English: Error Spotting for Upcoming Exams – Set 222

Directions(1-5): Read the sentence to find out whether there is an error in it. The error, if any, will be in one part of the sentence. The number corresponding to that part will be your answer. If the given sentence is correct as it is, mark the answer as ‘No error’. Ignore the errors of punctuation, if any.

1. Activists has started (1)/a social media campaign (2)/ against the alleged destruction (3)/ of flora and fauna along the riverside. (4)
   1
   2
   3
   4
   No Error
   Option A
   The error is in the first part of the statement. The context is of a plural noun ‘activists’, thus the requisite helping verb is ‘have’ instead of ‘has’.

    

2. Sugar-sweetened drinks does not (1)/ pose any particular health risk, and (2)/ are not an exclusive risk factor (3)/ for obesity or heart disease. (4)
   1
   2
   3
   4
   No Error
   Option A
   “Sugar-sweetened drinks” is a plural subject, so we need to use ‘do’. ‘Do’ is used with all plural nouns, in the first person singular, second person singular and plural and third person plural.

    

3. Celebrating its ten years (1)/ in the industry, a private entertainment channel (2)/ announce a series of (3)/ programmes at a press conference. (4)
   1
   2
   3
   4
   No Error
   Option C
   Replace “announce” by “announced”. Past form of verb is required as, the sentence is in past tense. Hence option C is the correct response.

    

4. The state government has (1)/ issued licences to farmers (2)/ allowing them to sell (3)/ its vegetables to hotels. (4)
   1
   2
   3
   4
   No Error
   Option D
   The error is in the last part of the statement. Replace ‘its’ with ‘their’ as the context is of ‘farmers’ and ‘it’ is not used to indicate a group of persons.
   Hence option D is the correct response.

    

5. Representing an image (1)/ accurately requires (2)/ a great many byte (3)/ of digital information. (4)
   1
   2
   3
   4
   No Error
   Option C
   The error is in the third part of the sentence.
   The phrase ‘a great many’ should be followed by a plural noun and a plural verb. However, in the given sentence, it is followed by a singular noun i.e. ‘byte’ which is erroneous. Therefore, byte must be replaced by bytes to form a grammatically correct sentence.
   Hence, option C is the correct answer.

    

Directions(6-10): A sentence divided into four parts (A), (B), (C) and (D) is given. The errors are in two parts of the sentence. Determine the parts which require correction and mark it as your answer. If the sentence is correct, mark the answer as “No error”.

6. The cops were cultured, not at all savage, (A)/ and for the first time because his capture, (B)/ Jade held a shimmer of hope that (C)/ he might find some semblance of happiness again. (D)
   A-C
   B-D
   B-C
   C-D
   No error
   Option C
   Parts B and C are incorrect. In part B, the word ‘because’ has been incorrectly used. ‘Because is used when the reason is the most important part of the sentence or utterance and the ‘because’ clause also comes at the end of the sentence. The correct word to be used here would be ‘since’ which is used when the reason is already well known and is therefore usually less important. In part C, ‘shimmer’ means a soft, slightly wavering light. This is incorrect with the context of the sentence. A better word to express his hope
   would be ‘glimmer’ which means a faint sign of a feeling or quality, especially a desirable one.

    

7. John Nash, a 19 year old economics graduate, (A)/ in his first 14 months of the course, produce the work (B)/ that got him the Nobel prize for their (C)/ contribution to game theory in 1994. (D)
   A-C
   B-D
   B-C
   C-D
   No error
   Option C
   Parts B and C are incorrect. The ‘work’ that was done happened in the past and so the past form of ‘produce’ that is ‘produced’ should be used. The pronoun ‘their’ used in part C is incorrect. We need to replace it with ‘his’ to rectify the same. Thus, option C is the correct answer.

    

8. In 1890 changes in the school system (A)/ unfavourable to the Roman Catholic Church (B)/ led to an constitutional struggle, to which was due (C)/ the defeat of the Federal ministry on 1896. (D)
   A-B
   C-D
   B-C
   A-C
   No error
   Option B
   In part C, the word ‘constitutional’ begins with a consonant ‘c’ and thus, should be preceded by the indefinite article ‘a’ instead of ‘an’.
   In part D, though the preposition ‘on’ is used with days and dates, when an incident that occurred in a particular year is to be mentioned, the preposition ‘in’ is used. Thus, option B is the correct answer.

    

9. Birds navigate through sensing the earth’s (A)/ magnetic fields and mobile (B)/ radiations are known to disturb it and (C)/ interfere with their movement. (D)
   A-B
   C-D
   B-C
   A-C
   No error
   Option D
   A: Birds use the earth’s magnetic field as a medium of navigation. When mentioning a medium, we should use the preposition ‘by’ instead of ‘through’.
   C: In Part C, the use of pronoun ‘it’ is erroneous as it refers to the birds and must be replaced by ‘them’.

    

10. When the temperature falls, (A)/ the metabolism of body slows (B)/ down in orders to conserve (C)/ energy and keep the body warm. (D)
    A-B
    C-D
    B-C
    A-C
    No error
    Option C
    B: Body, in general could mean anything. We should use ‘the’ before ‘body’, to confirm that it is the human body that is being mentioned here.
    C: ‘In order to’ is a phrase that is used to mention the next step in a sequence. ‘Orders’ is wrongly used here.

     

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