<li>In the 1980’s, the median price of a house more than
doubled, (generally outdistancing the rate of inflation).</li>
</ol>
<p>(A) generally outdistancing the rate of inflation
(B) generally this outdistanced the rate of inflation
(C) and the result was the general outdistancing of
inflation
(D) the general rate of inflation was thus outdistanced
(E) thus generally inflation had been outdistanced</p>
<p>i pick A, but i dont really know why, it just sounds right, i dont know the rationale to this, can someone please edify me?</p>
<p>Another one,
7. In the nineteenth century, reproductions of cathedrals
or castles made entirely of ice (was often a popular
feature) in North American winter carnivals.
(A) was often a popular feature
(B) often were popular features
(C) often was featured popularly
(D) often being popular features
(E) have been featured popularly
I got down to B and E, but looking at “nineteenth century”, which is past, so i got B, is this correct?
man …</p>
<p>I think A is right for the first one...for the second one E is def. wrong...I'm not sure if its supposed to be "were" though. Is it referring to the "reproductions" or "cathedrals or castles"? If its the former, then B is right, if its the latter, then I think its A, but I'd go for B.</p>
<p>I remember doing the first question, and I remember also having trouble with it. But, looking at it now, I am pretty sure that the answer is A...the rest of the choices make it too wordy or just don't fit.</p>
<p>For the second one, the answer is definetely B. It should be "were" because it is referring to the "reproductions". It can't be E because the sentence says nothing about the reproductions being featured, rather, they were just plain popular.</p>
<p>The first one is A. As WantIvy said, the other choices are way too wordy.</p>
<p>The second one is B. The subject of the sentence is "reproductions" (can't be "cathedrals or castles" because it's the object of the preposition "of"--objects can't be subjects). Therefore, the verb has to be plural (but if the subject were "cathedral or castles," the verb would still be be plural), as you already determined. And the 19th century is already done and over with, which is why it's the past, not he progressive, form of the verb.</p>