Although tapirs reared in captivity are generally docile and have even been kept as pets by South American villagers, it is nonetheless a volatile creature prone to unpredictable and dangerous temper tantrums.
Answer: D This is a pronoun agreement question. The subject of the sentence is tapirs; therefore, the pronoun that refers to the subject must be plural. The answer, therefore, must be (C) or (D). Choice C contains a new pronoun agreement error, because they is plural and volatile creature is singular.
Q. No. 20:
As its performance has risen on all the stock indexes, the bio-tech start-up has branched out into new markets to look for opportunities they would previously have had to ignore.
Answer: D A singular noun ‘the bio-tech start-up’ needs a singular pronoun. That eliminates choice (A) and (B). To choose between (C) and (D), look for a new error. Choice (C) uses both words previously and in the past, creating a redundancy error. The best answer is (D).
Q. No. 21:
Successful business leaders not only anticipate potential problems and have contingency plans ready, instead proceeding as if they are likely to occur anytime.
A :
ready, instead proceeding as if they are likely to occur anytime
B :
ready, but also proceed as if such problems are likely to occur anytime
C :
ready, but also proceeding as if the occurrence of them is at any time likely
D :
ready; they instead proceed as if their occurrence is likely at any time
Answer: B The phrase not only must also be followed by but also in order to complete the sentence properly. The answer must therefore be either (B) or (C). Choice (C) lacks parallel structure in the words anticipate or proceeding. When correctly structured, this sentence should read business leaders not only anticipate…but also proceed… This makes (B) the correct answer choice.
Q. No. 22:
With less than thirty thousand dollars in advance ticket sales and fewer acceptances by guest-speakers than expected; the one-day symposium on art and religion was cancelled for lack of interest.
A :
less than thirty thousand dollars in advance ticket sales and fewer
B :
fewer than thirty thousand dollars in advance ticket sales and less
C :
fewer than thirty thousand dollars in advance ticket sales and fewer
D :
less than thirty thousand dollars in advance ticket sales and as few
Answer: A When it comes to money, you use less if you are referring to the total amount. This would get you down to choices (A) and (D). Acceptances, however, can be counted, so in the second half of the underlined portion of the underlined sentence, you would use fewer (D) uses as few incorrectly. The best answer is (A).
Q. No. 23:
New green industries are no fewer effected by the credit crunch than any other business.
Answer: C Firstly, ‘effected’ should be ‘affected’ because a verb should be used. Secondly, since ‘effect’ cannot be counted so ‘less’ should be used instead of ‘fewer’.