1. The mother of Dr. Haddock was Abigail Webster, a favorite sister of Ezekiel and Daniel Webster, who, with Sarah, ______ the only children of the Hon. Ebenezer Webster by his second wife, Abigail Eastman, who survived her husband and all her daughters.
Which choice completes the text so that it conforms to the conventions of standard English?
A. was
B. were
C. are
D. is
2. Mr. Layard in excavating beneath the great pyramid at Nimroud, had penetrated a mass of masonry, within which he had discovered the tomb and statue of Sardanapalus, accompanied by full annals of the monarch’s reign engraved on the walls! He had also found tablets of all sorts, all of them being historical, but the crowning discovery he _____________________
Which choice completes the text so that it conforms to the conventions of standard English?
A. had yet to describe.
B. still has to describe.
C. yet describes.
D. hadn’t yet to describe.
3. It is indeed a painful or rather a terrible condition in which Heine now is and _________ for the past year; though the paralysis has made no progress, it has at least experienced no alleviation. He has now lain near two years in bed, and during that time has not seen a tree nor a speck of the blue sky.
Which choice completes the text so that it conforms to the conventions of standard English?
A. were
B. was
C. has been
D. will be
4. Dr. Otto Zirckel has just published at Berlin a volume called “Sketches from and concerning the United States,” which has some curious peculiarities to the eyes of an American. It is intended as a guide for Germans who wish either _________________ to this country or to send their money here for investment.
Which choice completes the text so that it conforms to the conventions of standard English?
A. to have emigrated
B. to emigrate
C. emigration
D. emigrating
5. The omissions by Mr. Sparks—sometimes from carelessness, sometimes from ignorance, and sometimes from an indisposition to revive memories of old feuds, or to cover with disgrace names which should be dishonored—and his occasional verbal alteration of Washington’s letter, _________ that general satisfaction with which his edition of Washington would otherwise be regarded.
Which choice completes the text so that it conforms to the conventions of standard English?
A. prevents
B. has prevented
C. preventing
D. prevent
6. Bauer treats the political and religious parties of modern Germany with the same scornful satire and destructive analysis which __________ in his theological writings.
Which choice completes the text so that it conforms to the conventions of standard English?
A. appear
B. will appear
C. has appeared
D. appears
7. Dr. Laing, one of those restless English travelers who have printed books about the United States, _____ now a prominent personage in Australia, where he has been elected a member of the newly instituted Legislature, for the city of Sidney.
Which choice completes the text so that it conforms to the conventions of standard English?
A. was
B. is
C. are
D. were
8. The first two volumes of Oehlenschlager’s Lebens Erinnerungen have appeared at Vienna, and ___________ more observation than anything else in the late movements in the German literature.
Which choice completes the text so that it conforms to the conventions of standard English?
A. attract
B. attracts
C. will attract
D. attracted
9. The character of Sir Roger de Coverley is a creation which, in its way, has never been surpassed; never perhaps __________ except by the Vicar of Wakefield.
Which choice completes the text so that it conforms to the conventions of standard English?
A. equals
B. equaling
C. equal to
D. equaled
10. When the public understands how perfectly Parodi identifies herself with the emotions and passions she has to portray,—when they appreciate the immense variety of intonations with which she illustrates her characters, and the earnestness and intensity with which she _________her whole nature into all she does—then she will be hailed as the greatest artist ever on this continent, and one of the greatest in the world.
Which choice completes the text so that it conforms to the conventions of standard English?
A. throw
B. throws
C. has thrown
D. can throw
11. Of the nine Canadian Provinces stretching from the Atlantic to the Pacific seaboard, the one of which Englishmen might be expected, from its origin, its proximity, its history, and its resources, ___________ most about they know least. This is a puzzle I have often had to explain.
Which choice completes the text so that it conforms to the conventions of standard English?
A. to know
B. knowing
C. known
D. of knowing
12. By this time they had passed beyond Frome’s earshot and he could only follow the shadowy pantomime of their silhouettes as they continued to move along the crest of the slope above him. He saw Eady, after a moment, jump from the cutter and go toward the girl with the reins over one arm. The other he tried to slip through hers; but she eluded him nimbly, and Frome’s heart, which had swung out over a black void, ______ back to safety.
Which choice completes the text so that it conforms to the conventions of standard English?
A. trembles
B. had trembled
C. trembled
D. would tremble
13. This policy, extreme as it was, in the necessities of their condition was received with a murmur of assent. Lawrence and Drummond, devoted patriots, and two of the wealthiest and most enterprising citizens of the town, evinced their willingness to sacrifice their private means to secure the public good, by _______ their own houses. Emulating an example so noble and disinterested, other citizens followed in their wake.
Which choice completes the text so that it conforms to the conventions of standard English?
A. firing
B. having fired
C. fires
D. fired
14. Henry Timrod was born in Charleston, the son of William Henry Timrod, who was himself a poet, and who in his youth voluntarily apprenticed himself to a book-binder in order to have plenty of books to read. His son Henry, the “blue-eyed Harry” of the father’s poem studied law with the distinguished James Louis Petigru, but never practiced and soon gave it up to prepare himself for a teacher. He spent ten years as private tutor in families, ________ at the same time.
Which choice completes the text so that it conforms to the conventions of standard English?
A. writes
B. writing
C. having written
D. being written
15. Paul Hamilton Hayne has been justly called the “Laureate of the South.” He was born at Charleston, and ________ left an orphan by the death of his father, Lieutenant Hayne of the Navy, he was reared and educated by his uncle.
Which choice completes the text so that it conforms to the conventions of standard English?
A. have been
B. were
C. was
D. having been
16. It was a superb summer morning, and all the landscape was brilliant with sunshine. There was a freshness and breeziness, too, and an exhilarating sense of emancipation from all sorts of cares and responsibilities, that almost made us feel that the years we had spent in the close, hot city, toiling and slaving, ____________ and thrown away.
Which choice completes the text so that it conforms to the conventions of standard English?
A. might be wasted
B. were wasted
C. had been wasted
D. could be wasted
17. The Dexter mansion is yet standing, and is a very fine tenement, but _____ few traces of the whims of its late proprietor. Of the images, upwards of forty in number, only the three Presidents now remain, the others having been cast down by the resistless hand of time. Some of them were blown down in the great gale of September, 1815, and were sold at auction.
Which choice completes the text so that it conforms to the conventions of standard English?
A. retained
B. retain
C. retaining
D. retains
18. But of more importance than its sheer inventions, if only because much more numerous, are its extensions of the vocabulary, both absolutely and in ready workableness, by the devices of rhetoric. The American, from the beginning, has been the most ardent of recorded rhetoricians.
Which choice completes the text so that it conforms to the conventions of standard English?
A. are
B. its
C. were
D. was
19. The road winds to the hills which give the place its name. To be precise, the Whitman farm, as my driver assured me, ________ to the hamlet of Millwell, but the title of West Hills is better known. The other name may, however, serve to recall those cold sweet springs which rise along the foot of the hills and keep the country green, and whose waters are highly esteemed in New York.
Which choice completes the text so that it conforms to the conventions of standard English?
A. belonged
B. belongs
C. was belonging
D. had belonged
20.Slowly the head of the line advances to the shadow of the wood, touches it and ___________. The leaders, the bare flag-staff, the drummer disappear; but still from the shade is heard the muffled rhythm of the drum. Still the column comes out of the mist, still it climbs the hill and passes with its endless articulated burden. At last the rearmost couple disengages itself from the mist, ascends, and is swallowed by the shadow. There remain only the moonlight and the dusty hedgerow.
Which choice completes the text so that it conforms to the conventions of standard English?
A. was swallowed
B. swallows
C. swallow
D. is swallowed
- A. The subject of the verb is both Abigail Webster and her Sarah. This makes our subject plural. In addition, this passage is in the past tense, which makes B the best option since it is plural and in the past tense.
- A. The passage is primarily written in the past perfect, the tense which uses a helping verb like “has” or “had” along with the past participle of the verb. To continue this style, we should use answer option A. Answer option B is not in the past perfect as it uses the word “still”. Answer C does not use a helping verb. Answer D incorrectly uses the word not.
- C. Heine is currently in this bad condition and for the past year and up until this moment he “has been” in this condition. Option A is plural where our subject is singular. Option B implies that he was in this condition in the past but is not still in the condition, and option D put this into the future despite it being in the “past year”. This makes option C the best answer.
- B. Look for parallel structure within the sentence. The Germans may wish to do two things. The second thing is “to send”. We therefore need to match that with our choice “to emigrate”. This makes option B correct and all other options incorrect.
- D. Be careful in identifying the subject of the verb. Ask yourself, “what is it that is going to prevent the satisfaction?” In this case, it is the omissions all the way at the beginning of the passage. “Omissions” is plural and so the correct verb choice would be “prevent”. This makes option D correct and the others incorrect.
- A. Be careful in identifying the subject of the verb. Ask yourself, “what is it that we’re talking about appears in his theological writings?” It is the scornful satire and destructive analysis. This means that the subject of our verb is plural. Our verb must work with a plural subject eliminating options C and D. Option B is incorrectly in the future tense. This just leaves option A as the correct answer.
- B. Be careful in identifying the subject of the verb. Ask yourself, “who is a prominent personage?” it can’t be “the United States”. Because the U.S. is neither a person nor in Australia. The person is Dr. Laing. This means that we must pick a singular verb, eliminating options C and D. Since it is “now” we must pick the present tense option B and not the past tense option A.
- D. These first two volumes have done two things they have “appeared” and “attracted”. The second verb must match the tense of the first making option D correct and the other options incorrect.
- D. Make sure to maintain parallel structure. Sir Roger de Coverley has never been “surpassed” so then we must say he has also never been “equaled”. This makes option D correct and the others incorrect.
- B. Make sure to maintain parallel structure. People appreciate two things about Parodi: how she “illustrates” her character and how she “throws” her whole nature. Both verbs need to be in the present tense making option B correct and the other options incorrect.
- A. The subject of the verb here is “Englishmen” specifically we are saying that the Englishmen might be expected to know certain things. Answers B, C, and D would not make sense with this subject in this context.
- C. This passage is written in the simple past tense which eliminates answers A, and D. The subject of the verb is his heart which “trembled” in the simple past tense. We are not saying that there was a time in the past at which point his heart had previously trembled which is the past perfect used in answer option B which is incorrect.
- A. In this case the citizens of the town are going to sacrifice by doing something. When you have “by” in front of a verb you should use the gerund form of the very (the from ending in “ing”). In this case that would be “firing” as in answer option A.
- B. The word “spent” in this sentence has already explained that we are in the past in those ten years. During those ten years he was “writing” the whole time, making answer option B the best answer.
- D. Options A and C are incorrect as they are both plural verbs for the singular subject “he”. If you fail to read the full context of the sentence and stop after the word “father” then you may choose option C, but this is also incorrect as saying “he was left and orphan, he was reared by his uncle” would be a run on sentence. Option D, however, makes the sentence complete and in the correct number.
- C. The writer feels he has already wasted those years. Therefore, answers A and D cannot be chosen as they both convey that the author is not certain. Answer option B is incorrect as the years are not currently wasted. Rather, we want to show that at some point in the past they were wasted, which leads us to answer option C: they had been wasted.
- D. The subject here is the mansion. This makes answers C and D correct as in English “the mansion retain few traces” and “the mansion retaining few traces” are incorrect verb usage. Answer option A is incorrect as the mansion “is still standing” and we are therefore talking about it in the present, not the past.
- A. This is a rare case of the subject coming after the verb. Ask yourself, “what is it that’s more important?” It’s the extensions of the vocabulary, so “extensions” is our subject. Since extensions is plural, options B and D are not correct as they are singular forms of the verb. Option C is incorrect as we are saying that they are currently more important, not in the past. We must therefore use the present tense of the verb, making option A the correct answer.
- B. This passage is in the present tense as can be seen in the first sentence which says, in part, that the hills “give the place”. The subject of this verb is the singular “farm” since the farm is what belongs to the hamlet. The only singular present answer option is B.
- D. This passage is written in the present tense. The first sentence is describing the beginning of a line of men approaching a line of trees and disappearing into it. This is all done in the present, making answer option A incorrect. Since the subject is “the head” it is third person singular, making answer option C incorrect. Answer option D would imply that the head is swallowing something when really it is the thing being swallowed by the shadow of the wood. This leaves only answer option D.