Sentence Correction with Shortcut tricks Set 01

Answer: (e) No correction required

Explanation:
1. The simple past 'registered' matches the other past action 'sent him to jail', and the adverb 'finally' correctly modifies the verb.
2. (a) 'has finally register' has the wrong verb form, (b) and (d) use the adjective 'final' where an adverb is needed, and (c) uses a noun.
3. So the sentence is correct as it stands.

Teacher's Note:
1. Adverbs modify verbs; adjectives modify nouns.
2. Two connected past actions use the simple past.

Answer: (d) Whatever the reasons

Explanation:
1. 'Whatever the reasons' is the correct fixed structure meaning 'no matter what the reasons are'.
2. 'Whichever' is used when a limited choice is available, and 'reasons' needs the article 'the' after 'whatever'.
3. Options (a), (b) and (c) change the sense or are ungrammatical.

Teacher's Note:
1. Whatever + the + noun = no matter what.
2. Whichever refers to a known set of choices.

Answer: (b) like being transported

Explanation:
1. The preposition 'like' is followed by a gerund (-ing form), and the passive 'being transported' fits the meaning.
2. Correct sentence: 'Visiting the village is like being transported into some other century'.
3. 'Like be transported' uses the base form wrongly.

Teacher's Note:
1. A preposition is followed by a noun or gerund.
2. Use the passive when the subject receives the action.

Answer: (d) have paid little heed

Explanation:
1. The plural subject 'Environmentalists' needs the plural auxiliary 'have', and the present perfect needs the past participle 'paid'.
2. 'Heed' is an uncountable noun, so it takes no -s.
3. So the correct phrase is 'have paid little heed'.

Teacher's Note:
1. Plural subject + have + V3.
2. Uncountable nouns are not pluralised.

Answer: (a) Cannot wish away

Explanation:
1. After a modal verb such as 'cannot', the main verb is in the base form: 'wish'.
2. The phrasal verb meaning to make something disappear by wishing is 'wish away'.
3. 'Wish out' is not an idiom.

Teacher's Note:
1. Modal + base verb.
2. Phrasal verbs have fixed particles.

Answer: (a) her wit's end

Explanation:
1. The idiom is 'at one's wit's end', meaning completely at a loss, and it is followed by the possessive 'her'.
2. 'Ending' is not part of the idiom.
3. Other options change the idiom.

Teacher's Note:
1. Learn idioms in their exact form.
2. At one's wit's end = at a loss what to do.

Answer: (e) No correction required

Explanation:
1. 'Saving grace' is a correct idiom for a good quality that makes up for faults.
2. The other options are not standard expressions.
3. So no correction is needed.

Teacher's Note:
1. Saving grace is a fixed phrase.
2. A sentence may need no change.

Answer: (b) hard pressed for time

Explanation:
1. The idiom is 'hard pressed for time', meaning having very little time.
2. 'Hardly' means almost not and gives the opposite meaning, which contradicts 'had to prepare urgently'.
3. 'Timely' is an adjective and 'for' needs a noun.

Teacher's Note:
1. Hard pressed for = short of.
2. Do not confuse hard and hardly.

Answer: (c) lied through his teeth

Explanation:
1. The idiom meaning to lie openly and shamelessly is 'lie through one's teeth'.
2. The sentence is in the past tense, so 'lied' is right.
3. Other prepositions or number forms break the idiom.

Teacher's Note:
1. Idioms cannot change their prepositions.
2. Match the verb form to the tense of the sentence.

Answer: (d) wide awake

Explanation:
1. 'Wide awake' is the correct adjective phrase for fully awake; 'wide' is an adverb meaning completely.
2. 'Awaken' is a verb and cannot be used as an adjective here.
3. 'Widely awake' changes the sense.

Teacher's Note:
1. Wide awake, wide open.
2. Use the adjective awake after a linking verb or 'lay'.

Answer: (c) Her business was so successful

Explanation:
1. The sentence needs a complete main clause followed by the 'that' result clause: 'Her business was so successful that Marie was able to retire'.
2. Option (a) leaves out the inversion required after a fronted 'so + adjective' ('So successful was her business').
3. (b) and (d) are ungrammatical.

Teacher's Note:
1. So + adjective + that: result clause.
2. If 'so + adjective' starts the sentence, the verb comes before the subject.

Answer: (b) at the mercy of

Explanation:
1. The idiom is 'at the mercy of', meaning completely in the power of.
2. No other preposition or article is correct in this fixed phrase.
3. The other options change the meaning.

Teacher's Note:
1. At the mercy of is a fixed idiom.
2. Check prepositions in idioms.

Answer: (a) Had he not

Explanation:
1. A third conditional can drop 'if' by inverting the auxiliary and subject: 'Had he not resigned'.
2. In the inverted form 'not' follows the subject: 'Had he not', not 'Had not he'.
3. So the correct phrase is 'Had he not'.

Teacher's Note:
1. Inverted conditional: Had + subject + (not) + V3.
2. Had he not = If he had not.

Answer: (c) one of a kind

Explanation:
1. 'One of a kind' is the idiom meaning unique.
2. The other forms are not standard.
3. So 'one kind' must be replaced by 'one of a kind'.

Teacher's Note:
1. One of a kind = unique.
2. Idioms need all their small words.

Answer: (a) so as not to

Explanation:
1. A negative purpose is expressed by 'so as not to' (or 'in order not to') + verb.
2. 'To not cut' is a split infinitive that sounds awkward.
3. 'So not to' and 'not in order to' are incorrect word orders.

Teacher's Note:
1. Negative purpose: so as not to / in order not to.
2. Place 'not' before the infinitive to.

Answer: (e) No improvement

Explanation:
1. 'The extent to which' is the correct phrase for the degree of advance, and it matches the verb 'had advanced'.
2. (b) 'the extent where' and (c) 'the point which' have wrong relative words, and (d) lacks an article.
3. 'How much' is too informal and does not fit the clause.

Teacher's Note:
1. Extent is followed by 'to which'.
2. Fixed noun + preposition + relative pronoun patterns.

Answer: (e) No improvement

Explanation:
1. 'Between ... and ...' is correct for dividing two groups, the rich and the poor.
2. 'Among' is for three or more, and the other options are wrong or unidiomatic.
3. So no improvement is needed.

Teacher's Note:
1. Between joins two; among is for three or more.
2. Use the article with 'the rich'.

Answer: (e) No improvement

Explanation:
1. 'Lay' is a transitive verb, and its past tense is 'laid', which is correct here.
2. 'Lay' in (b) and (c) is the present form, and (d) uses inversion wrongly.
3. 'Laid before him' is the right idiom for presenting facts.

Teacher's Note:
1. Lay, laid, laid (to put); lie, lay, lain (to rest).
2. Lay requires an object.

Answer: (e) No improvement

Explanation:
1. The 'if only ... had told' clause expresses a past regret, so the main clause uses 'would have + past participle'.
2. The other options do not show a past result.
3. So the sentence is correct.

Teacher's Note:
1. Third conditional: if + had + V3, would have + V3.
2. If only expresses regret.

Answer: (e) No improvement

Explanation:
1. 'Continued' is a correct intransitive verb meaning went on, and it is in the past tense like 'was worshipped'.
2. (a) 'was continued' is passive and illogical, (b) 'ruled' changes the sense, (c) 'was lasting' is awkward and (d) is ungrammatical.
3. So no improvement is needed.

Teacher's Note:
1. Continue can be used without an object.
2. Choose the verb whose meaning fits the clause.

Answer: (c) nor does he drink

Explanation:
1. After 'nor' the auxiliary comes before the subject (inversion), and the main verb stays in the base form.
2. Correct sentence: 'He does not smoke, nor does he drink'.
3. (a) and (b) do not invert, and (d) changes the meaning.

Teacher's Note:
1. Nor/neither + auxiliary + subject + verb.
2. The verb after the subject is in the base form.

Answer: (e) No improvement

Explanation:
1. The third conditional (if + had been taken) takes 'could/would have + past participle' in the main clause.
2. 'Could have been saved' is correct in the passive.
3. The other options do not express a past unreal result.

Teacher's Note:
1. Third conditional pairs if + had + V3 with would/could have + V3.
2. Passive: have been + V3.

Answer: (c) too much noise

Explanation:
1. 'Much' alone is avoided in positive sentences; 'too much noise' shows excess, which suits a complaint.
2. 'Much of noise' is ungrammatical, and 'very much noise' is not idiomatic.
3. 'So much noise' needs a result or an exclamatory context.

Teacher's Note:
1. Use too much for excess.
2. Much is normally used in negatives and questions.

Answer: (e) No improvement

Explanation:
1. 'All of our windows' is a correct partitive phrase meaning every one of the windows.
2. The other options have faulty word order, article use or number.
3. So no improvement is needed.

Teacher's Note:
1. All of + possessive + plural noun is correct.
2. All can also come directly before a possessive: all our windows.

Answer: (a) I found it difficult to converse

Explanation:
1. The participle phrase 'Knowing very little English' must refer to the subject of the main clause, which should be a person ('I').
2. Option (a) supplies that subject and avoids the dangling modifier.
3. Options (b), (c) and the original still have no person as subject.

Teacher's Note:
1. The doer of a participle phrase must be the subject of the main clause.
2. Fix a dangling participle by adding the right subject.

Answer: (c) except for a slight cold

Explanation:
1. 'Except for' is used to introduce an exception to a general statement ('quite well').
2. 'Excepting' is mainly used after 'not', and (a) and (d) are ungrammatical.
3. So the correct phrase is 'except for a slight cold'.

Teacher's Note:
1. Except for introduces an exception to a general statement.
2. Plain except is used after all, every, no and any.

Answer: (b) has gone

Explanation:
1. The subject is 'the father'; 'together with' phrases do not change the number, so the verb is singular.
2. 'Has gone' keeps the sense of a completed action.
3. 'Is gone' means departed permanently and 'is going' changes the tense.

Teacher's Note:
1. With, together with and as well as do not make the subject plural.
2. Agree the verb with the first noun.

Answer: (b) what her name was

Explanation:
1. A reported question uses statement word order, and the verb is backshifted to the past after 'asked'.
2. Correct form: 'what her name was'.
3. Option (a) is in word order but not backshifted, and (c) keeps the question order.

Teacher's Note:
1. Indirect question: no inversion, tense backshift after a past reporting verb.
2. Wh-word + subject + verb.

Answer: (e) No improvement

Explanation:
1. 'During the last six months' is a correct expression for a period running up to the present, used with the present perfect.
2. 'Since the last six months' is wrong because 'since' needs a point in time.
3. So no improvement is needed.

Teacher's Note:
1. Since + point of time; during/for + period.
2. Do not use since with a duration.

Answer: (b) for lack of water

Explanation:
1. The idiom meaning because of the absence of something is 'for lack of' without the article.
2. Option (a) and (c) use wrong prepositions and (d) loses the meaning of shortage.
3. So 'for lack of water' is right.

Teacher's Note:
1. For lack of, for want of.
2. No article in the fixed idiom.

Answer: (c) had taken a lenient view

Explanation:
1. 'Leniency' is a noun and cannot qualify 'view'; the adjective 'lenient' is needed.
2. Option (c) corrects the word and keeps the past perfect.
3. Option (d) has the wrong verb form 'had took', and (a) and (b) are ungrammatical.

Teacher's Note:
1. Lenient (adjective), leniency (noun).
2. Past perfect = had + past participle.

Answer: (e) No correction required

Explanation:
1. 'Self-made commitment' correctly uses a participle adjective meaning made by ourselves.
2. The other options use wrong word forms or change the meaning ('committee', 'made of').
3. So the sentence needs no correction.

Teacher's Note:
1. Self-made, self-imposed: participle adjectives.
2. Do not change a correct phrase.

Answer: (e) No correction required

Explanation:
1. 'An' is correct before the vowel sound of 'undisclosed', and the participle adjective 'undisclosed' is correct for a place that was not revealed.
2. The other options have wrong articles or word forms.
3. So no correction is needed.

Teacher's Note:
1. Use an before a vowel sound.
2. A passive participle describes a noun that received the action.