Choose the best completion for each sentence.
1No sooner ............... the revised protocol than the auditors requested a further amendment.
Wrong!
After the fronted negative expression "No sooner", subject–auxiliary inversion requires "had we circulated".
2............... the data may be, their convergence across three independent sources warrants further investigation.
Wrong!
The concessive construction "However incomplete" requires however before an adjective followed by subject–verb order.
3Although she had been abroad throughout the negotiations, the mediator spoke as if she ............... every confidential exchange herself.
Wrong!
Because the supposed witnessing preceded the speaking and is contradicted by her absence, "had witnessed" expresses the appropriate counterfactual past.
4............... before tomorrow's meeting, the board would postpone ratification rather than proceed without unanimous backing.
Wrong!
"Should any party withdraw its consent" is an inverted hypothetical condition referring to a possible future withdrawal before tomorrow's meeting.
5With the omission now undisputed, the chair regrets ............... the warning was not included, although she disputes whether this affected the outcome.
Wrong!
Because the omission is presented as an established fact, the factive verb regrets takes the content clause introduced by "that".
6Before the review began, the archivist isolated the disputed file lest it ............... for an ordinary case file.
Wrong!
After preventive "lest", formal English permits the mandative passive subjunctive "be mistaken".
7The analyst described the assumption as one ............... the entire forecast would collapse.
Wrong!
The preposition must precede the relative pronoun in "without which", referring back to the assumption.
8At the briefing, the director issued two equally binding instructions: that the figures be released immediately ............... the accompanying caveat be displayed with equal prominence.
Wrong!
The phrase "two equally binding instructions" requires coordinated content clauses, so the second instruction begins with "and that".
9Had the witnesses compared notes before giving evidence, their accounts ............... far less independent now than they actually do.
Wrong!
The past condition has a present result signalled by "now", so the mixed conditional requires "would appear".
10............... an explanation the contractor may offer, the contemporaneous logs show that the deadline had already been missed.
Wrong!
The concessive pattern however + adjective + a/an + noun requires "However compelling".
11The paper's argument is persuasive only ............... its central distinction is maintained throughout the analysis.
Wrong!
"insofar as" introduces the precise limitation under which the argument remains persuasive.
12Only after ............... did the investigators realize that the timestamps had been altered.
Wrong!
Only the main clause is inverted after the fronted adjunct; the subordinate clause retains normal order in "the server logs had been restored".
Answers
- No sooner had we circulated the revised protocol than the auditors requested a further amendment.
- However incomplete the data may be, their convergence across three independent sources warrants further investigation.
- Although she had been abroad throughout the negotiations, the mediator spoke as if she had witnessed every confidential exchange herself.
- Should any party withdraw its consent before tomorrow’s meeting, the board would postpone ratification rather than proceed without unanimous backing.
- With the omission now undisputed, the chair regrets that the warning was not included, although she disputes whether this affected the outcome.
- Before the review began, the archivist isolated the disputed file lest it be mistaken for an ordinary case file.
- The analyst described the assumption as one without which the entire forecast would collapse.
- At the briefing, the director issued two equally binding instructions: that the figures be released immediately and that the accompanying caveat be displayed with equal prominence.
- Had the witnesses compared notes before giving evidence, their accounts would appear far less independent now than they actually do.
- However compelling an explanation the contractor may offer, the contemporaneous logs show that the deadline had already been missed.
- The paper’s argument is persuasive only insofar as its central distinction is maintained throughout the analysis.
- Only after the server logs had been restored did the investigators realize that the timestamps had been altered.