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.

Archaeologists in Ireland believe that a recently discovered chalice, which dates from the eighth century, was probably buried to keep from being stolen by invaders.

  1. to keep from

  2. to keep it from

  3. to avoid

  4. in order that it would avoid

  5. in order to keep from
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
B Correct answer
Explanation

The phrase 'to keep from being stolen' is grammatically incorrect because 'keep from' requires an object specifying what is being kept from something. The chalice is what would be stolen, so 'to keep it from' provides the missing object. Option C 'to avoid' alone doesn't work because 'avoid being stolen' changes meaning, and D uses the incorrect form 'it would avoid' instead of passive voice needed here.

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