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.

The manufacture of automobile was extremely expensive until assembly-line techniques made them cheaper to produce.

  1. The manufacture of automobile was extremely expensive until

  2. The manufacture of automobile was extremely expensive till

  3. Manufacture of the automobiles was extremely expensive until

  4. The manufacture of automobiles was extremely expensive until

  5. Manufacture of the automobile was extremely expensive till
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
D Correct answer
Explanation

Explanation for (1): The pronoun ‘them’ signals at a plural noun, but in the sentence the ‘manufacture’ is of one automobile and not automobiles. This error is rectified only in option (4).

Explanation for (2): ‘Till’ and ‘until’ are considered interchangeable. But the option does not correct the error of pronoun mismatch (‘automobile… them’).

Explanation for (3): This option corrects the error of pronoun mismatch (‘automobiles… them’) but incorrectly misplaces the article.
Justification for (4): The pronoun ‘them’ signals at a plural noun, but in the sentence the ‘manufacture’ is of one automobile and not automobiles. This error is rectified only in option (4). Explanation for (5): ‘Till’ and ‘until’ are considered interchangeable. But the option does not correct the error of pronoun mismatch (‘automobile… them’) and also incorrectly drops the article.

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