Reading Comprehension Questions

Multiple choice
  1. Finding out whether it is possible to have a yellowing book, which has been frequently used.

  2. Finding out if it is possible to control yellowing by the use of certain chemicals.

  3. Finding out the relative extent of yellowing of pages in unused books after 5, 10 and 20 years.

  4. Finding out the extent of the yellowing of books after certain fixed intervals of time.

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

This mentions yellowing of pages in unused books over a period of time. It is highly probable that the book-lover’s hypothesis has some weight. In this case, we have been able to rule out the other possible variables which could potentially result in the yellowing process.

Multiple choice

In context, what is the best way to improve the underlined part of sentence 9 (reproduced below)? By these put the human body

Directions for the question:

The following passage is an early draft of an essay. Some parts of the passage need to be rewritten. Read the passage and select the best answer for the question that follows. Keep in mind that some questions are about particular sentences or parts of sentences and ask you to improve sentence structure or word choice. Other questions ask to consider organization and development. In choosing the answer, follow the requirements of standard written English.

[1] There are two principal methods of treating disease. [2] One is the combative, the other the preventive. [3] The trend of medical research henceforth has almost entirely been along combative lines, although the progressive physician learns to work more and more along preventive lines. [4] The slogan of medical science has been, "Kill the germ and cure the disease." [5] The usual procedure is to wait until acute or chronic diseases have fully developed, and then, if possible, to subdue them by means of drugs, surgical operations, and by means of the morbid products of disease, in the form of serums, antitoxins, vaccines, etc.
[6] The combative methods fight disease with disease, poison with poison, and germs with germs and germ products. [7] In the language of the Good Book, it is "Beelzebub against the Devil." [8] The preventive method does not wait until diseases have fully developed and gained the ascendancy in the body, but concentrates its best endeavors on preventing, by hygienic living and by natural methods of treatment, the development of diseases. [9] By these put the human body in a normal and healthy condition which is practically proof against infection or contagion by disease taints and miasmas, and against the inroads of germs, bacteria and parasites.
[10] The question is, which method is the most practical, the most successful and most popular? [11] Which will stand the test in the great struggle for existence?
[12] The medical profession has good reason to be alarmed by the inroads made in its work by irregular, unorthodox systems, schools and cults of treating human ailments. [13] But instead of raging at the audacious presumption of these interlopers, would it not be better to inquire if there is not some reason for the astonishing spread and popularity of these therapeutic innovations?

 

  1. Insert 'it' after 'these' and 's' after 'put'

  2. Change 'body' to 'bodies'

  3. Delete 'by'

  4. Replace 'by' by 'but'

  5. No change needed

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

The preposition 'by' needs to be deleted to make the sentence coherent.

Multiple choice

What is the best way to combine sentence 1 and 2?

Directions for the question:

The following passage is an early draft of an essay. Some parts of the passage need to be rewritten. Read the passage and select the best answer for the question that follows. Keep in mind that some questions are about particular sentences or parts of sentences and ask you to improve sentence structure or word choice. Other questions ask to consider organization and development. In choosing the answer, follow the requirements of standard written English.

[1] There are two principal methods of treating disease. [2] One is the combative, the other the preventive. [3] The trend of medical research henceforth has almost entirely been along combative lines, although the progressive physician learns to work more and more along preventive lines. [4] The slogan of medical science has been, "Kill the germ and cure the disease." [5] The usual procedure is to wait until acute or chronic diseases have fully developed, and then, if possible, to subdue them by means of drugs, surgical operations, and by means of the morbid products of disease, in the form of serums, antitoxins, vaccines, etc.
[6] The combative methods fight disease with disease, poison with poison, and germs with germs and germ products. [7] In the language of the Good Book, it is "Beelzebub against the Devil." [8] The preventive method does not wait until diseases have fully developed and gained the ascendancy in the body, but concentrates its best endeavors on preventing, by hygienic living and by natural methods of treatment, the development of diseases. [9] By these put the human body in a normal and healthy condition which is practically proof against infection or contagion by disease taints and miasmas, and against the inroads of germs, bacteria and parasites.
[10] The question is, which method is the most practical, the most successful and most popular? [11] Which will stand the test in the great struggle for existence?
[12] The medical profession has good reason to be alarmed by the inroads made in its work by irregular, unorthodox systems, schools and cults of treating human ailments. [13] But instead of raging at the audacious presumption of these interlopers, would it not be better to inquire if there is not some reason for the astonishing spread and popularity of these therapeutic innovations?

 

  1. In treating a disease, mainly two methods are used; one is combative and the other is preventive.

  2. Out of many methods for treating a disease, the two principal methods are combative and preventive.

  3. There are two principal methods of treating a disease, one being combative, and the other being the preventive.

  4. There are two principal methods of treating a disease, one is the combative and the other is the preventive.

  5. Science has discovered two principal methods of treating diseases, one being combative and the other preventive.

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

Apart from option D this is the only option which combines two of the sentences coherently. Since, however, (D) bears grammatical error, (A) is the obvious answer.

Multiple choice

Which one of the following sentences if deleted will not disturb the flow of the paragraph?

Directions for the question:

The following passage is an early draft of an essay. Some parts of the passage need to be rewritten. Read the passage and select the best answer for the question that follows. Keep in mind that some questions are about particular sentences or parts of sentences and ask you to improve sentence structure or word choice. Other questions ask to consider organization and development. In choosing the answer, follow the requirements of standard written English.

(1) Under the present system of mass education by classes so much stress is laid on teaching and so little on active learning. (2) The child is not encouraged to discover his own powers, thus losing intellectual independence and all capacity to judge for himself. (3) The over-taught child is the advertising-believing propaganda–swallowing, demagogue–led man. (4) Such is the man who makes modern democracy the force it is. (5) Moreover, lessons in class leave him mainly unoccupied. (6) He has to be coerced into learning what does not interest him and the information acquired mechanically is rapidly forgotten. (7) Quite naturally, the child, being bored and unoccupied, is also mischievous. (8) A strict external discipline becomes necessary unless there is to be chaos and pandemonium. (9) The child learns to obey, not to control himself. (10) He loses moral as well as intellectual independence. (11) Such are the main defects in the current system of mass education. (12) Many others could be mentioned but there are defects in detail. (13) We need a new system of universal education of the same kind as that proved so successful in the training of detectives and infants, but modified so as to be suitable for older boys and girls. (14) We need a system of individual education.

 

  1. Sentence (2)

  2. Sentence (4)

  3. Sentence (6)

  4. Sentence (8)

  5. Sentence (10)

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

The sentence is redundant in context of the paragraph. It talks about democracy but the passage is about present education system. So, deleting it will not disturb the flow of paragraph.

Multiple choice

Which of the following is the best revision of the underlined portion of sentence no. (3) below? These methods, when applied in politics, still represent

Directions for the question:

The following passage is an early draft of an essay. Some parts of the passage need to be rewritten. Read the passage and select the best answer for the question that follows. Keep in mind that some questions are about particular sentences or parts of sentences and ask you to improve sentence structure or word choice. Other questions ask to consider organization and development. In choosing the answer, follow the requirements of standard written English.

[1] The whole progress of human civilization beyond its earliest stages has been made possible by the invention of methods of thought. [2] These methods enable us to interpret and forecast the working of nature more successfully than we could if we merely followed the line of least resistance in the use of our minds. [3] These methods, when applied in politics, still represent a difficult and uncertain art rather than a science producing its effects with mechanical accuracy.
[4] When the great thinkers of Greece laid down rules for valid reasoning, they had the needs of politics particularly in their minds. [5] If Plato could visit us now, he would learn that while our artisans proceed by rigorous and confident processes to exact results, our statesmen, like the artisans of ancient Athens, still trust to empirical maxims and personal skill. [6] Why is it, he would ask us, that valid reasoning has proved to be so much more difficult in politics than in the physical sciences?
[7] The universe which presents itself to our reason is the same as that which presents itself to our feelings and impulses—an unending stream of sensations and memories - every one of which is different from every other. [8] Our first answer might be found in the character of the material with which political reasoning has to deal. [9] Before these, unless we can select and recognize and simplify, we must stand helpless, unable to either act or think. [10] Man has therefore to create entities that shall be the material of his reasoning, just as he creates entities to be the objects of his emotions and the stimulus of his instinctive inferences. [11] Exact reasoning requires exact comparison. [12] In the desert or the forest there were few things which our ancestors could compare exactly. [13] The heavenly bodies seem, indeed, to have been the first objects of consciously exact reasoning, because they were so distant that nothing could be known of them except position and movement, and their position and movement could be exactly compared from night to night.

  1. These methods, when we apply them in politics, still represent

  2. However, when applied in politics, they still represent

  3. The same methods, when applied in politics, still represent

  4. These methods, however, when applied in politics, represent

  5. These methods, when applied in practical politics, still represent

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

Sentence 3 presents a contrast to sentence 2. Hence, the use of 'however' is desirable. Also, the words 'these methods' sound repetitive. They can well be replaced by a suitable pronoun.

Multiple choice

Which of the following is the best version of underlined portion of sentence 5? still trust to empirical maxims and personal skill

Directions for the question:

The following passage is an early draft of an essay. Some parts of the passage need to be rewritten. Read the passage and select the best answer for the question that follows. Keep in mind that some questions are about particular sentences or parts of sentences and ask you to improve sentence structure or word choice. Other questions ask to consider organization and development. In choosing the answer, follow the requirements of standard written English.

[1] The whole progress of human civilization beyond its earliest stages has been made possible by the invention of methods of thought. [2] These methods enable us to interpret and forecast the working of nature more successfully than we could if we merely followed the line of least resistance in the use of our minds. [3] These methods, when applied in politics, still represent a difficult and uncertain art rather than a science producing its effects with mechanical accuracy.
[4] When the great thinkers of Greece laid down rules for valid reasoning, they had the needs of politics particularly in their minds. [5] If Plato could visit us now, he would learn that while our artisans proceed by rigorous and confident processes to exact results, our statesmen, like the artisans of ancient Athens, still trust to empirical maxims and personal skill. [6] Why is it, he would ask us, that valid reasoning has proved to be so much more difficult in politics than in the physical sciences?
[7] The universe which presents itself to our reason is the same as that which presents itself to our feelings and impulses—an unending stream of sensations and memories - every one of which is different from every other. [8] Our first answer might be found in the character of the material with which political reasoning has to deal. [9] Before these, unless we can select and recognize and simplify, we must stand helpless, unable to either act or think. [10] Man has therefore to create entities that shall be the material of his reasoning, just as he creates entities to be the objects of his emotions and the stimulus of his instinctive inferences. [11] Exact reasoning requires exact comparison. [12] In the desert or the forest there were few things which our ancestors could compare exactly. [13] The heavenly bodies seem, indeed, to have been the first objects of consciously exact reasoning, because they were so distant that nothing could be known of them except position and movement, and their position and movement could be exactly compared from night to night.

  1. no change required

  2. still have trust to empirical maxims and personal skill

  3. still trust empirical maxims and personal skill

  4. still trust in empirical maxims and personal skill

  5. still have trust for empirical maxims and personal skill

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

Correct Answer: still trust empirical maxims and personal skill

Multiple choice

Which one of the following is the best revision of the underlined portion of sentence no. (1) below?

Under the present system of mass education by classes so much stress is laid on teaching and so little on active learning.

Directions for the question:

The following passage is an early draft of an essay. Some parts of the passage need to be rewritten. Read the passage and select the best answer for the question that follows. Keep in mind that some questions are about particular sentences or parts of sentences and ask you to improve sentence structure or word choice. Other questions ask to consider organization and development. In choosing the answer, follow the requirements of standard written English.

(1) Under the present system of mass education by classes so much stress is laid on teaching and so little on active learning. (2) The child is not encouraged to discover his own powers, thus losing intellectual independence and all capacity to judge for himself. (3) The over-taught child is the advertising-believing propaganda–swallowing, demagogue–led man. (4) Such is the man who makes modern democracy the force it is. (5) Moreover, lessons in class leave him mainly unoccupied. (6) He has to be coerced into learning what does not interest him and the information acquired mechanically is rapidly forgotten. (7) Quite naturally, the child, being bored and unoccupied, is also mischievous. (8) A strict external discipline becomes necessary unless there is to be chaos and pandemonium. (9) The child learns to obey, not to control himself. (10) He loses moral as well as intellectual independence. (11) Such are the main defects in the current system of mass education. (12) Many others could be mentioned but there are defects in detail. (13) We need a new system of universal education of the same kind as that proved so successful in the training of detectives and infants, but modified so as to be suitable for older boys and girls. (14) We need a system of individual education.

 

  1. classes so much stress is laid on teaching and so little

  2. classes so much stress is laid on teaching and too little

  3. classes too much stress is laid on teaching and too little

  4. classes too much stress is laid on teaching and so little

  5. classes very much stress is laid on teaching and very little

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

The flow of the sentence is negative. Hence, the appropriate usage will be “too much” and “too little”. Option (C) is the best rectification of the sentence.

Multiple choice

The author's argument could be strengthened by

Directions for the question:

The following passage is an early draft of an essay. Some parts of the passage need to be rewritten. Read the passage and select the best answer for the question that follows. Keep in mind that some questions are about particular sentences or parts of sentences and ask you to improve sentence structure or word choice. Other questions ask to consider organization and development. In choosing the answer, follow the requirements of standard written English.

(1) Under the present system of mass education by classes so much stress is laid on teaching and so little on active learning. (2) The child is not encouraged to discover his own powers, thus losing intellectual independence and all capacity to judge for himself. (3) The over-taught child is the advertising-believing propaganda–swallowing, demagogue–led man. (4) Such is the man who makes modern democracy the force it is. (5) Moreover, lessons in class leave him mainly unoccupied. (6) He has to be coerced into learning what does not interest him and the information acquired mechanically is rapidly forgotten. (7) Quite naturally, the child, being bored and unoccupied, is also mischievous. (8) A strict external discipline becomes necessary unless there is to be chaos and pandemonium. (9) The child learns to obey, not to control himself. (10) He loses moral as well as intellectual independence. (11) Such are the main defects in the current system of mass education. (12) Many others could be mentioned but there are defects in detail. (13) We need a new system of universal education of the same kind as that proved so successful in the training of detectives and infants, but modified so as to be suitable for older boys and girls. (14) We need a system of individual education.

 

  1. quoting an example

  2. citing supportive education

  3. linking up computer based education with need based education

  4. recommending introduction of computer based education in the classroom

  5. none of these

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

Internet based education could both be a supplement to class based education and a fulfillment to the author's recommendation for individual education.

Multiple choice

Which of the following can most logically be added after sentence [13] to conclude the essay?

Directions for the question:

The following passage is an early draft of an essay. Some parts of the passage need to be rewritten. Read the passage and select the best answer for the question that follows. Keep in mind that some questions are about particular sentences or parts of sentences and ask you to improve sentence structure or word choice. Other questions ask to consider organization and development. In choosing the answer, follow the requirements of standard written English.

[1] The whole progress of human civilization beyond its earliest stages has been made possible by the invention of methods of thought. [2] These methods enable us to interpret and forecast the working of nature more successfully than we could if we merely followed the line of least resistance in the use of our minds. [3] These methods, when applied in politics, still represent a difficult and uncertain art rather than a science producing its effects with mechanical accuracy.
[4] When the great thinkers of Greece laid down rules for valid reasoning, they had the needs of politics particularly in their minds. [5] If Plato could visit us now, he would learn that while our artisans proceed by rigorous and confident processes to exact results, our statesmen, like the artisans of ancient Athens, still trust to empirical maxims and personal skill. [6] Why is it, he would ask us, that valid reasoning has proved to be so much more difficult in politics than in the physical sciences?
[7] The universe which presents itself to our reason is the same as that which presents itself to our feelings and impulses—an unending stream of sensations and memories - every one of which is different from every other. [8] Our first answer might be found in the character of the material with which political reasoning has to deal. [9] Before these, unless we can select and recognize and simplify, we must stand helpless, unable to either act or think. [10] Man has therefore to create entities that shall be the material of his reasoning, just as he creates entities to be the objects of his emotions and the stimulus of his instinctive inferences. [11] Exact reasoning requires exact comparison. [12] In the desert or the forest there were few things which our ancestors could compare exactly. [13] The heavenly bodies seem, indeed, to have been the first objects of consciously exact reasoning, because they were so distant that nothing could be known of them except position and movement, and their position and movement could be exactly compared from night to night.

  1. That is why our ancestors always tried to reason out location of heavenly bodies.

  2. The position and movement of objects in politics is quite difficult indeed.

  3. Gradually they collected logical planetary information.

  4. Plato was not much off the point after all.

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

This is the correct answer, as it connects with the main point of the argument and answers the question: “Why is it … that valid reasoning has proved to be so much more difficult in politics than in the physical sciences?.

Multiple choice

Which of the following is the best way to revise sentence 10? (Reproduced below) The question is, which method is the most practical, the most successful and most popular?

Directions for the question:

The following passage is an early draft of an essay. Some parts of the passage need to be rewritten. Read the passage and select the best answer for the question that follows. Keep in mind that some questions are about particular sentences or parts of sentences and ask you to improve sentence structure or word choice. Other questions ask to consider organization and development. In choosing the answer, follow the requirements of standard written English.

[1] There are two principal methods of treating disease. [2] One is the combative, the other the preventive. [3] The trend of medical research henceforth has almost entirely been along combative lines, although the progressive physician learns to work more and more along preventive lines. [4] The slogan of medical science has been, "Kill the germ and cure the disease." [5] The usual procedure is to wait until acute or chronic diseases have fully developed, and then, if possible, to subdue them by means of drugs, surgical operations, and by means of the morbid products of disease, in the form of serums, antitoxins, vaccines, etc.
[6] The combative methods fight disease with disease, poison with poison, and germs with germs and germ products. [7] In the language of the Good Book, it is "Beelzebub against the Devil." [8] The preventive method does not wait until diseases have fully developed and gained the ascendancy in the body, but concentrates its best endeavors on preventing, by hygienic living and by natural methods of treatment, the development of diseases. [9] By these put the human body in a normal and healthy condition which is practically proof against infection or contagion by disease taints and miasmas, and against the inroads of germs, bacteria and parasites.
[10] The question is, which method is the most practical, the most successful and most popular? [11] Which will stand the test in the great struggle for existence?
[12] The medical profession has good reason to be alarmed by the inroads made in its work by irregular, unorthodox systems, schools and cults of treating human ailments. [13] But instead of raging at the audacious presumption of these interlopers, would it not be better to inquire if there is not some reason for the astonishing spread and popularity of these therapeutic innovations?

 

  1. The question is, which method is the most practical, the most successful and most popular?

  2. The question is, which method is the most practical, the most successful and the most popular?

  3. The question is, which method is most practical, most successful and most popular?

  4. The question is, which method is the most practical, most successful and most popular?

  5. The question is, which method is more practical, more successful and more popular?

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

The comparison is between two methods. Hence, we have to use the comparative 'more'. Also, there is error of parallelism in the sentence (the most practical, the most successful and most popular). This option rectifies this error by using the comparative form 'more'.

Multiple choice

In context, which of the following is the best way to phrase the underlined portion of sentence 1 (reproduced below)?

Towards the ending of the summer of 1917 it was being very hot in New York, and hotter still aboard the transatlantic liner thrust between the piers.

Directions for the question:

The following passage is an early draft of an essay. Some parts of the passage need to be rewritten. Read the passage and select the best answer for the question that follows. Keep in mind that some questions are about particular sentences or parts of sentences and ask you to improve sentence structure or word choice. Other questions ask to consider organization and development. In choosing the answer, follow the requirements of standard written English.

[1] Towards the ending of the summer of 1917 it was being very hot in New York, and hotter still aboard the transatlantic liner. [2] One glance at our cabins, at the crowded decks and the dining-room, sufficed to bring home to us that the days of luxurious sea travel, of a la carte restaurants, and Louis Seize bedrooms were gone - at least for a period. [3] The prospect of a voyage of nearly two weeks was not enticing. [4] The ship, to be sure, was far from being the best of those still running on a line which had gained a magic reputation of immunity from submarines; three years ago she carried only second and third class passengers! [5] But most of us were in a hurry to get to the countries where war had already become a grim and terrible reality. [6] In one way or another we had all enrolled.
[7] The first welcome discovery among the crowd wandering aimlessly and somewhat disconsolately about the decks was the cheerful face of a friend whom at first I did not recognize because of his amazing disguise in uniform. [8] He had been associated in my mind with dinner parties and clubs.
[9] That life was past. [10] He had laid up his yacht and joined the Red Cross and, henceforth, for an indeterminable period, he was to abide amidst the discomforts and dangers of the Western Front. [11] The likewise cheerful members of a group whom I found gathered by the after rail were similarly attired. [12] Two well-known specialists from the Gens General Hospital made significant contributions to serve the people of France which was almost doctorless. [13] When I reached France it seemed to me that I met all the celebrated medical men I ever heard of. [14] A third in the group was a business man from the Middle West who had wound up his affairs and left a startled family in charge of a trust company. [15] Though his physical activities had hitherto consisted of an occasional mild game of golf, he wore his khaki like an old campaigner; and he seemed undaunted by the prospect - still somewhat remotely ahead of him - of a journey across the Atlantic to the active war zone.

 

  1. (As it is now)

  2. Towards the ending of the 1917 summer it was being very hot in New York,

  3. Toward the end of summer of 1917 it was rather hot in New York,

  4. Towards the end of the summer of 1917 it was very hot in New York,

  5. Towards the ending of summer of 1917 it being very hot in New York,

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

The sentence is incorrect because the usage should be 'at the end of' not 'at the ending of'. Also 'being' should be deleted to maintain the simple past tense. This option rectifies both the errors.

Multiple choice

Which of the following words/phrases best replaces the word “enrolled” in sentence 6?

Directions for the question:

The following passage is an early draft of an essay. Some parts of the passage need to be rewritten. Read the passage and select the best answer for the question that follows. Keep in mind that some questions are about particular sentences or parts of sentences and ask you to improve sentence structure or word choice. Other questions ask to consider organization and development. In choosing the answer, follow the requirements of standard written English.

[1] Towards the ending of the summer of 1917 it was being very hot in New York, and hotter still aboard the transatlantic liner. [2] One glance at our cabins, at the crowded decks and the dining-room, sufficed to bring home to us that the days of luxurious sea travel, of a la carte restaurants, and Louis Seize bedrooms were gone - at least for a period. [3] The prospect of a voyage of nearly two weeks was not enticing. [4] The ship, to be sure, was far from being the best of those still running on a line which had gained a magic reputation of immunity from submarines; three years ago she carried only second and third class passengers! [5] But most of us were in a hurry to get to the countries where war had already become a grim and terrible reality. [6] In one way or another we had all enrolled.
[7] The first welcome discovery among the crowd wandering aimlessly and somewhat disconsolately about the decks was the cheerful face of a friend whom at first I did not recognize because of his amazing disguise in uniform. [8] He had been associated in my mind with dinner parties and clubs.
[9] That life was past. [10] He had laid up his yacht and joined the Red Cross and, henceforth, for an indeterminable period, he was to abide amidst the discomforts and dangers of the Western Front. [11] The likewise cheerful members of a group whom I found gathered by the after rail were similarly attired. [12] Two well-known specialists from the Gens General Hospital made significant contributions to serve the people of France which was almost doctorless. [13] When I reached France it seemed to me that I met all the celebrated medical men I ever heard of. [14] A third in the group was a business man from the Middle West who had wound up his affairs and left a startled family in charge of a trust company. [15] Though his physical activities had hitherto consisted of an occasional mild game of golf, he wore his khaki like an old campaigner; and he seemed undaunted by the prospect - still somewhat remotely ahead of him - of a journey across the Atlantic to the active war zone.

 

  1. recruited

  2. conscripted

  3. enlisted

  4. been inducted

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

“We had” signifies a voluntary action. The enrollment is into a branch of armed services. Therefore, the appropriate word is 'enlisted'.

Multiple choice

Which of the following sentences can be removed from the essay, without affecting the flow of the argument?

Directions for the question:

The following passage is an early draft of an essay. Some parts of the passage need to be rewritten. Read the passage and select the best answer for the question that follows. Keep in mind that some questions are about particular sentences or parts of sentences and ask you to improve sentence structure or word choice. Other questions ask to consider organization and development. In choosing the answer, follow the requirements of standard written English.

[1] There are two principal methods of treating disease. [2] One is the combative, the other the preventive. [3] The trend of medical research henceforth has almost entirely been along combative lines, although the progressive physician learns to work more and more along preventive lines. [4] The slogan of medical science has been, "Kill the germ and cure the disease." [5] The usual procedure is to wait until acute or chronic diseases have fully developed, and then, if possible, to subdue them by means of drugs, surgical operations, and by means of the morbid products of disease, in the form of serums, antitoxins, vaccines, etc.
[6] The combative methods fight disease with disease, poison with poison, and germs with germs and germ products. [7] In the language of the Good Book, it is "Beelzebub against the Devil." [8] The preventive method does not wait until diseases have fully developed and gained the ascendancy in the body, but concentrates its best endeavors on preventing, by hygienic living and by natural methods of treatment, the development of diseases. [9] By these put the human body in a normal and healthy condition which is practically proof against infection or contagion by disease taints and miasmas, and against the inroads of germs, bacteria and parasites.
[10] The question is, which method is the most practical, the most successful and most popular? [11] Which will stand the test in the great struggle for existence?
[12] The medical profession has good reason to be alarmed by the inroads made in its work by irregular, unorthodox systems, schools and cults of treating human ailments. [13] But instead of raging at the audacious presumption of these interlopers, would it not be better to inquire if there is not some reason for the astonishing spread and popularity of these therapeutic innovations?

 

  1. Sentence 3

  2. Sentence 5

  3. Sentence 7

  4. Sentence 9

  5. Sentence 11

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

Although sentences 7 and 9, both seem to repeat the ideas contained in the preceding sentences, it is 7 which does not add value to the preceding sentence.

Multiple choice

What is the best way to deal with sentence 13?

Directions for the question:

The following passage is an early draft of an essay. Some parts of the passage need to be rewritten. Read the passage and select the best answer for the question that follows. Keep in mind that some questions are about particular sentences or parts of sentences and ask you to improve sentence structure or word choice. Other questions ask to consider organization and development. In choosing the answer, follow the requirements of standard written English.

[1] Towards the ending of the summer of 1917 it was being very hot in New York, and hotter still aboard the transatlantic liner. [2] One glance at our cabins, at the crowded decks and the dining-room, sufficed to bring home to us that the days of luxurious sea travel, of a la carte restaurants, and Louis Seize bedrooms were gone - at least for a period. [3] The prospect of a voyage of nearly two weeks was not enticing. [4] The ship, to be sure, was far from being the best of those still running on a line which had gained a magic reputation of immunity from submarines; three years ago she carried only second and third class passengers! [5] But most of us were in a hurry to get to the countries where war had already become a grim and terrible reality. [6] In one way or another we had all enrolled.
[7] The first welcome discovery among the crowd wandering aimlessly and somewhat disconsolately about the decks was the cheerful face of a friend whom at first I did not recognize because of his amazing disguise in uniform. [8] He had been associated in my mind with dinner parties and clubs.
[9] That life was past. [10] He had laid up his yacht and joined the Red Cross and, henceforth, for an indeterminable period, he was to abide amidst the discomforts and dangers of the Western Front. [11] The likewise cheerful members of a group whom I found gathered by the after rail were similarly attired. [12] Two well-known specialists from the Gens General Hospital made significant contributions to serve the people of France which was almost doctorless. [13] When I reached France it seemed to me that I met all the celebrated medical men I ever heard of. [14] A third in the group was a business man from the Middle West who had wound up his affairs and left a startled family in charge of a trust company. [15] Though his physical activities had hitherto consisted of an occasional mild game of golf, he wore his khaki like an old campaigner; and he seemed undaunted by the prospect - still somewhat remotely ahead of him - of a journey across the Atlantic to the active war zone.

 

  1. Insert 'had' before 'ever'.

  2. Delete 'of' after 'heard'.

  3. Replace 'when' by 'after'.

  4. Replace 'medical men' by 'medical specialists'.

  5. Replace 'celebrated' with 'famous'.

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

The sentence is in the past tense. The author 'had' heard of the men earlier. So this phrase should be in the past perfect tense.

Multiple choice

Which of the following is the best revision of the underlined portion of sentence 3 below? The trend of medical research henceforth has almost entirely been along combative lines, although the progressive physician learns to work more and more along preventive lines.

Directions for the question:

The following passage is an early draft of an essay. Some parts of the passage need to be rewritten. Read the passage and select the best answer for the question that follows. Keep in mind that some questions are about particular sentences or parts of sentences and ask you to improve sentence structure or word choice. Other questions ask to consider organization and development. In choosing the answer, follow the requirements of standard written English.

[1] There are two principal methods of treating disease. [2] One is the combative, the other the preventive. [3] The trend of medical research henceforth has almost entirely been along combative lines, although the progressive physician learns to work more and more along preventive lines. [4] The slogan of medical science has been, "Kill the germ and cure the disease." [5] The usual procedure is to wait until acute or chronic diseases have fully developed, and then, if possible, to subdue them by means of drugs, surgical operations, and by means of the morbid products of disease, in the form of serums, antitoxins, vaccines, etc.
[6] The combative methods fight disease with disease, poison with poison, and germs with germs and germ products. [7] In the language of the Good Book, it is "Beelzebub against the Devil." [8] The preventive method does not wait until diseases have fully developed and gained the ascendancy in the body, but concentrates its best endeavors on preventing, by hygienic living and by natural methods of treatment, the development of diseases. [9] By these put the human body in a normal and healthy condition which is practically proof against infection or contagion by disease taints and miasmas, and against the inroads of germs, bacteria and parasites.
[10] The question is, which method is the most practical, the most successful and most popular? [11] Which will stand the test in the great struggle for existence?
[12] The medical profession has good reason to be alarmed by the inroads made in its work by irregular, unorthodox systems, schools and cults of treating human ailments. [13] But instead of raging at the audacious presumption of these interlopers, would it not be better to inquire if there is not some reason for the astonishing spread and popularity of these therapeutic innovations?

 

  1. henceforth has almost entirely been along combative lines,

  2. henceforth has almost entirely been on combative lines,

  3. henceforth has almost entirely been combative,

  4. hitherto has almost entirely been along combative lines,

  5. hitherto has almost entirely been on combative lines,

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

The sense conveyed by the underlined part is 'up to now'. But 'henceforth' means 'from now onwards'. So, the correct usage is 'hitherto'.