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 colonists developed their own social affairs and managed their own civil affairs according to the exigencies of the case and democracy's principles.

  1. according to the exigencies of the case and democracy's principle.

  2. according to the exigencies of the case and the principles of democracy.

  3. in accordance with the exigencies of the case and the principals of democracy.

  4. according to the exigencies of the case and the principles that are used in democracy.
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B Correct answer
Explanation

Explanation for (1): The sentence bears error of parallelism and the possessive. The usage should be 'exigencies of the case and the principles of democracy'

Justification for (2): This option rectifies the error of the parallelism and the possessive by bringing both parts of the sentence in similar construction (exigencies of the case and the principles of democracy).

Explanation for (3): The option can be safely eliminated as it changes the meaning of the sentence. Mark the replacement of 'principles' with 'principals'.
Explanation for (4): The option does not rectify the error of parallelism. Explanation for (5): This option rectifies the error of the parallelism and the possessive, but incorrectly changes 'according to' to 'in accordance to'.

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