Choose the best completion for each sentence.
1If she had accepted the directorship last year, she ............... the merger negotiations at this very moment.
Wrong!
The past condition has a present consequence, so the mixed conditional requires "would be leading".
2Although the total itself was undisputed, what remained unresolved was ............... the underlying figures had been independently verified.
Wrong!
The unresolved question concerns two possibilities, so the interrogative complement "whether" is required.
3The chair's written directive required that every participant ............... any potential conflict of interest before voting.
Wrong!
After the mandative verb "required that", the mandative subjunctive uses the base form "declare".
4No sooner ............... than the emergency lighting failed as well.
Wrong!
Sentence-initial "No sooner" triggers subject–auxiliary inversion, giving "had the doors opened".
5The minister attributed the delay to ............... she described as an unavoidable conflict between the two regulations.
Wrong!
The preposition "to" is followed by the fused relative clause beginning with "what".
6Not until the confidential appendix was released ............... why the recommendation had changed.
Wrong!
A clause introduced by sentence-initial "Not until" requires inversion, so "did we understand" is correct.
7So compelling ............... that the panel requested a second hearing.
Wrong!
Fronting "So compelling" triggers inversion, producing "was her account" before the result clause.
8The spokeswoman spoke as though she ............... the documents herself, although the records showed that she had not.
Wrong!
The drafting would have preceded the past act of speaking, so "had drafted" supplies the required past perfect.
9Far from ............... the concerns raised during consultation, the revised plan intensified them.
Wrong!
The preposition in "Far from" requires a gerund, and "having addressed" marks the supposedly completed prior action.
10However compelling the preliminary findings ..............., they cannot establish causation unless rival explanations have been excluded.
Wrong!
In this concessive structure, the subject precedes the modal, so "may appear" completes the clause.
11Having been assured by external auditors that the figures were accurate, ...............
Wrong!
The understood subject of "Having been assured" must be the board, as in "the board approved the report".
12Given that the security log records every entry and shows none between midnight and dawn, the intruder ............... through the main gate during that period.
Wrong!
A complete log showing no entry makes that route incompatible with the evidence, so "cannot have entered" expresses the warranted deduction.
Exercise complete
0 out of 12
correct answers
Answers
- If she had accepted the directorship last year, she would be leading the merger negotiations at this very moment.
- Although the total itself was undisputed, what remained unresolved was whether the underlying figures had been independently verified.
- The chair’s written directive required that every participant declare any potential conflict of interest before voting.
- No sooner had the doors opened than the emergency lighting failed as well.
- The minister attributed the delay to what she described as an unavoidable conflict between the two regulations.
- Not until the confidential appendix was released did we understand why the recommendation had changed.
- So compelling was her account that the panel requested a second hearing.
- The spokeswoman spoke as though she had drafted the documents herself, although the records showed that she had not.
- Far from having addressed the concerns raised during consultation, the revised plan intensified them.
- However compelling the preliminary findings may appear, they cannot establish causation unless rival explanations have been excluded.
- Having been assured by external auditors that the figures were accurate, the board approved the report .
- Given that the security log records every entry and shows none between midnight and dawn, the intruder cannot have entered through the main gate during that period.