Help With Improving Sentences

<p>I got these wrong, and I'd like to know why! These didn't come with explanations.
I parenthesized the part of the sentence that the questions asked for us to improve.</p>

<p>Growing up in a family where music was a daily part of life, Steve and Rick shared a determination (to become singing duos) known nationwide.
A) to become singing duos
B) to become a singing duo
C) of becoming singing duos
D) that they would become singing duos
E) of becoming a singing duo
I got E, but it was B</p>

<p>Marie and Pierre Curie discovered radium but refused to patent the process they (used nor otherwise profiting) from the commercial exploitation of radium.
A) used nor otherwise profiting
B) had used nor otherwise did they profit
C) have used or otherwise to have profited
D) used or otherwise profited
E) had used or otherwise to profit
The main problem with this problem was that I couldn't understand what the sentence was trying to say. The answer was E, but I put D. </p>

<p>(Many drivers violate traffic laws knowingly and openly, in other respects they are law-abiding citizens, however.)
A) Many drivers violate traffic laws knowingly and openly, in other respects they are law-abiding citizens, however.
B) Many drivers who are otherwise law-abiding citizens violate traffic laws knowingly and openly.
C) Many drivers violate traffic laws knowingly and openly and are otherwise law-abiding citizens.
D) Although other wise law- abiding citizens, many drivers, however, violate traffic laws knowingly and openly.
E) Many drivers which violate traffic laws knowingly and openly are in other respects law abiding citizens.</p>

<p>I did not understand this one too much, either. Anyways, I put D, and the answer was B. </p>

<ol>
<li><p>E is the incorrect idiom. You want “determination to” not “determination of.” The latter is used for solving problems, not ambitions for the future.</p></li>
<li><p>This is a parallelism question. The pattern you’re looking for should look like this: “They refused to X or to Y.” Be aware that X or Y could each be a big group of words. In this case, X is “patent the process they had used.” Try not to get blinded by all that noise and look for the underlying pattern.</p></li>
<li><p>“However” is a conjunctive adverb, not a conjunction. That means it can only join ideas in (1) separate sentences or (2 ideas in a single sentence separated by a semicolon. D does not follow that rule.</p></li>
</ol>