anasazi had moved from Chaco Canyon to an unknown location at the time when their culture appears to have been

Incorrect: This choice has the errors pointed out in the error analysis.  

B

speculate for decades about why the Anasazi moved from Chaco Canyon to an unknown location at the time when their culture appeared

Incorrect:

1)    This choice presents the verb “speculate” in the simple present tense. This tense is incorrect since the sentence states that the anthropologists have speculated “for decades” and not just at the present time.

2)    Use of the simple past tense verb “appeared” is incorrect because this tense conveys that the culture appeared to be something only in the past. This is certainly not the intended meaning. For the correct usage of “appears” in this context, please refer to the error analysis.

3)    The phrase “to have been” is missing, distorting the meaning of the sentence. Please refer to the error analysis for the correct intended meaning.   

C

speculate for decades about why the Anasazi had moved from Chaco Canyon to an unknown location at the time when their culture appeared to have been

Incorrect:

This choice repeats the past perfect tense error of Choice A and the first two errors of Choice B.        

D

have speculated for decades about why the Anasazi had moved from Chaco Canyon to an unknown location at the time when their culture appeared

Incorrect:

1)    This choice corrects the first verb tense error of Choice A by using “have speculated” But it retains the second verb tense error of Choice A.

2)    This choice also retains the second and third errors discussed in the POE for Choice B. 

E

have speculated for decades about why the Anasazi moved from Chaco Canyon to an unknown location at the time when their culture appears to have been

Correct:

This choice corrects all the verb tense errors of the original sentence. 

Communism was Karl Marx’s stated political ideology seventy-five years before the political movement known as Leninism was implemented in Russia with Vladimir Lenin’s October Revolution, and he discussed his theories in his “Communist Manifesto”, which proclaimed that proletarians will eventually rise to power through a class struggle.

Meaning Analysis

• Communism was Karl Marx’s stated political ideology seventy-five years
  • before the political movement known as Leninism was implemented in Russia with Vladimir Lenin’s October Revolution,
  • and he discussed his theories in his “Communist Manifesto,”
    • which proclaimed
      • that proletarians will eventually rise to power through a class struggle.  

The sentence presents political facts from the past. It says that Karl Marx propagated the political ideology of Communism 75 years before Leninism, a political movement, was started in Russia. Leninism started with Vladimir Lenin’s October Revolution.

The sentence goes on to say that Marx discussed his theory in the “Communist Manifesto”. This manifesto stated that proletarians would gain power through a class struggle.  Notice that the sentences uses a pronoun to refer to Marx.  Even though there is a mention of Lenin as well, this part of the sentence cannot be in reference to Lenin since Marx is the focus of the sentence.  The mention of Lenin is only with regards to providing some extra information about Marx.

Error Analysis

1)     The pronoun “he” should logically refer to Karl Marx. However, we have “Karl Marx’s” in this sentence. Since pronouns can only refer to nouns or other pronouns, its reference to an adjective “Karl Marx’s” is incorrect.

2)     Use of the simple future tense verb “will rise” is incorrect in this context since this action refers to a prediction about the future that was made in the past. So, this action should be represented using the past tense verb “would rise”.

Answer Choices

A

was implemented in Russia with Vladimir Lenin’s October Revolution, and he discussed his theories in his “Communist Manifesto”, which proclaimed that proletarians will eventually rise to power through a class struggle 

Incorrect: This choice has the errors stated in the error analysis. 

B

implemented in Russia with Vladimir Lenin’s October Revolution, and discussed his theories in his “Communist Manifesto,” which proclaimed that proletarians will eventually rise to power through a class struggle 

Incorrect: 

1)     There is no verb for the subject “the political movement”. Notice that “implemented” is a verb-ed modifier that describes “the political movement”.  The structure of the original sentence is “A happened 75 years before something else happened”.  In this choice, the verb is missing and hence this choice is wrong.

2)     There is no subject for the verb “discussed".

3)     This choice has the same error in the use of the simple future tense as Option A does.

C

was implemented in Russia with Vladimir Lenin’s October Revolution; Marx discussed his theories in his “Communist Manifesto,” which proclaimed that proletarians would eventually rise to power through a class struggle   

Correct:

This is the correct answer choice as it corrects both the errors of Choice A without introducing any new error. 

D

implemented in Russia with Vladimir Lenin’s October Revolution; Marx discussed his theories in his “Communist Manifesto”, proclaiming that proletarians would eventually rise to power through a class struggle    

Incorrect:

1)     This choice repeats the missing verb error and hence the meaning error of Choice B.

2)     Note that the comma + verb-ing modifier “proclaiming” does convey a logical meaning in this context since it makes sense with the subject of the preceding clause. However, this choice changes the original meaning slightly. The modifier now states that Marx discussed his theories by proclaiming something. In the original sentence, the relative pronoun modifier “which” describes only the “Communist Manifesto”.

E

was implemented in Russia with Vladimir Lenin’s October Revolution; he discussed his theories in his “Communist Manifesto”, proclaiming that proletarians will eventually rise to power through a class struggle    

Incorrect: 

1)     This choice repeats the pronoun reference error of Choice A.

2)     It also repeats the verb tense error of Choice A.  

3)     It also has the same meaning change indicated by the use of the modifier “proclaiming” as Choice D does. 

The mandates established by the 1838 treaty promoting a greater amount of control for Native American nations over the use of river water flowing through their reservations arrived too late for the Apache tribes living in New Mexico, who had already been displaced from their lands by the time the treaty was finalized.

Meaning Analysis  

• The mandates
  • established by the 1838 treaty

v promoting a greater amount of control for Native American nations over the use of river water

ü  flowing through their reservations

• arrived too late for the Apache tribes living in New Mexico,
  • who had already been displaced from their lands
    • by the time the treaty was finalized.

The sentence presents a historical fact. A treaty was made in 1838.  This treaty promoted more control for Native American nations over the use of river water that flowed through their reservations. The mandates of this treaty arrived too late for the Apache tribes who lived in New Mexico. They had already been displaced from their lands by the time the treaty was finalized. 

Error Analysis

1)    Use of the simple past tense verb “arrived” is correct as this action took place in the past. According to the sentence, the Apache tribes were first displaced and then the treaty was finalized. Hence, use of the past perfect tense verb for the earlier event “had been displaced” and the simple past tense verb for the later event “was finalized” is correct.

2)    All the modifiers are worded and placed correctly to clearly convey the intended meaning of the sentence. The verb-ing modifier “flowing” correctly modifies the preceding noun entity “river water” and the relative pronoun modifier “who” correctly modifies “Apache tribes living in New Mexico”.

3)    There are no errors in this sentence.

Answer Choices

A

flowing through their reservations arrived too late for the Apache tribes living in New Mexico, who had already been displaced  

Correct: As found in the error analysis, this choice has no errors. 

B

that flowed through their reservations had arrived too late for the Apache tribes who had lived in New Mexico, displacing them

Incorrect:

1)    Use of past perfect tense for both verbs – arrived and displaced - is incorrect because there is no related past event that has any bearing on these two actions. 

2)    The comma + verb-ing modifier “displacing” modifies the preceding clause, suggesting that the fact that the mandates of the treaty arrived too late for the Apaches was the reason that the Apache tribes were displaced. This is certainly not the intended meaning of the sentence.      

C

that flowed through their reservations had arrived too late for the Apache tribes living in New Mexico, who were already displaced 

Incorrect:

Like Choice B, this choice incorrectly uses the past perfect tense verb “had arrived”.   

D

that flowed through their reservations arriving too late for the Apache tribes who had lived in New Mexico, displacing them 

Incorrect:

1)    There is no verb for the subject “the mandates.”

2)    The verb-ing modifier “arriving” now illogically modifies the preceding noun entity “reservations”, suggesting that the reservations arrived late. 

3)    It also repeats the comma + verb-ing modifier error of Choice B.             

E

flowing through their reservations, which arrived too late for the Apache tribes living in New Mexico, who had already been displaced

Incorrect:

1)    There is no verb for the subject “the mandates”.

2)    Also, the relative pronoun modifier “which” seems to modify the preceding noun entity “reservations”. It should refer to “the mandates.”

Both teachers and the general public should remember that since schools, preparing people for social conditions, and since these conditions are continually changing, the work of the schools must correspondingly change.

Meaning Analysis  

• Both teachers and the general public should remember
  • that since schools, preparing people for social conditions, and
  • since these conditions are continually changing,
    • the work of the schools must correspondingly change.                             

The sentence says that teachers and the general public both should keep something in mind. Because schools prepare people for social conditions and because these social conditions are constantly changing, the work of the schools must also change accordingly.   

Error Analysis

There is no verb for the subject “schools”. This is the only error in the sentence.

Answer Choices

A

schools, preparing people for social conditions, and since these conditions are continually changing, the work of the schools must correspondingly change  

Incorrect: This choice has the error stated in the error analysis. 

B

schools are preparing people for social conditions, and since these conditions are changing continually, as is, correspondingly, the school’s work 

Incorrect: 

1)     This choice rectifies the missing verb error of Choice A. However, use of the present continuous tense verb “are preparing” is not correct. Since the sentence presents general information about the function of the schools, it must be written in the simple present tense.

2)     Use of “as is” distorts the intended meaning of the sentence. As per the original choice, the work of the schools must change according to the changing social conditions. As per this choice, a school’s work is simultaneously changing as the social conditions are changing.    

C

schools must prepare people for social conditions, and since these conditions continually change, the school’s corresponding work must change 

Incorrect: 

Use of the adjective “corresponding” instead of the adverb “correspondingly”, which in the original sentence modifies the verb “must change”, changes the intended meaning. The adjective “corresponding” now modifies the noun “work”.  As per this choice, it is not the work that must change correspondingly but the corresponding work that must change. This is certainly a deviation from the intended meaning.   

D

schools prepare people for social conditions and since these conditions are continually changing, the work of the schools must correspondingly change    

Correct:      

This choice corrects the missing verb error of the original sentence. The verb “prepare” makes sense and agrees in number with the subject “schools”.

E

schools, which prepare people for social conditions, and since these conditions change continually, the school’s corresponding work must change  

Incorrect:

1)     This choice retains the missing verb error of Choice A.

2)     It also repeats the meaning error of Choice C.