Sentence Improvement — Set 10

Correct Answer: B. She is good at Mathematics.

'She is good at Mathematics.' is the correct revision. The adjective 'good' takes the preposition 'at' when indicating skill or proficiency in a subject. 'Good in' is a common error in Indian English. 'Good for', 'good of', and 'good about' are all incorrect prepositional combinations when describing academic ability.

Correct Answer: B. He insisted on going to the meeting.

'He insisted on going to the meeting.' is the standard correct form. 'Insist' requires the preposition 'on' followed by a gerund (verb+ing). 'Insisted to go' incorrectly uses an infinitive after 'insist'. 'Insisted in' and 'insisted for' use wrong prepositions. 'Insisted upon' is acceptable but 'on' is more common.

Correct Answer: C. The news is very disappointing.

'The news is very disappointing.' is the correct revision. 'News' is an uncountable noun that always takes a singular verb ('is/was') even though it ends in 's'. 'Are', 'were', and 'have been' use plural agreement which is grammatically incorrect for the singular uncountable noun 'news'.

Correct Answer: A. One should respect one's elders.

'One should respect one's elders.' is the most formally consistent version. When the indefinite pronoun 'one' is the subject, 'one's' should be the possessive for strict formal consistency. Using 'their' creates a number inconsistency in formal grammar. 'His or her' is acceptable but verbose compared to 'one's'.

Correct Answer: B. He could not help laughing at the joke.

'He could not help laughing at the joke.' is the best revision. The idiom 'cannot help' is followed by a gerund (verb+ing). 'Could not help but to laugh' incorrectly uses an infinitive after 'help'. Among the options, 'could not help laughing' is the cleanest and most standard grammatical form.

Correct Answer: A. The committee has decided to postpone the meeting.

'The committee has decided to postpone the meeting.' is correct in formal Indian and British English, treating 'committee' as a singular collective noun. 'Has decided' is the correct present perfect form. Options C and D are incomplete sentences lacking proper main verbs, making them grammatically incorrect.

Correct Answer: A. Between you and me, this plan will fail.

'Between you and me, this plan will fail.' is the correct form. After the preposition 'between', the objective case 'me' must be used, not the subjective case 'I'. 'Between you and I' is a hypercorrection — a common mistake where speakers incorrectly use the subject case after prepositions.

Correct Answer: A. Every day I go for a morning walk.

'Every day I go for a morning walk.' is correct. 'Everyday' (one word) is an adjective meaning ordinary or routine (as in 'everyday life'). 'Every day' (two words) is an adverbial phrase meaning 'each day'. When indicating daily frequency, the two-word form 'every day' is correct.

Correct Answer: A. Fewer students attended the lecture today.

'Fewer students attended the lecture today.' is correct. 'Fewer' is used with countable nouns like 'students', while 'less' is used with uncountable quantities like 'water' or 'time'. Since 'students' is a countable noun, 'fewer' is required. The fewer/less distinction is a fundamental grammar rule tested in all competitive exams.

Correct Answer: B. She is taller than her sister.

'She is taller than her sister.' is the correct form. 'More taller' is a double comparative error — you cannot use 'more' with a comparative adjective that already uses the '-er' suffix. For adjectives like 'tall', simply use '-er' for comparison. 'Most tallest' is a double superlative error with the same problem.