<p>Here are some questions on Barron 2400 that I don't understand.</p>
<p>1) Hector enjoys movies more [then theater going since the latter do] not have the distractions associated with set changes and intermission.</p>
<p>Answer: Hector enjoys movies more [than theater since the former does] not have the distractions associated with set changes and intermission.</p>
<p>My question: movies-plural, I thought it should be [than theatre since the former do]...Is there something wrong with the answer?</p>
<p>2) Just as a home theater was a dream come true for the Benson family, [so a backyard tennis court was a dream come true for the Janice family]</p>
<p>Answer: [so a backyard tennis court was a dream come true for he Janice family]
My choice: [so was a backyard tennis court was a dream come true for the Janice family]</p>
<p>Could someone help me with these questions? Thank you in advance!</p>
<p>The first (1) is tricky since movies is plural and theater is singular. That’s an artifact of the way the word “movies” is used. This ambiguity wouldn’t arise if the two activities are just about anything else, as for example two common sports! My intuition is that either the singular or the plural is acceptable.</p>
<p>For (2) you need to maintain a parallel structure for the two items that are being compared. So strictly mimic the first. By inserting <was> before backyard you’re breaking the parallelism in the comparison. Note also that if you rewrite the sentence so as to retain your clause while modifying that pertaining to backyard tennis court (and maintaining parallelism) you get a very awkward sentence – i.e. “Just as was a backyard tennis court”. That’s another way of seeing that the “was” is not right.</was></p>
<p>1) Just saying “the movies” could be considered a singular term, like, “I’m going to the movies.” That would mean you’re going to the movie theater, hence the singular term. </p>
<p>2) Parallel structure. Both phrases have “was,” the verb, after the noun (home theater or backyard tennis court). </p>
<p>Hope this helps! :)</p>