1.Upon winning her third gold medal at the competition, the young athlete learned that her accomplishments had surpassed her coach’s, a former track star.
(A) her coach's
(B) her coach
(C) those of her coach
(D) those done by her coach
(E) those of her coach's
2.The advent of innovative computer and communications technology toward the end of the twentieth century ushered in a new era, not dominated by industry anymore, rather it was information.
(A) era, not dominated by industry anymore, rather it was information
(B) era, it was dominated by information over industry
(C) era, which was not dominated anymore by industry but rather information
(D) era dominated by information rather than industry
(E) era dominated not by industry, but it was information
3.Its fossil record virtually unchanged over 100 million years, the Ginkgo tree is one of the oldest living species of tree.
(A) Its fossil record
(B) Its fossil record was
(C) Its fossil record, which is
(D) Its fossil record exists
(E) Its fossil record, because
4.For both his shorter and longer works of fiction, Gabriel García Márquez achieves the rare feat of being accessible to the common reader while satisfying the most demanding of sophisticated critics.
Answer Choices
(A) For both his shorter and longer
(B) For both his shorter, and in his longer,
(C) In both his shorter and his longer
(D) Both in his shorter and his longer
(E) Both his shorter and longer
5.Africa is not nearly so mountainous as in Asia.
(A) so mountainous as in
(B) that mountainous as
(C) equally mountainous to
(D) as mountainous as
(E) that mountainous as in
6.A Raisin in the Sun won for its author Lorraine Hansberry the distinction of being the first African American to receive the New York Drama Critics’ Circle Award.
Answer Choices
(A) of being the first African American to receive
(B) to be the first African American receiving
(C) of the first African American to receive
(D) that she had been the first African American to receive
Explanation
1.The correct answer is C
Choice (C) is correct. This version of the sentence correctly compares the young athlete’s accomplishments with her coach’s accomplishments, not with her coach. In addition, it uses the plural pronoun “those” to refer to the coach’s accomplishments, which allows the noun “coach” to be correctly modified by the noun phrase “a former track star.” The possessive noun “coach’s” cannot be modified by a noun phrase.
2.The correct answer is D
Choice (D) is correct. It avoids the awkwardness and wordiness of the original by using the idiomatic phrase “dominated by information rather than industry” to characterize the “new era” discussed in the sentence.
3.The correct answer is A
Choice (A) is correct. It avoids the errors of the other options by using the phrase “Its fossil record” to describe what has remained “virtually unchanged over 100 million years.”
4.The correct answer is C
Choice (C) is correct. It avoids the error of the original by following both parts of the “both … and” construction with the pronoun “his” (“In both his … and his … ”).
5.The correct answer is D
Choice (D) is correct. It avoids the awkwardness of the original by using the idiomatic “as … as” construction to compare “Africa” with “Asia.”
(E) that she was to be the first African American having received
6.The correct answer is A
Choice (A) is correct. It avoids the errors of the other options by using the idiomatic “distinction of being” to express what the play “won for its author Lorraine Hansberry.”
