EASY
1. The choir sang passionately,
as they moved through elaborate and challenging four-part harmonies.
a) as they moved through elaborate and challenging
four-part harmonies.
b) as they were moving through elaborate and challenging four-part
harmonies.
c) moving themselves through elaborate and challenging four-part
harmonies.
d) as it moved through elaborate and challenging four-part harmonies.
e) moving elaborately through challenging four-part harmonies.
Explanation: This question tests pronoun agreement. The sentence in (A) contains incorrect agreement because ‘The choir’ is singular. Though it is made up of many members, it is a group and functions as a singular subject. Thus, the pronoun referring to ‘the choir’ should also be singular. ‘They’ is plural. (B) uses ‘they’ and (C) uses ‘themselves.’ Thus neither is correct. (E) changes the meaning of the sentence, by rewording it such that the movement is elaborate, not the harmonies. Only (D) uses the pronoun ‘it’ to agree with the singular subject ‘the choir.’
HARD
2. Marston was an early
seventeenth century dramatist and it is likely that him and Shakespeare
borrowed ideas from one another.
a) it is likely that him and Shakespeare
borrowed ideas from one another.
b) it is likely that they borrowed ideas from one another.
c) it is likely that him and Shakespeare borrowed ideas from each
other.
d) it is likely that himself and Shakespeare borrowed ideas from
one another.
e) it is likely that he and Shakespeare borrowed ideas from one
another.
Explanation: This question tests pronoun agreement. The pronoun ‘him’ in the original sentence replaces ‘Marston.’ It is in the wrong case. Instead of the objective case, the pronoun should be in the subjective case, since Marston is the subject of the sentence. Therefore (E), which uses the subjective pronoun ‘he,’ is correct. (B) is wrong because, though ‘they’ is subjective, it eliminates any meaning of Shakespeare from the sentence, making the pronoun ambiguous.
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a. Introduction 
