ALCPT - American Language Course Placement Identifying Grammatical Errors Questions and Answers

Question 1

Which of the following sentences contains an error in pronoun-antecedent agreement?

Accepted Answer

Each of the technicians must check their tool kit before starting work.

Answer

The antecedent 'Each' is a singular indefinite pronoun, which requires a singular pronoun ('his or her'). The plural pronoun 'their' does not agree with the singular antecedent.

Question 2

A student wrote the following sentence: 'Peeling the potatoes, the knife slipped and cut my finger.' Which grammatical error does this sentence demonstrate?

Accepted Answer

Dangling modifier

Answer

The introductory phrase 'Peeling the potatoes' is a dangling modifier because it doesn't logically modify the subject that follows ('the knife'). The knife was not peeling the potatoes. The sentence should be rewritten to clarify who was peeling, for example: 'While I was peeling the potatoes, the knife slipped and cut my finger.'

Question 3

An officer's report describes a suspect's actions: 'The suspect was observed checking his watch, looking around nervously, and to run when he saw the patrol car.' Which part of this sentence violates the rules of parallel structure?

Accepted Answer

to run when he saw

Answer

To maintain parallel structure in a list, all items should be in the same grammatical form. The first two items are gerunds ('checking', 'looking'). The third item should also be a gerund ('running') to match the others. The infinitive 'to run' breaks the parallel pattern.

Question 4

Which of the following sentences uses the word 'affect' or 'effect' incorrectly?

Accepted Answer

What was the affect of the commander's speech on morale?

Answer

'Affect' is typically used as a verb meaning 'to influence,' while 'effect' is usually a noun meaning 'a result' or 'consequence.' In this sentence, the noun form is needed to refer to the result of the speech. Therefore, 'effect' should be used instead of 'affect'.

Question 5

A supervisor comparing two technicians says, 'Of the two new recruits, Private Smith is the most diligent.' What is the grammatical error in this statement?

Accepted Answer

Incorrect use of a superlative adjective

Answer

When comparing only two nouns, the comparative form of an adjective (e.g., 'more diligent' or '-er') should be used. The superlative form ('most diligent' or '-est') is reserved for comparing three or more nouns. The correct sentence would be, '...Private Smith is the more diligent.'

ALCPT - American Language Course Placement Test Practice Test

ALCPT - American Language Course Placement Test Practice Test

ALCPT - American Language Course Placement Identifying Grammatical Errors Questions and Answers