ALCPT Sentence and Clause Structure 4 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: Which sentence contains a nonrestrictive relative clause?
- The book that she recommended was excellent.
- My sister, who lives in Boston, is a doctor. (Correct answer)
- The students who passed the test celebrated.
- The car that broke down was repaired quickly.
Correct answer: My sister, who lives in Boston, is a doctor.
Nonrestrictive clauses add extra information and are set off by commas, as in 'My sister, who lives in Boston, is a doctor.'
Question 2: Choose the sentence that correctly uses a subordinating conjunction.
- She was tired, she kept working.
- He studied hard; he passed the exam.
- Although it was raining, they continued the game. (Correct answer)
- The movie was long but it was boring.
Correct answer: Although it was raining, they continued the game.
'Although' is a subordinating conjunction that correctly introduces a dependent clause in option C.
Question 3: What type of sentence is: 'The teacher explained the lesson, and the students took notes.'?
- Simple sentence
- Complex sentence
- Compound sentence (Correct answer)
- Compound-complex sentence
Correct answer: Compound sentence
A compound sentence joins two independent clauses with a coordinating conjunction like 'and.'
Question 4: Identify the appositive phrase in: 'Mr. Rivera, our history teacher, assigned a research paper.'
- Mr. Rivera
- our history teacher (Correct answer)
- assigned a research paper
- a research paper
Correct answer: our history teacher
An appositive phrase renames or describes a noun; 'our history teacher' renames 'Mr. Rivera.'
Question 5: Which option correctly combines these two sentences using a relative clause? 'The man won the prize. He wrote the best essay.'
- The man won the prize who wrote the best essay.
- The man, he wrote the best essay, won the prize.
- The man who wrote the best essay won the prize. (Correct answer)
- The man won the prize, wrote the best essay.
Correct answer: The man who wrote the best essay won the prize.
The relative clause 'who wrote the best essay' correctly modifies 'the man' when placed immediately after it.
Question 6: Which sentence has an adverbial clause of condition?
- She left because she was tired.
- If you study hard, you will pass. (Correct answer)
- He ran faster than she did.
- They arrived before the show started.
Correct answer: If you study hard, you will pass.
An adverbial clause of condition uses 'if' or similar words to express a conditional relationship.
Question 7: What is the function of the clause 'what he said' in: 'I didn't understand what he said.'?
- Adjective clause modifying 'he'
- Adverbial clause modifying 'understand'
- Noun clause functioning as a direct object (Correct answer)
- Independent clause
Correct answer: Noun clause functioning as a direct object
'What he said' is a noun clause acting as the direct object of 'understand.'
ALCPT Sentence and Clause Structure 4
Which sentence contains a nonrestrictive relative clause?