Multiple choice

Directions: This question presents a sentence, all or part of which is underlined. Beneath the sentence you will find five ways of phrasing the underlined part. The first of these repeats the original; the other four are different. If you think the original is best, choose the first answer; otherwise choose one of the others. In light of the increasing evidence of the complexity of the body's immune system, they now realize that their approach to finding a cure for cancer has been too simplistic.

  1. they now realize that their approach to finding a cure for cancer has been too simplistic

  2. scientists now realize that their approach to finding a cure for cancer has been too simplistic

  3. it is now realized that the approach at curing cancer was too simplistic in their approach

  4. approach by them at curing cancer have been too simplistic
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
B Correct answer
Explanation

Explanation for (1): The original sentence is wrong because “they” has no antecedent.

Justification for (2): The original sentence is wrong because “they” has no antecedent. Only (2) replaces 'they' with a noun.

Explanation for (3): The option is incorrect because it is not idiomatic to say “the approach at curing”.
Explanation for (4): The original sentence is wrong because “they” has no antecedent. (4) contains the same error and makes the additional mistake of using an awkward indirect construction (“by them”). Explanation for (5): The original sentence is wrong because “they” has no antecedent. (5) compounds the error by using a plural subject “approaches” with a singular verb from “has”.

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