Practice Problems

Question 1

I want chocolate ice cream (rather than/instead of) vanilla.

I walked to work (instead of/rather than) drove.

Answer 1

1. TRICK! Can use both!
2. Rather than

Rather than can be used to compare nouns and verbs. Instead of can only be used to compare nouns.

Question 2

The number of undergraduate degrees (more than/greater than) doubled.

Answer 2

More than - this is tricky, even though we are referring to a noun that is a number (number of degrees) we use more instead of greater in this place.

*Trick, if it can be replaced by larger than/higher than use greater than not more than.

Question 3

(Unlike/Compared to) adults, children breath twice as much air.

(Unlike/Compared to) adults, children don’t like sushi.

Answer 3

Compared to
Unlike
Unlike should be used the context of a yes or no, complete opposites.

Question 4

Right or wrong?

The game was postponed due to the rain.

Answer 4

WRONG! Due to cannot modify a verb. Here it is trying to modify was postponed. Should modify a noun.

Question 5

Right or Wrong?

Her success was due to her hard work.

Answer 5

RIGHT! Due to modifies success (noun)

Question 6

Right or wrong?

The train could eventually have the capability of going 100mph.

Answer 6

WRONG!

using “capability of” and “could/can” is redundant. There is no need to use both.

Question 7

Right or Wrong?

He will run and he will jump.
He will run and jump.

Answer 7

Both are right. On the second you don’t need to repeat will because it is implied.

Question 8

Right or Wrong?
A new plane is being tested that can hold 2000 people.

A new plane that can hold 2000 people is being tested.

Answer 8

Both are correct. That can jump across the verb.

Question 9

They are priced to sell, and they (do/are).

Answer 9

Do
You have to be able to place the helping verb after the do/are and have it still make sense (in the same tense)

You would never say “they are sell”
You would say “they do sell”

Question 10

The fossil has been dated (at/to be/as being) 500 years old.

Answer 10

At

Question 11

The iron is estimated (at/to be) 1500 degrees Celsius.

The fossil is estimated (at/to be) 1000 years old.

Answer 11

1. at - at is a prepositional phrase and needs to be followed by a noun
2. To be - to be is generally followed by a phrase

Question 12

Right or wrong?

Minority graduates are four times as likely as other graduates to graduate.

Minority graduates are four times more likely than other graduates to graduate.

Minority graduates are four times more likely as other graduates to graduate.

Answer 12

1 and 2 are right

the proper idioms are as likely as and more likely than

Question 13

Right or wrong?

There has been 2 accidents.

Answer 13

WRONG!

The subject here is accidents (plural). The sentence should be “there have been 2 accidents”

Question 14

I lost (because/because of) the noise.

Answer 14

Because of. When because is followed by just a noun or a list of nouns you need the “of” after “because.”

However, if because is followed by a clause, the “of” is not necessary. Ex: I lost because he won.

Question 15

Right or wrong?
I run as fast as Bill
I run as fast as Bill does

Answer 15

Both are okay!

Using “as__as” you do not have to repeat the verb if the meaning is unambiguous.

Question 16

1) I think as Bill does.

2) I think as Bill.

Answer 16

1) Is correct
2) Is wrong. A sentence with “as” should follow the structure s + v + as + s + v. So with “as,” the verb should always be repeated.

Question 17

Right or wrong?

I like Mary more than Joe.

Answer 17

Wrong - the meaning here is ambiguous. It is not clear whether the author means “I like Mary more than I like Joe” or “I like Mary more the Joe likes Mary.”

Question 18

Right or wrong?
I eat more apples than you do.
I eat more apples than apples you do.

Answer 18

1) Right - no need to repeat the object.
2) Wrong - the object “apples” is repeated creating a grammatically incorrect sentence.

Guideline –do not repeat the object

Question 19

Right or wrong?

Wild animals have less total fat than that of livestock.

Answer 19

Wrong - the noun “fat” which “that of” refers to is repeated unnecessarily. Fat comes after the verb and thus does not need to be repeated.

Question 20

Right or wrong?

Unlike Bill’s truck, Joe has a truck that is red.

Answer 20

Wrong - not comparing trucks to trucks. Sentence should read “Unlike Bill’s truck, Joe’s truck is red.”

Question 21

Right or wrong?

Bill is as likely to exceed the speed limit as Joe.

Bill is equally likely that he will exceed the speed limit as Joe.

Answer 21

1) Correct

2) Incorrect - the right idiom is “likely to”

Question 22

Right or wrong?

This year’s prices are higher than last year’s prices

Prices are higher this year than last year’s

Prices are higher this year than last year

Answer 22

It depends whether the time frame for the X part comes before or after the word HIGHER:

1) OK (compares prices to prices)
2) WRONG - compares this year to last year’s
3) OK (compares time frames – this year to last year)

Question 23

Right or wrong?
The education systems never evolved in the US as in Europe.
The education systems never evolved in the US as they did in Europe.

Answer 23

“as” should follow the structure s + v + as + s + v

1) WRONG
2) RIGHT

Question 24

Right or wrong?

The sales were higher this year than any year.

Answer 24

WRONG!
You need to include the word “other” to clarify that the sales this year are not higher than this year.

Correct: The sales were higher this year than any other year.

Question 25

By 1919, women (received/had received) the right to vote in the United States.

Answer 25

had received

With the format “by X” we want to use the past perfect (past past). This is because it is describing something that occured before 1917 which is already in the past.

Question 26

Right or wrong?

She had confidence in the economy’s ability to bounce back after the recession.
or
She had confidence that the economy would bounce back after the recession.

Answer 26

S + V + that + S + V

is used for more complex structures.

Question 27

Supplicants were either asking the goddess Bona Dea’s aid (to heal/in healing) physical and mental ills or thanking her for such help.

Answer 27

aid in healing

The same is true if we replace “aid” with “help”: “help in healing” would apparently be correct on the GMAT, but “help to heal” would not.

Question 28

Right or wrong?
Over 75 percent of the energy produced in France derives from nuclear power, whereas just over 33 percent of the energy comes from nuclear power in Germany.

Answer 28

Wrong: the sentence says “33% of the energy” what energy? France’s energy? Not clear.

Question 29

Right or wrong?

France’s wine is better than it is in the US.

Answer 29

Wrong!

It and them modifies the entire noun clause, “France’s wine”, which makes no sense. You would want to say “France’s wine is better than that of the US.”

Question 30

Right or wrong?

The president seems more likely to inflame debates over the issue rather than settle them.

Answer 30

Wrong!
The parallel marker is “more likely X than Y.” X and Y should be parallel here. The usage of rather than is incorrect. The correct sentence should read:

The president seems more likely to inflame debates over the issue THAN to settle them.

Question 31

By 1920, Amsterdam had built a new town hall so large that only the Escorial in Spain, (was rivaling its/could rival it for) scale or magnificence.

Answer 31

By 1920, Amsterdam had built a new town hall so large that only the Escorial in Spain, could rival it for scale or magnificence.

“was rivaling its” is inferring that the town hall possesses its scale and magnificence.

Question 32

Right or wrong?
Bill’s bank account is larger than Joe’s
Bill has a larger account than Joe
Bill has a larger account than account of Joe

Answer 32

Bill’s bank account is larger than Joe’s – ok
Bill has a larger account than Joe (has) – ok
Bill has a larger account than account of Joe – NO repeating the object is not a correct comparison

Question 33

The principles of the tax plan could have even greater significance for the economy than (do/have) the particulars of the plan.

Answer 33

do

We would only use “have” in this situation if we needed to indicate the present perfect. In this case, we are using “have” and a present verb. Thus, to create parallelism we need to use “do” in the second part of the comparison.

Question 34

Perfection in evidence is not and never has been required, (either in science or in our courts/neither in science nor in our courts).

Answer 34

either or

We want to avoid a double negative. Because perfection is NOT required either in science or in courts, we dont need the neither.

Question 35

Right or wrong?
The one who most risks developing stress-related heart disease is not the dynamic executive, male or female, nor the single mother, but the married woman.

Answer 35

the idiom for is not..or

not…nor is INCORRECT

Question 36

Right or wrong?
Restorers say that if allowed to remove and replace the discolored layer of varnish, the colors Leonardo da Vinci painted will once again shine through.

Answer 36

Wrong, “if allowed” because it does not have a subject, needs to be followed by what it is modifying, which in this sentence is “colors”. This does not make logical sense.

“Restorers say that if THEY ARE allowed to remove and replace the discolored layer of varnish, the colors Leonardo da Vinci painted will once again shine through.”

Question 37

Right or wrong?
Prospecting for gold was easy since erosion, glacier movement, and riverbeds thrust by volcanic activity put gold within reach.

Answer 37

Right!

Thrust here is used like an -ed modifier but it is tricky to pinpoint because it is irregular.