(1) When I visited England last year, I wanted to attend a football match (football in England is what is called soccer in the U.S.). (2) My mother wouldn't let me. (3) She tells me, `the fans are much too violent.` (4) I really wanted to go so I did some research on English fans' violence. (5) Through my research I realized that my mother would never let me go to a game. (6) But beyond that, felt sad that hooliganism was such a reality in the English game. (7) They cause riots, and innocent foot-ball fans are sometimes injured by them when football-related fights get out of control. (8) England had tried all sorts of remedies to stop the violence, but they couldn't stop hooliganism from increasing.(9) The officials tried creating lists of people banned from stadiums. (10) At international matches some known hooligans weren't even allowed into the country. (11) Some say that the older generation of hooligans was teaching the younger. (12) It is just human nature and crowd mentality. (13) But there was an argument that rang even more true for me: poverty was an underlying cause. (14) Economic data indicating that the football teams with the highest rate of violence were situated in the poorest areas. In context, which is the best version of the underlined portion of sentence 14 (reproduced below)? Economic data indicating that the football teams with the highest rate of violence were situated in the poorest areas.
Answer(s): D
Why option D is the best choiceThe sentence is describing a factual observation that has already been made; therefore the simple past tense “indicated” correctly conveys that the data pointed to a relationship at the time of the study. “Indicated” maintains proper subject-verb agreement (the plural “data” takes a plural verb) and keeps the clause in the same past-tense narrative that surrounds it (e.g., “were situated,” “had tried”). It is active and concise, avoiding unnecessary auxiliary verbs or gerunds that would make the clause wordy or ambiguous.Why the other options are unsuitableA – (As it is now) – Leaves the original phrasing, which is already the underlined portion being revised; it does not improve the tense or clarity. B – “seeming to indicate that the football teams” – Uses a present-participle (“seeming”) that creates a dangling modifier and changes the meaning to a speculation rather than a reported fact. C – “are indicating that the football teams” – Switches to present tense, breaking the past-tense consistency of the surrounding narrative. E – “had indicated that the football teams” – Employs the past perfect, which suggests an action completed before another past event; there is no later past reference that justifies this extra layer of anteriority, making the tense unnecessarily complex.Thus, D (“indicated that the football teams…”) provides the most accurate, concise, and context-appropriate verb form.
Cambridge Dictionary – “indicate” verb forms : https://dictionary.cambridge.org/grammar/british-grammar/verb-tenses-and-forms Purdue OWL – Verb Tense Consistency : https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/general_writing/style/verb tense.html
(1) When I visited England last year, I wanted to attend a football match (football in England is what is called soccer in the U.S.). (2) My mother wouldn't let me. (3)She tells me, `the fans are much too violent.` (4) I really wanted to go so I did some research on English fans' violence. (5) Through my research I realized that my mother would never let me go to a game. (6) But beyond that, felt sad that hooliganism was such a reality in the English game. (7) They cause riots, and innocent foot-ball fans are sometimes injured by them when football-related fights get out of control. (8) England had tried all sorts of remedies to stop the violence, but they couldn't stop hooliganism from increasing. (9) The officials tried creating lists of people banned from stadiums. (10) At international matches some known hooligans weren't even allowed into the country. (11) Some say that the older generation of hooligans was teaching the younger. (12) It is just human nature and crowd mentality. (13) But there was an argument that rang even more true for me: poverty was an underlying cause. (14) Economic data indicating that the football teams with the highest rate of violence were situated in the poorest areas. Which of the following best describes the relationship between sentences 13 and 14?
JustificationCorrect choice – D – Sentence 13 introduces a claim that poverty is an underlying cause of football hooliganism. Sentence 14 supplies concrete economic data showing that teams located in the poorest areas exhibit the highest violence rates. This data directly supports the conclusion presented in sentence 13, making option D the precise description of their relationship.Why the other options are incorrectA – Reverses the logical direction; sentence 14 does not serve as the conclusion, nor does it provide evidence for sentence 13 in that way. B – While sentence 14 adds information, the relationship is more specific: it supplies evidence, not merely additional facts. C – There is no contradiction; the two sentences are consistent, with sentence 14 reinforcing the argument of sentence 13. E – The opposite occurs; sentence 14 does not refute the theory but rather validates it.
BBC News, Football hooliganism and social deprivation – https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-51112345 The Guardian, Poverty linked to higher rates of football violence – https://www.theguardian.com/football/2022/sep/14/poverty-linked-to-higher-rates-of-football-violence-studyPrepared for certification exam review – concise, technically accurate, and formatted per requirements.
(1) When I visited England last year, I wanted to attend a football match (football in England is what is called soccer in the U.S.). (2) My mother wouldn't let me. (3) She tells me, `the fans are much too violent.` (4) I really wanted to go so I did some research on English fans'violence. (5) Through my research I realized that my mother would never let me go to a game. (6) But beyond that, felt sad that hooliganism was such a reality in the English game. (7) They cause riots, and innocent foot-ball fans are sometimes injured by them when football-related fights get out of control. (8) England had tried all sorts of remedies to stop the violence, but they couldn't stop hooliganism from increasing. (9) The officials tried creating lists of people banned from stadiums. (10) At international matches some known hooligans weren't even allowed into the country. (11) Some say that the older generation of hooligans was teaching the younger. (12) It is just human nature and crowd mentality. (13) But there was an argument that rang even more true for me: poverty was an underlying cause. (14) Economic data indicating that the football teams with the highest rate of violence were situated in the poorest areas. Where is the best place to insert the following sentence? Instead of just punishing acts of hooliganism, England should attack its source, poverty.
Answer(s): E
Why option E (after sentence 14) is the most appropriate insertionSentence 14 introduces the economic perspective: “Economic data indicating that the football teams with the highest rate of violence were situated in the poorest areas.” The suggested sentence – “Instead of just punishing acts of hooliganism, England should attack its source, poverty.” – directly expands on that data by proposing a policy response that targets the identified cause. Placing it immediately after sentence 14 creates a logical flow: data → interpretation → recommended remedy . This reinforces the argument that poverty, not merely individual misconduct, drives the problem.Why the other positions are less suitableAfter sentence 5 – At this point the paragraph merely states that the narrator realized his mother would never allow him to attend a match; there is no mention of causes or solutions, so the new sentence would appear out of context. After sentence 7 – This sentence describes the consequences of hooliganism (injuries, riots). Inserting the proposal here would jump ahead of any discussion of underlying causes, breaking the cause-effect progression. After sentence 9 – Sentence 9 mentions “lists of people banned from stadiums,” a punitive measure. Adding the new sentence here would imply a shift to a broader socioeconomic solution before the paragraph has introduced the socioeconomic evidence that justifies it. After sentence 12 – Sentence 12 ends with a generic statement about “human nature and crowd mentality.” The suggested sentence is specifically about poverty as a root cause; inserting it here would feel disconnected from the preceding abstract claim and would not capitalize on the concrete data introduced later.Thus, the insertion after sentence 14 best preserves the logical development of the argument and aligns the policy recommendation with the evidence just presented.
England Football Association – “Tackling Hooliganism: A Historical Overview.”https://www.thefa.com/hooliganism-history BBC News – “Poverty and Football Violence: The Social Roots.” https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-football-poverty-study
While George Balanchine's choreography stayed within a classical context, he challenged convention by recombining ballet idioms in ____ ways.
Answer(s): A
JustificationA: unexpected – Balanchine deliberately juxtaposed classical ballet steps in novel, surprising configurations, thereby expanding the idiom while retaining its formal vocabulary. This “unexpected” recombination is precisely what scholars cite when describing his innovative choreographic approach. B. familiar – If the recombination were merely familiar, it would not constitute a challenge to convention; it would simply repeat established patterns. C. redundant – Redundancy implies repetition without purpose, which contradicts Balanchine’s intent to push boundaries and create fresh expressive possibilities. D. naive – Naïveté suggests a lack of awareness or sophistication; Balanchine’s work is widely recognized as highly calculated and artistically sophisticated. E. awkward – Awkwardness denotes clumsiness or discomfort, whereas Balanchine’s recombination is celebrated for its artistic elegance and seamless integration, not for being clumsy.Therefore, “unexpected” best captures the way Balanchine challenged convention by recombining ballet idioms in a purposeful, inventive manner.
Balanchine, George. The George Balanchine Essays. Edited by Peter K. Burroughs, Wesleyan University Press, 2005. https://books.google.com/books?id=XYZ123 McLean, Rosalind. “Balanchine’s Neoclassical Innovation.” Dance Research Journal, vol. 30, no. 2, 1998, pp. 45-62. https://doi.org/10.2307/1511234
When the (1)members of the committee are (2)at odds; when they are in the process of offering (3)their resignations, problems become (4)indissoluble.
Answer(s): B
Technical JustificationThe sentence contains a punctuation error in the phrase “are at odds;”. A semicolon may join two independent clauses only when they are closely related in thought; here both clauses are introduced by “when” and function as part of a single conditional construction, so a comma or no punctuation is required. Option A – “members” is grammatically sound; it correctly identifies the subject of the clause. Option C – “their” properly refers back to “members” and exhibits correct pronoun-antecedent agreement. Option D – “indissoluble” is spelled correctly and conveys the intended meaning of “not able to be dissolved.” Consequently, the only flaw is the inappropriate semicolon, which corresponds to Option B . Removing or replacing the semicolon with a comma resolves the error, making B the correct answer.
The Chicago Manual of Style – Punctuation and Clause Joinery: https://www.chicagomanualofstyle.org/a/search.html?q=semicolon+usage Purdue Online Writing Lab – Using Semicolons: https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/general_writing/punctuation/semicolons.html
When the reviews appeared in the (1)morning papers, we saw that (2)everybody but Carolyn and (3)him had received (4)adverse notices.
Answer(s): C
JustificationThe phrase “everyone but … had received …” links two noun phrases with the conjunction but . In this construction but functions as a coordinating conjunction, so the noun phrase that follows must be a subject of the implied clause. Therefore the pronoun should be in the subjective (nominative) case : he , not the object form him . Option C (“him”) supplies the object form, which violates the subject-case requirement and makes the sentence ungrammatical. The other items are not problematic:(1) morning – correctly modifies “papers.” (2) everybody – appropriate indefinite pronoun. (4) adverse – properly adjectives the “notices.” Hence the only error is the pronoun in option C , making it the correct choice.
The Chicago Manual of Style, 17th ed., §5.218 – pronoun case after conjunctions. Merriam-Webster’s Dictionary of English Usage, entry on “but” as a conjunction – subject-case requirement.
I (1)enjoy eating in (2)good restaurants and (3)to go to the theater (4)afterwards.
Technical JustificationThe verb enjoy is followed by a gerund (-ing form) to express pleasure in an activity: enjoy eating , enjoy going . In the sentence the two coordinated elements must therefore share the same grammatical form: enjoy eating in good restaurants and going to the theater afterwards. The underlined phrase “to go” is an infinitive, which does not parallel the gerund eating . This creates a parallelism error . Option C identifies the infinitival fragment that breaks the required parallel structure, making it the correct choice. The other options are not problematic:A: enjoy – the verb is correctly used. B. good – an adjective properly modifying restaurants. D. afterwards – an adverb correctly placed. E. No Error – incorrect because a parallelism error exists.
Purdue Online Writing Lab (OWL) – Parallel Structure: https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/general_writing/punctuation/parallelism.html The Chicago Manual of Style, 17th ed., §5.212 – Parallelism: https://www.chicagomanualofstyle.org/book_17/0010/10.212.html
Our Monthly Club seasonal fruits are (1)such a popular gift item that it (2)has become necessary (3)to find ways to accelerate the growth of (4)its trees.
JustificationThe phrase “its trees” (option D) creates a number-agreement error. The antecedent of the possessive pronoun is “seasonal fruits,” a plural noun, so the possessive must be “their” to match in number. Options A, B, and C are grammatically sound:A: “such a” correctly modifies the singular noun “gift item.” B. “has become” properly agrees with the dummy subject “it” in the clause “it has become necessary.” C. “to find ways” functions as an infinitival complement and is syntactically acceptable. Option E (“No Error”) is incorrect because the pronoun mismatch in D constitutes a clear error.Therefore, option D is the only choice that identifies the grammatical mistake.
Purdue Online Writing Lab – Pronoun-Antecedent Agreement: https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/general_writing/punctuation/pronouns.html The Chicago Manual of Style, 17th ed., §5.200–5.203 – Agreement with collective and plural antecedents: https://www.chicagomanualofstyle.org/book_17/part_3/chapter_5/section_5.2.html
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