English: Error Spotting for Upcoming Exams – Set 230

Directions(1-5): Given below are three statements, of which some may be incorrect. Identify the correct statement(s).

1. I. India is home to arguably the world’s most diverse and oldest human civilisation.
   II. India is home of arguably the world’s most diverse and oldest human civilisation.
   III. India is home for arguably the world’s most diverse and oldest human civilisation.
   Only I
   Only II
   Only III
   Both I and II
   All of these
   Option A
   ‘Home to’ is used precisely for talking about inhabitants of a given place (be it plants, animals, people, or robots).
   ‘Home of’ refers to the place where something was first discovered, made, or developed.
   ‘Home for’ is often used to designate some kind of charity group house.

    

2. I. Chota Udaipur was a small princely state in Gujarat, ruled by the descendants of Prithviraj Chauhan.
   II. Chota Udaipur is a small princely state in Gujarat, which used to be ruled by the descendants of Prithviraj Chauhan.
   III. Chota Udaipur is a small princely state in Gujarat, which was once ruled by the descendants of Prithviraj Chauhan.
   Only I
   Only II
   Only III
   Both I and II
   All of these
   Option E
   The sentences do not specify the time period of the sentence. So, we can use both ‘is’ and ‘was’. ‘Which’ provides additional information about Chota Udaipur. This part of the sentence can have its own subject verb agreement. So, the tense of the first and second parts of sentences II & III need not to be same. Both “used to be ruled” and “was once ruled” are used correctly and mention an event that is no longer continuing. So, both sentences II & III are correct.
   Sentence I doesn’t used ‘which’. So, the two parts in sentence I must have the same tense. Both ‘was’ and ‘ruled’ are in past tense and sentence states a fact of the past. Sentence is also correct.

    

3. I. Children at this stage also, mete out justice in an eye-for-an-eye manner or according to Golden Rule logic.
   II. Children at this stage also, meet out justice in an eye-for-an-eye manner or according to Golden Rule logic.
   III. Children at this stage also, meat out justice in an eye-for-an-eye manner or according to Golden Rule logic.
   Only I
   Only II
   Only III
   Both I and III
   All of these
   Option A
   ‘Mete’, ‘meet’ and ‘meat’ are homophones. ‘Mete’ means dispense or allot justice, a punishment, or harsh treatment. ‘Meet’ means arrange or happen to come into the presence or company of (someone). ‘Meat’ means the flesh of an animal, typically a mammal or bird, as food. As per the context of the given statements, only statement I has the proper use of the homophone ‘mete’.

    

4. I. The more careful a student is, the fewer mistakes he makes.
   II. The more careful a student is, fewer the mistakes he makes.
   III. The more careful a student is, the few mistakes he makes.
   Only I
   Only II
   Only III
   Both I and II
   All of these
   Option A
   In statement II, there is an error of parallelism in the given sentence. In the first part of the sentence phrase, ‘the more careful’ is used. So, in the second part before ‘fewer’ ‘the’ must be used.
   III. Comparative degree of few that is ‘fewer’ should be used to make the sentence grammatically correct.

    

5. I. The accused requested to the judge for mercy after confessing his crimes.
   II. The accused appealed to the judge for mercy after confessing his crimes.
   III. The accused climbed to the judge for mercy after confessing his crimes.
   Only I
   Only II
   Only III
   Both I and II
   All of these
   Option B
   Statement I. The word ‘requested’ can take two prepositions – ‘for’ to define what is it for and ‘by’ to define who initiated it. The context is altogether different, so here no preposition is required in the sentence after ‘requested’.
   Statement III. The sentence is absurd as nobody climbs to the judge for mercy.
   An appeal means that one of the parties is requesting that the decision in your case be looked at again by a higher court. In other words, they are arguing that something went wrong with the first decision and that it should be changed. In most cases, the appeals process is somewhat limited.

    

 

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