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.

Unlike the United States, where farmers can usually depend on rain or snow all year long, the rains in most parts of Sri Lanka are concentrated in the monsoon months, June to September, and the skies are generally clear for the rest of the year.

  1. Unlike the United States, where farmers usually depend on rain or snow all year long, the rains in most parts of Sri Lanka

  2. Unlike the United States farmers who can usually depend on rain or snow all year long, the rains in most parts of Sri Lanka

  3. Unlike those of the United States, where farmers can usually depend on rain or snow all year long, most parts of Sri Lanka's rains

  4. In comparison with the United States, whose farmers can usually depend on rain or snow all year long, the rains in most parts of Sri Lanka

  5. In the United States, farmers can usually depend on rain or snow all year long, but in most parts of Sri Lanka the rains

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

E is correct because it fixes the illogical comparison by using 'but in most parts of Sri Lanka the rains' to properly contrast the rainfall patterns between the two countries. A, B, C, and D all begin with 'Unlike' but make illogical comparisons: A and B compare the United States (country) or its farmers to 'the rains' (weather phenomenon), which is not parallel. C compares 'those of the United States' to 'Sri Lanka's rains,' which is still not a logical comparison. D uses 'In comparison with' but still compares the United States to 'the rains.' E solves this by stating two complete clauses that can be logically contrasted.