Basic Ability Test Basic Ability Grammar and Sentence Correction 3 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: Which sentence contains a misplaced modifier?
- She nearly drove her children to school every day. (Correct answer)
- He bought a car that was nearly out of gas.
- The teacher, nearly exhausted, dismissed the class.
- They nearly finished the project before lunch.
Correct answer: She nearly drove her children to school every day.
'Nearly' is misplaced; it should modify 'every day' but is placed before 'drove,' changing the meaning.
Question 2: Select the sentence in which pronoun reference is clear.
- When Maria called Susan, she was upset.
- The board approved the plan after they reviewed it. (Correct answer)
- After reviewing the files, they were shredded.
- Jake told his brother he had won the award.
Correct answer: The board approved the plan after they reviewed it.
'They' clearly refers to 'the board,' making the pronoun reference unambiguous.
Question 3: Which word correctly completes the sentence? 'The committee will _____ a new chairperson next week.'
- choose (Correct answer)
- chose
- chosen
- choice
Correct answer: choose
'Will choose' is the correct future tense form of the verb 'choose.'
Question 4: Identify the sentence with parallel structure.
- She likes swimming, to jog, and biking.
- She likes swimming, jogging, and biking. (Correct answer)
- She likes to swim, jogging, and the bike.
- She likes swimming, the jog, and to bike.
Correct answer: She likes swimming, jogging, and biking.
Parallel structure requires all items in a list to use the same grammatical form; '-ing' forms are consistent here.
Question 5: Which sentence correctly uses 'fewer' vs. 'less'?
- There are less cars on the road today.
- I have fewer patience than before.
- She made fewer mistakes on the second attempt. (Correct answer)
- We need less volunteers for this event.
Correct answer: She made fewer mistakes on the second attempt.
'Fewer' is used with countable nouns like 'mistakes,' while 'less' is for uncountable quantities.
Question 6: Which of the following is a run-on sentence?
- The storm passed, and the sun came out.
- Although it was late, she kept working.
- He was tired he went to bed early. (Correct answer)
- She finished her homework before dinner.
Correct answer: He was tired he went to bed early.
'He was tired he went to bed early' fuses two independent clauses without proper punctuation or a conjunction.
Question 7: Choose the sentence that avoids redundancy.
- Please revert back to your original settings.
- The two twins celebrated together.
- The meeting was brief and short.
- She submitted her résumé for the position. (Correct answer)
Correct answer: She submitted her résumé for the position.
'Submitted her résumé for the position' contains no redundant words, unlike the other options.
Basic Ability Test Basic Ability Grammar and Sentence Correction 3
Which sentence contains a misplaced modifier?