Choose the single completion that best preserves the intended scope, reference, or interpretation of the ellipsis.
1The lecturer assigned exactly two articles to every student, though not necessarily ...............
Wrong!
"the same two" allows the pair of articles to vary from student to student; exactly two were nevertheless assigned to each student.
2The review has three possible outcomes—approval, rejection, or deferral—and it is not the case that every proposal was rejected; all that follows is that ...............
Wrong!
Negating a universal entails only that at least one exception exists, so "at least one proposal was not rejected" is warranted; that proposal may have been deferred rather than approved.
3Leah says she will resign, and Marta does too, although Marta privately intends to remain; thus Marta ...............
Wrong!
In this coordination, the ellipsis after Marta repeats the higher verb phrase, so "says she will resign" does not assert that she genuinely intends to resign.
4Jon filed his report, and Sam did too; the archive confirms that each man filed only the document bearing his own name, so Sam filed ...............
Wrong!
The archive establishes the sloppy, covarying interpretation of the ellipsis: Sam, like Jon, filed his own document, so "his own report" is correct.
5The curator displayed more of her own sketches than the assistant did of ..............., and the catalogue confirms that neither displayed the other's work.
Wrong!
The final clause rules out cross-reference between their work, so the elided comparison must concern the assistant's "his own" sketches.
6Eva was required to attend, but attendance was expressly optional for Leo; unlike Eva, Leo ...............
Wrong!
Optional attendance means the negation takes scope over the requirement: Leo "was not required to attend" rather than being obliged to stay away.
7Leah said she would resign but deliberately left the date unspecified: she did not say when ...............
Wrong!
The missing information is the date of the proposed resignation, so the interrogative clause expands to "she would resign" after "when".
8Under its exceptionless policy, the committee publishes figures if and only if they have been independently verified; these figures were not published, so they ...............
Wrong!
Under the stated biconditional policy, non-publication is incompatible with prior verification, making "cannot have been independently verified" the precise conclusion.
9The board rejected the plan ............... it was costly but because it breached the statute; the minutes state that cost played no part.
Wrong!
Because cost played no part, "not because" excludes it as a reason; adding a meaning equivalent to ‘not merely’ would retain cost as one reason among others.
10Elena donated her fee, and every other consultant did likewise with ...............; the accounts show that each donated only the fee they personally received.
Wrong!
The distributive antecedent makes "theirs" covary with each consultant, whereas a reference to Elena's fee would incorrectly identify a single shared object.
11Writing on Friday about Monday's call, Ava noted that she had told Ben the draft would be ready ..............., on Tuesday.
Wrong!
The report is being written on Friday, so "the following day" relates Tuesday to the reported Monday call; "tomorrow" would ordinarily be anchored to Friday.
12Had the chair disclosed her conflict, Marcus would have ............... too; the rules required each officer to reveal only their own interests.
Wrong!
The rule makes the object of disclosure covary with the officer, so for Marcus the sloppy interpretation is "disclosed his own conflict".
Exercise complete
0 out of 12
correct answers
Answers
- The lecturer assigned exactly two articles to every student, though not necessarily the same two .
- The review has three possible outcomes—approval, rejection, or deferral—and it is not the case that every proposal was rejected; all that follows is that at least one proposal was not rejected .
- Leah says she will resign, and Marta does too, although Marta privately intends to remain; thus Marta says she will resign .
- Jon filed his report, and Sam did too; the archive confirms that each man filed only the document bearing his own name, so Sam filed his own report .
- The curator displayed more of her own sketches than the assistant did of his own, and the catalogue confirms that neither displayed the other’s work.
- Eva was required to attend, but attendance was expressly optional for Leo; unlike Eva, Leo was not required to attend .
- Leah said she would resign but deliberately left the date unspecified: she did not say when she would resign .
- Under its exceptionless policy, the committee publishes figures if and only if they have been independently verified; these figures were not published, so they cannot have been independently verified .
- The board rejected the plan not because it was costly but because it breached the statute; the minutes state that cost played no part.
- Elena donated her fee, and every other consultant did likewise with theirs ; the accounts show that each donated only the fee they personally received.
- Writing on Friday about Monday’s call, Ava noted that she had told Ben the draft would be ready the following day, on Tuesday.
- Had the chair disclosed her conflict, Marcus would have disclosed his own conflict too; the rules required each officer to reveal only their own interests.