Subject/Verb Agreement
Beautifully written sentences, composed by the prolific and talented author, has been integral to his success.
A. No change
B. was
C. have been
D. is being
The subject here=sentences
C. have been.
Plural in number
Down the street from the college, I attend, the Save-U Laundromat is always open, and someone is always there.
A. No change
B. college, I attend
C. college I attend,
D. college I attend
C. Down the street from the college I attend,
This is an introductory phrase.
John forgot to bring his computer, cell phone, and also his radio.
A. No change
B. bring his computer, cell phone, and radio.
C. bring: his computer cell phone, and his radio.
D. bring his computer that he just bought, his cell phone that is old, and radio.
Parallel structure adds the same importance to all of the items listed by structuring the same way.
Answer is B.
The delicious pizza, which tasted great, was an excellent thing to have at the party.
A. No change
B. , which was absolutely yummy,
C. , which was enjoyable to eat,
D. Omit the italicized portion
Answers that are synonymous or very similar are probably a clue here that they can not be the right answer!
D is the answer.
We have already been told it is delicious, so keep it concise!
The Navajo code talkers took part in every assault the U.S. Marines conduced in the Pacific from 1942 to 1945, transmitting information on tactics, troop movements, orders, and other vital communications over telephones and radios. American military officials have been using out-of-date machines to encode and relay information during battles.
A. No change
B. had
C. would have
D. will have
Answer=B
Mastery of grammar rules are essential to doing well on ACT English.
A. No change
B. is
C. are being
D. were
Subject=Mastery
Verb= is
B
Singular in number. Cross out the prepositional phrase (of grammar rules)
She is a beautiful sweet person.
A. No change
B. She is a beautiful; sweet person.
C. She is a beautiful, sweet person.
D. She is a beautiful: sweet person.
C. Coordinating adjectives need a comma between them when you can say "and" between them and it still makes sense.
Between you and (I, me), you are a better swimmer.
Between is a preposition, which makes the object of the preposition pronoun = me.
Into the twentieth century, cooks moved more towards cuisine that was clean, diverse, and experimental in response to cultural processes.
A. No change
B. as a result of changes throughout world cultures.
C. due to the fact that culture has developed significantly over the years.
D. Omit the underlined portion
Answer =A (no change)
B and C have the same information but are more wordy and D loses information of why chefs changed their cuisine.
The fly ball quickly (passed,past) us as we tried to catch it.
Passed
Neither of those sharks circling your boat ______ hungry enough to bite.
A. look
B. will look
C. looks
D. looking
Neither is singular therefore it takes a singular verb.
C. looks
Remember that often singular verbs end in -s.
Jean Pierre the editor of "Paris Fashion Weekly" had bad things to say about the new line of designer wear.
A. No change
B. Pierre, the editor of "Paris Fashion Weekly";
C. Pierre the editor of "Paris Fashion Weekly,"
D. Pierre, the editor of "Paris Fashion Weekly",
D. Appositives (non-essential clauses) need to be "sandwiched" by the same punctuation on both sides.
Luis Alvarez was an American theoretical physicist which won the Nobel prize for his work in subatomic particle physics.
A. No change
B. that
C. who
D. whom
The subject pronoun/personal pronoun is used to connect to the noun physicist
C. who
Because French cuisine was once considered the only true gourmet possibility, diners now enjoy the flavors of Vietnam, Thailand, Ethiopia, and Mexico.
A. No change
B. Since
C. On the other hand
D. While
Answer=D
While shows a contrast in a way that works as an introduction to the sentence.
Despite my constant practicing, I fell during practice and bruised my arm; if it wasn't for the floor mat, I could of really injured myself badly.
A. No change
B. , if it wasn't for the floor mat, I could of really injured myself badly.
C. ; if it weren't for the floor mat, I could have really injured myself badly.
D. ; if it wasn't for the floor mat, I could have really injured myself badly.
Could have is the correct phrase, not "could of"
The floor mat is singular and therefore takes "was" not "were"
There (is, are) two cars in the driveway.
Answer=are
With there look after the verb. Cars being plural, the verb will be plural as well.
However you choose to answer the letter, please be careful; we cannot afford to make the customer upset.
A. No change
B. However you choose to answer the letter please be careful,
C. However you choose to answer the letter please be careful
D. However, you choose to answer the letter, please be careful;
A. No change
Did you know that about 35% of the time, no change is the correct choice?
Reece's dog, which is a poodle, has a cute pink bow in its hair.
A. No change
B. that
C. who
D. whom
The clause "which is a poodle" is non-essential and the dog is not human. Therefore, which is used.
A. No change
The Empire State Building has become a cultural icon. It has been destroyed in movies like "Independence Day" and been the area of romantic meetings, like in "Sleepless in Seattle".
A. No change
B. scene
C. zone
D. residence
B. scene is a more fitting word choice for the description of a movie.
It was about halfway through his last set of conferences that Mr. Man realizes (1) he did not like his current set of students. Unlike his students in the past, none of them seemed to care about their grades and none of them was able to tell a dangling modifier from a participle.
A. No change
B. is realizing
C. had realized
D. realized
Answer is D.
This is in the past and we can check that because of hints like "did not like" and "seemed".
“The collection of short stories — many of them written by authors in 19th -century England, including Jane Austen and C.S. Lewis — contain some of the preeminent works of fiction to date.”
A. No change
B. contains
C. containing
D. will contain
The subject is collection; therefore, the verb is singular=contains
B
As I sat in the back of my room in my drivers' education class, I couldn't help but wonder: was this really the best way to learn what I needed to know how to drive.
A. No changeB. was this really the best way to learn what I needed to know how to drive?
C. --was this really the best way to learn what I needed to know how to drive?
D. ; was this really the best way to learn what I needed to know how to drive.
C. ( -- is a dash by the way)
The sentence needs a pause as well as a question mark at the end.
The house that is for sale has two bedrooms.
A. No change
B. which
C. of which
D. omit the italicized portion
A. no change
That is used with essential clauses and it is important to know that the house is for sale.
He then wrote an enthusiastic article for Strand Magazine, being the place in which most of his Sherlock Holmes stories had first appeared, and later wrote a book on the subject titled The Coming of the Fairies.
A. No change
B. in which the magazine where
C. in which
D. being where
Even if the original sentence seems correct to you, remember our rule that shorter is better. Start with the shortest answer choice. That would be answer choice C. Plug it back into the original sentence. The sentence is still grammatically correct and all of the relevant info is still there. The phrase “being the place” is unnecessary. The answer is C.
As the dancers step to the music, they were also stepping in time to a sound that embodies their unique history and suggests the influence of outside cultures on their music.
A. No change
B. are also stepping
C. have also stepped
D. will also step
The dancing itself is only happening in the present. This means that both forms of the verb “step” have to be in the present tense.
Answer=B