Each consecutive underlined section corresponds with an answer choice.

Select the
choice that has an error, or select choice E for no error.

1. A Because of the Internet, B working at jobs C at home D have become much more
common. E No error.
A. A B. B C. C D. D E. E
2. “Pull it out A by B its plug, not by the C cord,” said D dad. E No error.
A. A B. B C. C D. D E. E
3. Symptoms of this illness A that warrant a doctor visit B includes fever, C vomiting, and diarrhea,
as well as the D loss of appetite. E No error.
A. A B. B C. C D. D E. E

4. A Either Lisa or Karen B will always volunteer C their valuable D time to serve on our board. ENo
error.

A. A B. B C. C D. D E. E
5. The conversation with her A mother had a more profound B affect on her C than D she
expected. E No error.

A. A B. B C. C D. D E. E
6. The A President and the B Speaker of the House found the C Congressional Republicans’
filibusters to be D all together specious. E No error.

A. A B. B C. C D. D E. E
7. A Professor Lane, our B Computer Science teacher, was excited when he had the opportunity
to meet C Bill Gates, the D president of Microsoft, Inc.E No error.

A. A B. B C. C D. D E. E
8. Do you think A they B will C except our plan D without an argument? E No error.

A. A B. B C. C D. D E. E
9. “They A had went to the lake B without me C by the time D I got there,” said Jacques. E No error.

A. A B. B C. C D. D E. E
10. Work A as quick B as you C can but D as carefully as possible when you take the test. E No
error.

A. A B. B C. C D. D E. E
1. D: The error is “have become,” which should be “has become.” The plural form of the
auxiliary verb “have” is incorrect because the subject of the independent clause is
“working,” which is singular and thus takes a singular verb—i.e. “working has…” The
other underlined sections are correct.
2. D: “Dad” is a name or proper noun and should be capitalized. “By” is a correct
preposition to use here. “Its” is the correct use of the third-person singular possessive
impersonal pronoun. The punctuation at the end of the quotation is correct.
3. B: “Includes” is incorrect because it is the singular form of the verb, but the subject,
“symptoms,” is plural. The verb should be “include.” The subordinating conjunction “that”
introducing the dependent clause, and its plural verb “warrant,” (A) are both correct.
“…vomiting, and” (C) is punctuated correctly as the last in a series of three or more
words. The singular noun “loss” (D) is correct.
4. C: “Their” is incorrect because it is a plural third-person possessive pronoun, but the
use of “either (A)…or” indicates a singular form. It should be “her.” “Will always
volunteer” (B) is a singular verb phrase and is correct. “Time” (D) is correct regardless
of whether it is modified by a singular (“her”) or plural (“their”) possessive pronoun, e.g.
“They both volunteered their valuable time.”
5. B: The correct noun for this meaning is spelled “effect.” “Affect” when it is a noun
means mood or emotional state, e.g. “The patient presented with a depressed affect.”
When it is a verb, the meaning of “affect” is related to the meaning of the noun “effect;”
e.g. “The experience had a harmful effect on her, but it did not affect her brother the
same way.” “…her mother” (A) is correctly not capitalized as it is a noun, not a
name/proper noun (e.g. “Hello, Mother.”) The other underlined parts are correct.
6. D: This is incorrectly spelled as two words. In this sentence, it should be “altogether,”
a one-word adverb modifying the adjective “specious” and meaning “entirely” or
“completely.” “All together” would be used for a different meaning, e.g. “The family
members were all together at the reunion.” The President (A), Speaker of the House
(B), and Republicans’ (C) are all correctly capitalized as they are titles. The adjective
congressional (C) refers to Congress (a proper name and thus capitalized), but as an
adjective it is lower-case unless part of a proper name.
7. E: There is no error in this sentence. Titles and proper names (A) are capitalized.
Academic subjects or departments are lower-case (e.g. department of computer
science) unless they are adjectives (Computer Science teacher) (B) or proper nouns
(English, French, etc.) Bill Gates (C) is a proper noun, i.e. a name, and is always
capitalized. “…the president” (D) is correctly lower-case both because it is used after a
name, and because it is a used as a description rather than a title here.
8. C: The verb is misspelled here. For the correct meaning, it should be “accept,” i.e. to
consent or agree to our plan. “Except” means other than, besides, but, etc. Used as a
verb as in this sentence, it would mean to make an exception of our plan, which is
incorrect as it contradicts the rest of the sentence (without an argument). “They” (A) and
“will” (B) are used correctly as subject pronoun and auxiliary verb. “Without” (D) is
correctly used as a preposition.
9. A: The correct form for the past perfect tense of the irregular verb “to go” is “had
gone,” not “had went.” “Went” is only used as the past tense, without the auxiliary “had.”
The prepositional phrase (B) is correct. The two parts of the dependent clause (C and
D) “by the time I got there” are correct.
10. A: The error is “quick,” which is an adjective; here it should be the adverb “quickly”
instead, describing manner (how) to modify the verb “Work.” “…as carefully” (D) is an
example of the correct usage. The other underlined sections are correct.
Set A

1. Illiteracy is an enormous problem,A it affectsB millions of people worldwide,C and is an impediment

toD social progress.� No errorE.

2. The company president has takenA steps to ensure that sheB can handle the pressure and

anxiety associated withC the job, includingD joining a yoga class and enlisting the support of a network

of friends. No errorE.

3. If you are sure thatA you are in the right,B you would notC mind an independent examination ofD the

case. No errorE.

4. The union insistedA on an increase in theirBmembers�C starting pay, and threatened to call a strike

if the company refused toD meet the demand. No errorE.

5. Television viewers claim thatA the number of scenes depictingB alcohol

consumption haveC increased dramatically overD the last decade. No errorE.

6. Employees with lessA personal problems areB likelyCto be moreD productive. No errorE.

7. The three richest men in America haveA assets worth more thanB the combined assetsC of the sixty

poorest countries ofD the world. No errorE.

8. ShipwreckedA on a desert island, coconuts and otherB fruits formedC the basis of

the sailor�sD diet. No errorE.

9. Fifty percent of the people alive today haveA never made a phone call, butB thirty percent stillC have

no electricity connections to theirD homes. No errorE.

10. The rhododendron, whichA ornaments so manyBEnglish gardens, isC not native toD Europe. No

errorE.

11. The farmer should not have beenA so careless asBto leave the door of the house

unbolted whenC he had goneD to bed. No errorE.

12. A censusA of the island revealedB a population of onlyC 10,000 peopleD. No errorE.

13. The engineer, who is renowned for his ingenuityA, has designedB a very uniqueC cooling system

for our new plant inD Spain. No errorE.

14. Shoes of thoseA kind areB bad for the feet;C low heels areD better. No errorE.

15. My father saw how muchA Uncle Tom was enjoyingBhis early retirement, andC so he decided to do

the sameD. No errorE.

Set A

1. A
2. D
3. C
4. B
5. C
6. A
7. E
8. A
9. B
10. E
11. D
12. D
13. C
14. A
15. D

Set B

1. Correct Answer: C
Explanation:
Since there are only two candidates we must use better not best.
2. Correct Answer: C
Explanation:
The correct usage is to say, �the reason is that�, not �the reason is because�.

3. Correct Answer: D
Explanation:
Change less to fewer.
4. Correct Answer: E
Explanation:
No error.

5. Correct Answer: D
Explanation:
Incorrect comparison. Atmosphere must be compared to atmosphere. We could write, �... its
atmosphere is anything like that of the old one.�
6. Correct Answer: C
Explanation:
Change I to me (object of a preposition).
7. Correct Answer: A
Explanation:
Change to we hope because hopefully is an adverb and yet it is not modifying a verb.
8. Correct Answer: A
Explanation:
Change would to will.
9. Correct Answer: C
Explanation:
Change the comma to a semi-colon since you can't join two sentences with a comma.

10. Correct Answer: D

Explanation:
It has no antecedent. Change to they or the team.
11. Correct Answer: E
Explanation:
No error.

12. Correct Answer: A

Explanation:
To make the sentence construction parallel, put not merely after expected.
13. Correct Answer: E
Explanation:
No error.

14. Correct Answer: A

Explanation:
Neither is singular and so we should change do to does.
15. Correct Answer: B
Explanation:
Change besides to beside.
Set C.

Answers

1. H e w a s q u i t e a m u s e d w h e n h e h e a r d w h a t h a d h a p p e n e d .
2. T u r n l e ft a t t h e c r o s s r o a d s w h e n y o u r e a c h i t .
3. H e h a s b e e n w o r k i n g h e r e fo r s o m e t i m e s .
4. H e s t o p p e d t o s e e i f h e c o u l d p i c k u p t h e t r a i l .
5. A l t h o u g h h e j u mp e d a s i d e , y e t t h e s t o n e h i t h i m.
6. I d e c i d e d t o c l i m b t o t h e t o p o f t h e h i l l t o g e t a b e t t e r v i e w .
7. H e j u mp e d d o w n a ft e r s h o u t i n g a w a r n i n g t o t h o s e s t a n d i n g
below
8. A ft e r a fe w mi n u t e s , I l o o k e d u p a n d s a w t h a t i t w a s g e t t i n g
dark.
9. I s a w t h e b l i n d m a n c r o s s i n g t h e b u s y r o a d w i t h o u t a n y h e l p .
10. T h e r o b b e r g a v e t h e v i c t i m a h a r d b l o w .
Set B

1. We have no choice butA to appoint Mary:B she is the bestC of the two candidates, and there isD no

prospect of finding more applicants. No errorE.

2. The reason I willA not be goingB to Mexico this year is becauseC I will use up all my travel

money attendingDan important meeting in Singapore. No errorE.

3. If you wereA to work at least four hours a day on the project, we wouldB complete it in

a shorterC time, and with lessD problems. No errorE.

4. The manager tried hard to effectA a change in company policy, butB the owner, who steadfastly

refused to compromiseC, overruledD him on every point. No errorE.

5. The new library is undoubtedlyA well stocked and functional, butB no one can say

that itsC atmosphere is anything like the old oneD. No errorE.

6. My uncle, whoA wasB on vacation, along with my two cousins and IC, wentD fishing down by the

river. No errorE.

7. HopefullyA, we will beB able to complete the building beforeC the rainy season sets inD. No errorE.

8. You wouldA have to choose herB, if you are looking forC the best athlete to representD the

school. No errorE.

9. All the trapped miners beganA to loseB hope, itC had been twenty four hours sinceD the tunnel

collapsed. No errorE.

10. BecauseA they played byB the rules, the members of the team were givenC a standing ovation

even though itD did not win the match. No errorE.

11. Her avariciousA relatives assembled at the lawyer'sBoffice to hear the reading ofC Jemima's

willD. No errorE.

12. He was not merelyA expected to contribute funds to the project, butB to work as

hard asC the otherD patrons. No errorE.

13. None of usA knowsB what the outcome of the battle betweenC the coordinator and usD will be. No

errorE.

14. Neither of my brothers doA anything to make life better for ourB parents whoC are both

suffering fromDarthritis. No errorE.

15. The teacher satA down besidesB the frightened child and tried to reassureC him that the monster

was merelyD imaginary. No errorE.

Set C

1. He was quite amusing when he heard what had happened.

2 . T u r n l e f t b y t h e c r o s s r o a d s w h e n yo u r e a c h i t .

3. He has been working here for sometimes.

4. He stopped to see if he could picked up the trail.

5. Although he jumped aside, but the stone hit him.

6. I decided to climbed to the top of the hill to get a better view.

7. He jumped down after shouted a warning to those standing below.

8. After a few minutes, I look up and saw that it was getting dark.

9. I saw the blind man crossed the busy road without any help.

10. The robber gave the victim with a hard blow.