<p>@abrayo- in the first question the well developed plot and the excellent cast are the subject. Thus it is are.
For the second one, the he is definitely ambiguous. It may seem obvious that the star player was benched because of his criticism, but that is not 100% true. the sentence does not define who criticized the players lack of intensity. The player could have or the manager could have.
I am not sure on the other question on what the verb takes on with the closest subject, but I am pretty sure it has to do with ones that have or and nor and a plural and singular noun. Example:
Incorrect: Neither Mary nor her brothers knows what happened.
(Brothers is closer to the verb and is plural; the verb should agree with brothers).</p>
<p>Correct: Neither Mary nor her brothers know what happened.</p>
<p>Correct: Neither her brothers nor Mary knows what happened.</p>
<p>@abrayo,
You can’t tell if the manager or the star player criticized the player’s lack of intensity. In fact, as you said, the manager could have criticized the star player, then benched him.</p>
<p>Suppose the sentence was: “The manager benched the pitcher after he criticized the third baseman’s lack of intensity.”</p>
<p>You still don’t know if the manager benched the pitcher AND criticized the third baseman, or if the manager benched the pitcher who criticized the third baseman. So it’s still ambiguous.</p>
<p>“Although ecological awareness is international, there are few if any countries on the rise in which no native species are endangered.”
Why is in which correct? Shouldn’t it be replaced with where?</p>
<p>Here is an improving sentences question I’ve been having trouble with:</p>
<p>Strong wind, (it having swept almost unchecked over great distances,) is a prime component of the grassland climate.</p>
<p>(A) it having swept almost unchecked over great distances,</p>
<p>(B) sweeping almost unchecked over great distances,</p>
<p>(C) being almost unchecked, will sweep over great distances, for it</p>
<p>(D) with almost unchecked sweeping over great distances,</p>
<p>(E) swept over great distances and almost unchecked,</p>
<p>The answer is B, but i answered it E. I actually didn’t get the grammatical difference between B, D and E, so I made an educated guessing and it turned out wrong Can anyone tell me why it’s B and not E or D? Thanks in advance!</p>
<p>E is wrong because of its incorrect tense. “Swept” (Past) does not agree with “is” (Present).
D is wrong because it introduces the unnecessary “with”.</p>
<p>In the Improving Sentences/Paragraphs Sections, you look for the BEST choice.</p>
<p>Thanks ankitp4t3l for your reply! However, I can’t get why the contrast between the tenses is wrong in B and E because the sentence with ‘swept’ is between two commas, so it seems right to me. The only difference I can see is in their meaning: ‘sweeping’ means that the wind itself is sweeping, while ‘swept’ means that someone/something sweeped the wind. This is why I made a guess, because I can’t understand whether the wind ‘sweeped’ or was ‘swept’ by anything else. </p>
<p>Can ankitp4t3l or anyone else elucidate on this please and tell me where I’m wrong? Thanks again!</p>
<p>The famous scene in which silent film actor Harold Lloyd dangles from the hands of clock in Safety Last! was filmed on a city rooftop, (and many people believe it was) in a studio.
A) and many people believe it was
B) many people believing
C) but many people figure it to be
D) not what many people believe
E) not, as many people believe,</p>
<p>The answer is E; I chose C. I guess after reading it a couple times it sounds better but can I get an explanation grammatically please? Thank you!</p>
<p>@000ooo000ooo
The best choice is E) from a parallelism point of view. The parallel structure would be filmed “on a rooftop”, not “in a studio”. The prepositional phrase “on a rooftop” should be followed by another prepositional phrase, “in a studio”. </p>
<p>If we look at choice C), the sentence lacks parallelism in the two main clauses. For instance, the first main clauses uses the passive voice, but the second main clause uses the active voice.</p>
<p>Thanks a lot for your answer, but I still don’t know why should we choose the active over the passive voice :(. I’ve checked your links, but they still didn’t help me… I’m usually good at Improving sentences questions but this question has driven me nuts! Please help me!</p>
<p>Notice the emphasis in this passive sentence. “The wind is swept.” This sentence is missing the object that the wind is swept by (such as trees :)). Also, wind can’t be swept by anything because it does the “sweeping” itself. </p>
<p>In choice E, the unnecessary phrase, swept over great distances implies that someTHING swept the wind itself. This is incorrect. That is the difference between passive and active. In the first, an object is acted on “BY” another object, and in the latter an object “ACTS” on something directly.</p>
<p>1) The first Asian American (to be elected) governor in the United States, George Ariyoshi of Hawaii (has served) longer (than any) of his predecessors when he retired (from) office in 1986.</p>
<p>The answer is (B). I did it correctly, but I don’t know why is it particularly wrong.</p>
<p>2) In Gee’s Bend, Alabama, (traditionally made) quilts (are aired) outdoors on sunny spring days, attracting local quilters who enjoy (this) display of one another’s (creations).</p>
<p>The answer is (E). I also did this one correctly, but (D) seemed a bit suspicious to me. Can you tell elucidate on this please and tell me why it’s not ‘creation’.</p>
<p>3) Quincy took Dan to Derek’s home (for a visit), (never imagining) that five years (would pass) before (seeing) Derek again.</p>
<p>The answer is (D)? I can’t even think of any thing that can make ‘seeing’ wrong. I did it (E) by the way.</p>
<p>The answer is (E). I also did this one correctly, but (D) seemed a bit suspicious to me. Can you tell elucidate on this please and tell me why it’s not ‘creation’.</p>
<p>Quilts, plural; creations, plural. If only two people were displaying one quilt each, and looking, then they’d be each looking at one creation of the other’s, and then it’d be “each other’s creation.”</p>
<p>3) The tenses do not agree. More importantly, it is unclear whether Dan would see Derek 5 years later, or Quincy would. So there are two errors.</p>
<p>@ eljamas: Thanks a lot for your answer. Regarding your inquiry, these are from a previously administered SAT :(</p>
<p>@ JefferyJung: Thanks </p>
<p>@ canhazphysics: In number 3, I notice now the ambiguous meaning the sentence gives, but I don’t know what you mean by ‘The tenses do not agree’. By the way, what should the correction be? ‘she could see’ or ‘she saw’ or something else?</p>
<p>I mean, using present continuous for the future is rarely warranted. “Would be seeing” would not be incorrect, “would see” would probably be the best.</p>
Can anyone tell me why it’s B and not E or D? Thanks in advance!</p>
</p>