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.

Although early soap operas were first aired on evening radio in the 1920's, they had moved to the daytime hours of the 1930's when the evening schedule became crowded with comedians and variety shows.

  1. were first aired on evening radio in the 1920's, they had moved to the daytime hours of the 1930's

  2. were first aired on evening radio in the 1920's, they were moved to the daytime hours in the 1930's

  3. were aired first on evening radio in the 1920's, moving to the daytime hours in the 1930's

  4. were aired first in the evening on 1920's radio, they moved to the daytime hours of the 1930's

  5. aired on evening radio first in the 1920's, they were moved to the 1930's in the daytime hours
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
B Correct answer
Explanation

The sentence describes soap operas being moved from evening to daytime. Since soap operas don't move themselves - they are scheduled by networks - the passive voice 'were moved' is correct. The original 'had moved' (past perfect) incorrectly suggests soap operas actively relocated. Option B correctly uses passive voice 'were moved' and proper preposition 'in the 1930's.' Option C's 'moving' creates a dangling modifier. Option D has awkward word order and suggests active movement. Option E has confusing word order with 'in the daytime hours' at the end.

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