Complete the 12 sentences below. Choose the best answer for each one.
1A consultant reviewed the merger documents on Monday; by Friday, ............... consultant had identified three undisclosed liabilities.
Wrong!
Use "the" because the consultant has already been introduced, so the reference is given information.
2The revised protocol has been circulated to the ethics committee, but the chair has sent ............... only to the oncology unit.
Wrong!
Use "it" because the revised protocol is already the current topic and the sentence moves the new information to the end.
3The grant had been under review for months; yesterday it was finally ...............
Wrong!
Use "approved by the trustees" because the grant is given and the new actor is naturally placed after the verb in a passive construction.
4The defence has already interviewed the receptionist; ............... is a second witness waiting outside.
Wrong!
Use "There" because an existential clause introduces a new participant into the discourse.
5Everyone had searched the archive for months, but it was ............... that disclosed the contradiction.
Wrong!
Use "the footnotes" because the clause “that disclosed the contradiction” makes the focused element the source of the discovery, not the place where it was found.
6The committee had agreed on the budget and timetable; what remained unclear was ...............
Wrong!
Use "who would lead the inquiry" because the unresolved new information is a person, not the event itself.
7The preliminary report was persuasive, so the panel commissioned another ...............
Wrong!
Use "one" because it avoids repeating the already given noun phrase while still referring to another report of the same kind.
8The museum will renovate the old wing while the new gallery remains open; ............... will close to visitors in September.
Wrong!
Use "The old wing" because the previous sentence introduces several possible referents, and the full noun phrase clarifies which one is now the topic.
9The first cost-cutting idea was approved immediately; by contrast, ............... after a five-minute discussion.
Wrong!
Use "That proposal, the board rejected" because fronting the already mentioned proposal sets it up as given and makes the board’s response the comment.
10Contrary to the rumour that the entire article had been rewritten, the editor ...............
Wrong!
Use "amended only the abstract" because the correction says that no other section was changed.
11We knew about the delay before lunch; the investigation now asks whether ...............
Wrong!
Use "the outage caused the delay" because the delay is already under discussion, and the new explanation is the outage.
12We already know which memo left headquarters; what we still need to establish is that it was ............... that the memo was leaked.
Wrong!
Use "to the regional office" because the new information is the destination of the leak, not the identity of the leaked document.
Exercise complete
0 out of 12
correct answers
Answers
- A consultant reviewed the merger documents on Monday; by Friday, the consultant had identified three undisclosed liabilities.
- The revised protocol has been circulated to the ethics committee, but the chair has sent it only to the oncology unit.
- The grant had been under review for months; yesterday it was finally approved by the trustees.
- The defence has already interviewed the receptionist; There is a second witness waiting outside.
- Everyone had searched the archive for months, but it was the footnotes that disclosed the contradiction.
- The committee had agreed on the budget and timetable; what remained unclear was who would lead the inquiry.
- The preliminary report was persuasive, so the panel commissioned another one.
- The museum will renovate the old wing while the new gallery remains open; The old wing will close to visitors in September.
- The first cost-cutting idea was approved immediately; by contrast, That proposal, the board rejected after a five-minute discussion.
- Contrary to the rumour that the entire article had been rewritten, the editor amended only the abstract.
- We knew about the delay before lunch; the investigation now asks whether the outage caused the delay.
- We already know which memo left headquarters; what we still need to establish is that it was to the regional office that the memo was leaked.