GED Reasoning Through Language Arts – Language and Grammar — Questions and Answers
Question 1: Which of the following sentences uses correct subject-verb agreement?
- The team of engineers are working on the bridge.
- Each of the students have submitted their essays.
- Neither of the options is acceptable. (Correct answer)
- The group of volunteers were assigned their tasks.
Correct answer: Neither of the options is acceptable.
With 'neither…of,' the verb must agree with the subject 'neither,' which is singular — so 'is' is correct. 'The team' and 'the group' are collective nouns that can be tricky, but 'neither' is always singular. In choices A, B, and D, the verbs 'are,' 'have,' and 'were' incorrectly treat singular subjects as plural.
Question 2: Choose the sentence that uses a comma correctly.
- Maria wanted to go to the store but, she forgot her wallet.
- Although it was raining, the game continued as scheduled. (Correct answer)
- He bought milk, bread and, eggs at the store.
- The dog barked, and, ran across the yard.
Correct answer: Although it was raining, the game continued as scheduled.
When a subordinate clause introduced by a word like 'although' comes before the main clause, it is followed by a comma. Answer A incorrectly places a comma before 'she' after the conjunction 'but.' Answer C places a comma before 'and' in a simple list instead of before the final item. Answer D uses unnecessary commas around 'and.'
Question 3: Which sentence contains a dangling modifier?
- Running late, Maria missed the bus.
- The professor explained the theory clearly.
- Having finished the exam, the test booklets were collected by the proctor. (Correct answer)
- After eating dinner, we went for a walk.
Correct answer: Having finished the exam, the test booklets were collected by the proctor.
In answer C, the phrase 'Having finished the exam' implies a person finished the exam, but the subject of the main clause is 'the test booklets' — booklets cannot finish an exam. The modifier is left dangling with no logical subject. The other sentences correctly match the modifying phrase to the right subject.
Question 4: Which word correctly completes the following sentence? 'The committee made _____ decision after hours of debate.'
- it's
- its (Correct answer)
- its'
- its's
Correct answer: its
'Its' (no apostrophe) is the possessive form of 'it,' meaning the decision belonging to the committee. 'It's' is a contraction meaning 'it is' or 'it has.' 'Its'' and 'its's' are not standard English words. Possessive pronouns (his, her, its, their) never use apostrophes.
Question 5: Which of the following is a run-on sentence?
- She studied hard, and she passed the exam.
- Because he was tired, he went to bed early.
- The storm was severe it knocked out the power for three days. (Correct answer)
- Although the meeting ran long, everyone stayed until the end.
Correct answer: The storm was severe it knocked out the power for three days.
Answer C fuses two independent clauses — 'The storm was severe' and 'it knocked out the power for three days' — without any punctuation or conjunction between them. This makes it a run-on sentence. It can be fixed with a period, semicolon, or conjunction: 'The storm was severe; it knocked out the power for three days.'
Question 6: Select the word that best fills the blank to maintain parallel structure: 'The job requires strong communication skills, attention to detail, and _____ problems quickly.'
- solving (Correct answer)
- to solve
- the solving of
- solved
Correct answer: solving
Parallel structure means that items in a series share the same grammatical form. The first two items use noun phrases: 'communication skills' and 'attention to detail.' However, since 'solving' functions as a gerund (a verbal noun), it matches the noun-phrase pattern. More importantly, the series uses the '-ing' gerund form already established — 'solving' maintains that parallelism, while 'to solve,' 'the solving of,' and 'solved' do not.
GED Reasoning Through Language Arts – Language and Grammar
Which of the following sentences uses correct subject-verb agreement?