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. At the beginning of economic growth, there are changes in people's consumption pattern, in the work that they perform and in the manner in which they live.

  1. people's consumption pattern, in the work that they perform and in the manner in which they live

  2. in the pattern of what people consume, in the work that they perform and in the manner in which they live

  3. in what people consume, in the work that they perform and in the manner in which they live

  4. in the consumption pattern of people, in the work that they perform and in the manner in which they live

Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
B Correct answer
Explanation

Explanation for (1): The parallel structure ought to be “they consume … they perform … they live”.

Justification for (2): The parallel structure ought to be “the pattern of what they consume … the work that they perform … the manner in which they live”. (2) does it the best.

Explanation for (3): This option seems to correct the error of parallelism but really does not. The parallel structure ought to be “the pattern of what they consume … the work that they perform … the manner in which they live”. This option omits 'the pattern'.
Explanation for (4): This option does not correct the error of parallelism. The first phrase (consumption pattern) is in noun form, the other two in verb form. Explanation for (5): This option does not correct the error of parallelism. The first phrase (consumption pattern) is in noun form, the other two in verb form.