Multiple choice

Directions: The following question presents a sentence, part of which or all 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.

Ignoring the admonitions of his staff, the chief financial officer accepted the advice of the consulting company because he believed that the standardized accounting procedures would prove not only inexpensive but reliable indicators of economic performance.

  1. he believed that the standardized accounting procedures would prove not only inexpensive but

  2. the standardized accounting procedures will prove both inexpensive and also

  3. he believed the standardized accounting procedures would prove themselves to be both inexpensive and

  4. he believed that the standardized accounting procedures would prove to be both inexpensive and

  5. standardized accounting procedures will prove his belief that they are both inexpensive and
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
D Correct answer
Explanation

The sentence as written needs a “but also” to complement its “not only”. Choice (1) is gone. In choice (2) the “also” is redundant, since it is next to the word “and”. In choice, (3), it is implied that “procedures” can “prove themselves”. Be careful of this construction. Don’t attribute active abilities to things that, in and of themselves, can’t act. In choice (5), the pronoun “they” is ambiguous.

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