Atc practist test english 7 ppt

4. He decided to lay/lie down because he felt ill. 5. The papers have been laying/lying in the driveway for days now. 6. The interest rates have risen/raised considerably in the last week. 7. She sat/set the keys on the table. 8. I have lain/laid here long enough; it’s time to get up. Answers 1. He wished he were closer to his destination so he could rest. 2. If I were taller, I might be better at basketball. 3. She was hoping to get a better offer. 4. He decided to lie down because he felt ill. 5. The papers have been lying in the driveway for days now. 6. The interest rates have risen considerably in the last week. 7. She set the keys on the table. 8. I have lain here long enough; it’s time to get up. Now that you have reviewed verb conjugation and tense formation, it is time to talk about two key issues with verb usage: consistent tense and subject-verb agreement. Consistent Verb Tense One of the quickest ways to confuse readers, especially if you are telling a story or describing an event, is to shift verb tenses. To help readers be clear about when actions occur, make sure verbs are consistent in tense. If you begin telling the story in the present tense, for example, stay in the present tense; do not mix tenses as you write. Otherwise, you will leave your readers wondering whether actions are taking place in the present or took place in the past. Incorrect: He g ot on the bus and realizes he has forgotten his briefcase. Correct: He g ot on the bus and realized he had forgotten his briefcase. Incorrect: When we w ork together, we got better results. Correct: When we w ork together, we get better results. – ACT ENGLISH TEST PRACTICE– 69 Subject-Verb Agreement In English grammar, agreement means that sentence elements are balanced. Verbs, for example, should agree with their subjects: if the subject is singular, the verb should be singular; if the subject is plural, the verb should be plural. Incorrect: Erik do really good work. (singular subject, plural verb) Correct: Erik does really good work. (singular subject, singular verb) Incorrect: They gets really upset when telemarketers calls at dinnertime. (plural subjects, singular verbs) Correct: They get really upset when telemarketers call at dinnertime. (plural subjects, plural verbs) Of course, to make sure subjects and verbs agree, you need to be clear about who or what is the subject of the sentence. For example, what is the subject in the following sentence, and which is the correct verb? Only one of the projects [was/were] completed on time. In this sentence, the subject is one, not projects. Though it seems as though projects are performing the action of being completed, projects cannot be the subject because it is part of a prepositional phrase (of the projects), and subjects are never found in prepositional phrases. Thus, the verb must be singular (was, not were) to agree with one. In addition, it is only one of the projects—not all—that was completed on time, so again, the verb must be singular. Here are some other important guidelines for subject-verb agreement: ■ If a compound, singular subject is connected by and, the verb must be plural. Both D r. Holt and Dr. Weinberg agree that this is an important discovery. ■ If a compound, singular subject is connected by or or nor, the verb must be singular. Neither D r. Holt nor Dr. Weinberg feels that this is an important discovery. ■ If one plural and one singular subject are connected by or or nor, the verb agrees with the closest subject. Neither Dr. Holt nor the r esearchers feel that this is an important discovery. Neither the researchers nor D r. Holt feels that this is an important discovery. ■ In an inverted sentence, the subject comes after the verb, so the first step is to clearly identify the sub- ject. (Sentences that begin with there is and there are, for example, as well as questions, are inverted sen- tences.) Once you correctly identify the subject, then you can make sure your verb agrees. The correct subjects and verbs are underlined below. – ACT ENGLISH TEST PRACTICE– 70 Incorrect: There’s numerous examples of this phenomenon. Correct: There ar e numerous examples of this phenomenon. Incorrect: Here is the files you requested. Correct: Here ar e the fi les you requested. Incorrect: What is the long-term effects of this decision? Correct: What ar e the long-term e ffects of this decision? Gerunds and Infinitives Gerunds and infinitives have given many students of English a grammar headache, but they are not so dif- ficult to master. Gerunds, as we noted earlier, look like verbs because they end in -ing, but they actually func- tion as nouns in sentences: Tracy loves camping . Here, the “action”Tracy performs is loves. The thing (noun) she enjoys is camping. In the following sen- tence, however, camping is the action Tracy performs, so it is functioning as a verb, not as a gerund: Tracy is camping in the Pine Barrens next week. Words ending in -ing can also function as adjectives: Some of our camping gear needs to be replaced before our trip. Here’s another example of how the same word can have three different functions: Ve r b : He is s creaming loudly. Gerund (noun): That s creaming is driving me crazy! Adjective: The s creaming boy finally stopped. What this means is that you cannot count on word endings to determine a word’s part of speech. Lots of things that look like verbs may not be—it’s how they function in the sentence that counts. Infinitives are the base (unconjugated) form of the verb preceded by to: to go, to discover, to challenge. They are often part of a verb chain, but they are not the main verb (main action) of a sentence: Alfred likes t o run early in the morning. In this example, likes is the main verb; what Alfred likes (the action he likes to take) is to run early in the morning. – ACT ENGLISH TEST PRACTICE– 71 WHEN TO USE INFINITIVES AND GERUNDS In many situations, you may be uncertain whether to use an infinitive or a gerund. Which statement is cor- rect: I like to swim or I like swimming? In this case, both are correct; like, hate, and other verbs that express preference can be followed by either an infinitive or gerund. But other verbs can only be followed by one or the other. Here are a few helpful guidelines: ■ Always use a gerund after a preposition. He built the robot by r ecycling old appliances. Renaldo was excited after s eeing his test results. ■ Always use a gerund after the following verbs: admit dislike practice appreciate enjoy put off avoid escape quit can’t help finish recall consider imagine resist delay keep risk deny miss suggest discuss postpone tolerate I can’t help f eeling that I should have done more. Don’t risk losing your money by investing in that company. Ralph quit smo king over a year ago. The witness recalled hear ing the defendant discuss the crime. ■ In general, use an infinitive after these verbs: agree decide need refuse ask expect offer venture beg fail plan want bother hope pretend wish claim manage promise I promise t o return your car by noon. Abby decided t o leave before the speech had ended. The offer failed t o meet my expectations. ■ When a noun or pronoun immediately follows these verbs, use an infinitive: advise allow ask cause command convince encourage expect force need order persuade remind require tell urge want warn – ACT ENGLISH TEST PRACTICE– 72 Ian asked his mother to play the video again. I need you t o help me right now. Wilson reminded his sister t o water the plants while he was gone. Practice 10 1. When I was cleaning the chimney, I find that it needs serious repairs. a. NO CHANGE b. When I am cleaning the chimney, I find that it needed serious repairs. c. When I was cleaning the chimney, I found that it needed serious repairs. d. When I cleaned the chimney, I found that it needs seriously to be repaired. 2. After we went to the movies, we come home to find that someone has broken into our house. f. After we go to the movies, we come home to find that someone is breaking into our house. g. After we went to the movies, we come home to find that someone is breaking into our house. h. After we went to the movies, we came home to find that someone has broken into our house. j. After we went to the movies, we came home to find that someone had broken into our house. 3. Neither of us feel that this is an effective solution. a. NO CHANGE b. Neither of us feels that this is an effective solution. c. Neither of us felt that this is an effective solution. d. Neither of us are feeling that this is an effective solution. 4. We both agree that he should attend this program. f. NO CHANGE g. We both agrees that he should attend this program. h. We both agree that he should attended this program. j. We both agreeing that he should attend this program. 5. Only one of the students have finished the book. a. NO CHANGE b. Only one of the students did finished the book. c. Only one of the students have finish the book. d. Only one of the students has finished the book. – ACT ENGLISH TEST PRACTICE– 73 6. The members of the committee says we should go ahead as planned. f. NO CHANGE g. The members of the committee say we should go ahead as planned. h. The members of the committee have say we should go ahead as planned. j. The members of the committee say we should have go ahead as planned. 7. What are the cost of these packages? a. NO CHANGE b. What cost is of these packages? c. What is the cost of these packages? d. What are these packages costing? 8. I will not tolerate lying in this house. f. NO CHANGE g. I will not tolerate to lie in this house. h. I will not to tolerate lying in this house. j. I will not tolerating lying in this house. 9. Please allow me help you. a. NO CHANGE b. Please allow me helping you. c. Please allow me to helping you. d. Please allow me to help you. 10. I always avoid saying things that I might regret. f. NO CHANGE g. I always avoid to say things that I might regret. h. I always avoid saying things that I might to regret. j. I always avoid having said things that I might regret. Answers 1. c. 2. j. 3. b. 4. f. 5. d. 6. g. 7. c. 8. f. 9. d. 10. f. – ACT ENGLISH TEST PRACTICE– 74 . things that I might regret. Answers 1. c. 2. j. 3. b. 4. f. 5. d. 6. g. 7. c. 8. f. 9. d. 10. f. – ACT ENGLISH TEST PRACTICE– 74 . make sure your verb agrees. The correct subjects and verbs are underlined below. – ACT ENGLISH TEST PRACTICE– 70 Incorrect: There’s numerous examples of this phenomenon. Correct: There ar e numerous. what Alfred likes (the action he likes to take) is to run early in the morning. – ACT ENGLISH TEST PRACTICE– 71 WHEN TO USE INFINITIVES AND GERUNDS In many situations, you may be uncertain whether