Question 1

Sentence improvement — idiom: 'take someone at their word' (accept what they say as true), not 'take her word': '… so I’ll have to take her at her word.'

Accepted Answer

Given sentence She says she's already paid me back, but I can't remember, so I'll have to take her word. Concept/Approach The fixed idiom is take someone at their word. Another acceptable idiom is take someone's word for it, but the best direct completion here is 'take her at her word'. Option analysis • to take her at her word → standard idiom.• 'to take her word true' → unidiomatic.• 'to take her word for it' → also idiomatic but alters the original structure slightly; the prompt asks for the best fit.• 'No improvement' → incomplete idiom. Final Answer to take her at her word

Question 2

Sentence improvement — correct third conditional: 'If you had attended the meeting, you would have benefited a great deal.' (no change needed).

Accepted Answer

Given sentence If you had attended the meeting, you would have benefited a great deal. Concept/Approach A third conditional describes an unreal past condition and its past result: If + past perfect → would have + past participle. The tense sequence here is perfect. Option analysis Alternatives ('could benefit', 'would benefit', 'benefited') break the correct past counterfactual structure. Final Answer No improvement

Question 3

Sentence improvement — fixed expression: retain 'admit of' meaning 'allow/permit': 'This matter admits of no excuse.'

Accepted Answer

Given sentence This matter admits of no excuse. Concept/Approach Admit of is a set phrase meaning 'permit; allow of'. Changing the preposition alters or breaks the idiom. Option analysis 'admits to/from' → wrong prepositions; 'admits' (bare) loses the idiomatic force. Final Answer No improvement

Question 4

Sentence improvement — correct conditional form in the 'if'-clause: use past perfect 'had tried' → 'If he had tried, he would have succeeded.'

Accepted Answer

Given sentence If he would have tried he would have succeeded. Concept/Approach In standard English, the if-clause of a third conditional uses the past perfect, not 'would have': If + had + past participle → would have + past participle. Correction If he had tried, he would have succeeded. Why others are wrong 'is tried'/'was tried' → change meaning (passive) and tense; 'No improvement' leaves a common learner error. Final Answer had tried

Question 5

Sentence improvement — infinitive stacking after a catenative: prefer 'It will be no good to try to find an excuse next time' ('to try to find'), not gerund stacking.

Accepted Answer

Given sentence It will be no good trying to find an excuse next time. Concept/Approach After evaluative phrases like 'It'll be no good …', English can take either a gerund ('trying') or an infinitive ('to try'). The most idiomatic, clear alternative here—especially for formal tests—is the full infinitive chain to try to find. Option analysis • to try to find → neat and idiomatic catenation.• 'to try finding' → acceptable but less common with 'no good' and breaks symmetry.• 'trying finding' → ungrammatical double -ing.• 'No improvement' → keeps a less preferred exam-style form. Final Answer to try to find

Question 6

Sentence improvement — Choose the most natural infinitive after ‘‘remind me’’ to correct and clarify the request: ‘‘Please remind me of posting these letters to my relatives.’’ Expand and modernize the construction while preserving the original mean…

Accepted Answer

Given data Original sentence: ‘‘Please remind me of posting these letters to my relatives.’’ Concept/Approach After the verb ‘‘remind’’ used for future/forward-looking tasks, standard English prefers the construction ‘‘remind (someone) to + verb’’ rather than a prepositional gerund (‘‘of posting’’). This makes the intended action explicit and natural. Step-by-step evaluation by posting — Incorrect meaning; ‘‘by’’ expresses means/method, not the content of a reminder.to post — Correct infinitive of purpose/content after ‘‘remind me’’ → ‘‘remind me to post’’.for posting — Awkward and unidiomatic after ‘‘remind’’ in this sense.No improvement — Retains the nonstandard ‘‘of posting’’.to be posting — Progressive infinitive is unnecessary and odd here. Verification/Alternative Idiomatic models: ‘‘Remind me to call.’’ / ‘‘Remind her to submit the form.’’ Common pitfalls Confusing ‘‘remind (someone) of + noun’’ (e.g., ‘‘remind me of summer’’) with ‘‘remind (someone) to + verb’’ (an action reminder). Final Answer to post

Question 7

Sentence improvement — Negative fronting with subject–auxiliary inversion: refine ‘‘Not a word they spoke to the unfortunate wife about it’’ to the most idiomatic formal structure for emphasis and clarity.

Accepted Answer

Given data Original sentence: ‘‘Not a word they spoke to the unfortunate wife about it.’’ Concept/Approach When a negative or restrictive element (‘‘Not a word’’) is fronted, standard English requires subject–auxiliary inversion: auxiliary + subject + main verb. Step-by-step evaluation did they speak — Correct inversion: ‘‘Not a word did they speak ...’’they will speak — Wrong tense and no inversion; also changes time reference.they had spoken — Past perfect without context and no inversion.No improvement — Leaves the un-inverted clause.they did speak — Affirms speaking, contradicting ‘‘Not a word’’. Verification/Alternative Parallel: ‘‘Never have I seen such speed.’’ / ‘‘Under no circumstances will we agree.’’ Common pitfalls Forgetting inversion after negative adverbials like ‘‘never, rarely, scarcely, not a word’’. Final Answer did they speak

Question 8

Sentence improvement — Choose the most accurate verb for a gas causing illness: improve the report ‘‘a mysterious nerve gas affected a large number of people’’ to a more precise verb that aligns with health-related usage.

Accepted Answer

Given data Original: ‘‘Not long back, in Japan, a mysterious nerve gas affected a large number of people.’’ Concept/Approach In health contexts, when an agent causes disease/illness in people, the verb ‘‘infect’’ is commonly chosen over the general ‘‘affect’’ or the incorrect ‘‘effect’’ (which means ‘‘bring about’’). ‘‘Infest’’ applies to parasites occupying a place, not to people being made ill. Option analysis effected — Means ‘‘brought about’’; wrong object and meaning.infected — Best medical/health verb for causing illness among people.infested — Used for parasites/places, not for people suffering illness.No improvement — Keeps the vague ‘‘affected’’.impacted — Colloquial and non-specific. Verification/Alternative Depending on style, ‘‘poisoned’’ could also be used for toxic gas exposure; in the provided options, ‘‘infected’’ is the closest precise alternative. Common pitfalls Confusing ‘‘affect’’ vs ‘‘effect’’; misusing ‘‘infest’’ for human subjects. Final Answer infected

Question 9

Sentence improvement — Select the correct present perfect with ‘‘since’’ and a time expression: refine ‘‘We had nothing to eat since 8 o'clock, this morning.’’ for precise aspect and punctuation.

Accepted Answer

Given data Original: ‘‘We had nothing to eat since 8 o'clock, this morning.’’ Concept/Approach Use the present perfect with ‘‘since + specific time’’ to connect past start time to the present: ‘‘have had nothing … since 8 o'clock this morning.’’ Also, avoid the unnecessary comma before ‘‘this morning’’. Option analysis have had nothing — Correct tense and aspect for a continuing state up to now.has had nothing — Subject–verb disagreement (‘‘we’’ is plural).did have nothing — Double negative flavor and wrong tense for ‘‘since’’ duration.No improvement — Keeps wrong past tense with ‘‘since’’.had nothing — Simple past contradicts ‘‘since …’’ duration. Verification/Alternative Model: ‘‘We have had nothing to eat since 7 a.m.’’ Common pitfalls Using past tenses with ‘‘since’’ when the action/state still holds; inserting commas where none are needed. Final Answer have had nothing

Question 10

Sentence improvement — Present perfect with ‘‘yet’’: correct the tense and polarity in ‘‘We did not see this movie yet.’’ to match standard contemporary English usage.

Accepted Answer

Given data Original: ‘‘We did not see this movie yet.’’ Concept/Approach In standard English, ‘‘yet’’ with a still-unrealized action takes the present perfect: ‘‘have not seen (it) yet.’’ Option analysis have seen — Affirms viewing; contradicts ‘‘yet’’.have not seen — Correct: ‘‘We have not seen this movie yet.’’did not see — Simple past mismatches the ‘‘yet’’ expectation in neutral registers.No improvement — Leaves the tense error.had not seen — Past perfect needs a later past reference point. Verification/Alternative Conversational variant: ‘‘We haven’t seen this movie yet.’’ Common pitfalls Using simple past with ‘‘yet’’ (except in certain dialects/contexts); forgetting contraction rules in formal vs informal writing. Final Answer have not seen

Question 11

Sentence improvement — Best preposition for temporal cause: choose the most concise alternative to ‘‘My friend was in hospital for a week after an accident’’ so the time-cause link reads naturally and formally.

Accepted Answer

Given data Original: ‘‘My friend was in hospital for a week after an accident.’’ Concept/Approach The preposition ‘‘following’’ is a concise, formal synonym of ‘‘after’’ when indicating time sequence due to an event: ‘‘… for a week following an accident.’’ Option analysis through — Means ‘‘during/throughout’’; does not indicate the triggering event.following — Best fit; succinct temporal-causal connector.for — Duration marker; does not replace ‘‘after’’ properly in this slot.No improvement — ‘‘after’’ is acceptable, but ‘‘following’’ is more compact and idiomatic in reports.subsequent to — Overly formal/wordy compared with ‘‘following’’. Verification/Alternative Standard news style: ‘‘was hospitalized for a week following an accident.’’ Common pitfalls Using prepositions that change meaning (‘‘through’’) or add unnecessary heaviness (‘‘subsequent to’’). Final Answer following

Question 12

Sentence improvement — Case after ‘‘but’’ meaning ‘‘except’’: correct the pronoun in ‘‘All, but her, had made an attempt.’’ to maintain formal subject case in elliptical comparisons.

Accepted Answer

Given data Original: ‘‘All, but her, had made an attempt.’’ Concept/Approach When ‘‘but’’ means ‘‘except’’ and the verb is understood elliptically (‘‘All [did] … but ___’’), the pronoun takes the subjective case: ‘‘but she’’. Option analysis All, but she, — Correct case with the understood verb; formal and precise.All, but herself, — Reflexive is unwarranted; no reflexive function here.All, but her, — Object case; substandard in this construction.No improvement — Keeps the error.All but she had — Also correct but restructures punctuation; our answer preserves the original pattern. Verification/Alternative Compare: ‘‘All but he were present.’’ / ‘‘No one but I knew the truth.’’ Common pitfalls Using object case after ‘‘but’’ in elliptical subject contexts; adding reflexives unnecessarily. Final Answer All, but she,

Question 13

Sentence improvement — Choose the precise noun for ‘‘lack’’: revise the economic sentence ‘‘we have no shortcoming to cheap labour in India’’ to the most idiomatic collocation.

Accepted Answer

Given data Original (faulty): ‘‘Whatever to our other problems, we have no shortcoming to cheap labour in India.’’ Concept/Approach The idiomatic collocation is ‘‘no scarcity of cheap labour’’ (i.e., there is plenty available). ‘‘Shortcoming’’ refers to a defect/weakness in character or quality, not to quantitative lack; ‘‘deficit’’ is used with budgets; ‘‘default’’ is unrelated. Option analysis default — Means failure to fulfill an obligation; wrong semantic field.deficit — Typically financial; not the right fit with ‘‘labour’’ availability.scarcity — Correct noun for quantitative insufficiency; used here in the negative: ‘‘no scarcity of …’’No improvement — Keeps non-idiomatic wording.shortfall — Also a quantity term but the fixed phrase is ‘‘no scarcity of’’. Verification/Alternative Polished sentence: ‘‘Whatever our other problems, we have no scarcity of cheap labour in India.’’ Common pitfalls Confusing ‘‘shortcoming’’ (qualitative defect) with ‘‘scarcity’’ (quantitative lack). Final Answer scarcity

Question 14

Sentence improvement — Perfect tense with ‘‘since + past point in time’’: confirm whether ‘‘I have lived in Delhi since I was four’’ already uses the correct aspect and therefore needs no change.

Accepted Answer

Given data Target sentence: ‘‘I have lived in Delhi since I was four.’’ Concept/Approach With a starting point in the past that continues up to now (‘‘since I was four’’), the present perfect is standard and correct: ‘‘have lived.’’ Option analysis am living — Present progressive misses the continuity from a past starting point.lived — Simple past suggests the action is finished.had lived — Past perfect needs a later past anchor.No improvement — Best choice; original is already correct.have been living — Acceptable in some contexts but not necessary; the simple present perfect is concise and correct. Verification/Alternative Also fine: ‘‘I have been living in Delhi since I was four’’ (continuous nuance). The given version is not erroneous. Common pitfalls Switching to simple past with ‘‘since…’’ or using present progressive without the perfect aspect. Final Answer No improvement

Question 15

Sentence improvement — Stative verb usage: replace the ungrammatical progressive form in ‘‘This telephone number is not existing’’ with the standard simple present for states.

Accepted Answer

Given data Original: ‘‘This telephone number is not existing.’’ Concept/Approach Stative verbs like ‘‘exist’’ typically do not take progressive aspect. The natural correction is the simple present negative: ‘‘does not exist.’’ Option analysis has not existed — Present perfect suggests a period up to now; possible but needlessly marked.does not exist — Correct, direct, and idiomatic.has not been existing — Progressive perfect is unidiomatic with ‘‘exist.’’No improvement — Keeps the incorrect progressive.is not in existence — Grammatically fine but verbose; simple present is preferred. Verification/Alternative Model: ‘‘Such a record does not exist.’’ Common pitfalls Applying ‘‘be + -ing’’ to stative verbs (know, own, believe, exist) in neutral prose. Final Answer does not exist

Question 16

Sentence improvement — choose the best correction for the clause of condition: rewrite ‘‘I shall not go untill I am invited’’ using a natural, concise conditional structure that avoids a double negative and fixes the spelling, e.g., ‘‘Unless I am in…

Accepted Answer

Given data Original sentence: I shall not go untill I am invited. Target: Select the best improvement. Concept/Approach English often prefers the conjunction unless to express a negative condition. Instead of a clumsy 'not … until' with a negative main clause, we can recast the idea as 'Unless … , …' which is concise and idiomatic.Also, correct the spelling: until, not untill. Option analysis Unless I am invited — Best: 'Unless' replaces 'not … until', yielding a clean, standard conditional.'till I am invited' — Removes the negative but does not match the intended refusal unless meaning; it would require reshaping the main clause.'if not I am invited' — Ungrammatical word order; should be 'if I am not invited'.'No improvement' — Leaves an awkward double-negative style and a spelling error. Step-by-step improvement Rewrite: 'I shall not go until I am invited' → 'Unless I am invited, I shall not go.' Common pitfalls Confusing 'until' with 'unless', and the misspelling 'untill'. Final Answer Unless I am invited

Question 17

Sentence improvement — arrange multiple time expressions in natural order (time → date → year): rewrite as ‘‘He died at 11 p.m. on 14 July in the year 1960.’’

Accepted Answer

Given data Original: He died in the year 1960 at 11pm on 14 July. Goal: Choose the most idiomatic ordering of time adjuncts. Concept/Approach English commonly orders time details from the most specific to less specific in one phrase: time → day/date → month/year. Also, we prefer the prepositions 'at' (time), 'on' (date/day), 'in' (month/year). Option analysis at 11pm on 14 July in the year 1960 — Correct: 'at' + time, 'on' + date, 'in' + year in descending specificity.'on 14 July … at 11pm' — Ends with time; the phrase reads less smoothly.'in the year 1960 … at 11pm' — Puts the broadest unit first; less idiomatic.'No improvement' — Keeps a less natural order. Step-by-step correction 'in the year 1960 at 11pm on 14 July' → 'at 11pm on 14 July in the year 1960' Common pitfalls Using the wrong preposition (e.g., 'in 14 July') or awkward ordering (year → time → date). Final Answer at 11pm on 14 July in the year 1960

Question 18

Sentence improvement — fix causal connector and number agreement: replace ‘‘Due to these reason’’ with the standard, formal ‘‘For these reasons’’ in the statement supporting universal compulsory education.

Accepted Answer

Given data Text: Due to these reason we are all in favour of universal compulsory education. Concept/Approach Use for these reasons (plural noun and idiomatic causal phrase) rather than the prepositional 'due to' + singular noun. 'Due to' typically modifies nouns (e.g., 'the delay was due to…') and requires number agreement. Option analysis For these reasons — Correct idiom; correct plural.'Out of these reasons'/'By these reasons' — Non-idiomatic.'No improvement' — Leaves both an idiomatic misuse and number error (reason → reasons). Step-by-step correction Rewrite: For these reasons, we are all in favour of universal compulsory education. Common pitfalls Overusing 'due to'; forgetting plural agreement after 'these'. Final Answer For these reasons

Sentence Improvement Questions