WeCP Alternate Usage Quiz 1

A program before the outbreak of

Corrects the misuse of phrasal verbs for nouns. ‘Breakout’ is a phrasal verb meaning ‘to start or appear suddenly’ while ‘out break’ is a noun meaning ‘sudden appearance’. A preposition or an article is used before a noun, not a verb. Use preposition ‘before’ in place of ‘for’ because a preventive measure is taken before the appearance of an epidemic.

the power of comprehension of

The word ‘comprehension’ must be followed the preposition ‘of’ instead of ‘off’ in this context. The expression “comprehension of” means ‘understanding of’. Hence, ‘of’ should be used in place of ‘off’ to make the sentence grammatically and contextually correct.

elsewhere in the world, it’s more that people are paying greater attention to the terrorist threat than they used to.

There are 3 errors to spot in the given sentence: 

Firstly, as the sentence starts with "while...", any option that follows this clause with "but" is incorrect. Secondly, "its" is a personal pronoun- not the correct word to use here. "It's" meaning "it is" is the right word to use in the given context. Thirdly, the sentence says people are paying greater attention to the terrorist threat "then" they used to. This is incorrect. The correct word to use instead is "than".

No correction required

There are two things to pick up on here- the difference between whose and who’s, and the rules to be followed when using compound adjectives.

Who’s is a contraction of ‘who is’ or ‘who has’. Whose, on the other hand, is the possessive form of ‘who’ and functions as an adjective or pronoun.The easiest way to identify which word is right in the given context is to substitute ‘who is/has’ instead of who’s in the sentence and see if it makes sense. If it does, who’s is the word you are looking for.

In the sentence given, ‘whose’ is the correct word to use. It functions as a pronoun for ‘the cricketer’.

Now, in the sentence given ‘eight-year’ is a compound adjective used to describe the noun ‘contract’. The hyphen between the two words is used to link them together and show that it is one adjective.

When compound adjectives include a number + a time period, the word referring to the time period is always in singular form and is joined to the number with a hyphen.

So, the given sentence does not contain any errors.

does not like his hanging around

The noun or pronoun relating to a gerund should always be in the possessive case. A gerund is a verb form which functions as a noun. It is present in verb+ing form. Hence the possessive pronoun ‘his’ should be used in place of the objective pronoun ‘him’ to make the sentence grammatically correct.

If I were the prime minister of the country, I would

‘Was’ is associated with the past tense. The usage of ‘was’ in the given sentence is incorrect.

In discussing hypothetical situations, the subjunctive mood is used.

The correct usage is ‘If I were…I would….’

Also note that ‘would’ is used instead of ‘will’: In general, would is used in situations which are hypothetical, or contingent on some unfulfilled condition; will is used in situations that are more certain.

No improvement

The sentence is rightly framed. With the use of 'are' we use a continuous form of verb, here, are speaking. For itself is the right use of preposition instead of to or about.

 

that occur as a result of coal mining is the increasing incidence
There are two verbs in the given sentence- ‘occur’ and ‘are’. Let us look at each of these in turn to identify the subject associated with the verb.

‘One of the problems’ is singular, as it refers to one of many problems. So, the right verb to be used with this subject is ‘is’, not ‘are’. The correct usage is “One of the problems……..is”. Now, consider the verb ‘occur’. The subject that ‘occur’ is associated with is ‘problems’, not ‘one of the problems’. So, the subordinate clause - the clause beginning with ‘that’- takes a plural verb. Why is this so? The verb must agree with the subject of the clause, which is the relative pronoun ‘that’. The pronoun has the same number as its antecedent, which is ‘problems’. Since ‘problems’ is plural, ‘that’ is also plural, and so the verb associated with it must agree with ‘problems’. Problems occur. So, the correct usage is “one of the problems that occur” Another way to test this is to reword the sentence: Of the problems that occur, one is…

Also note that ‘incidence’ is the frequency of occurrence of something. As the sentence refers to the frequency of occurrence of a single metric- lung cancer- ‘incidence’ has to be used in singular.

fell back only after the

Usage of the phrasal verb 'fall out' which means ‘have an argument' is inappropriate in this sentence.

'Fall back' which means ‘withdraw or retreat’ would be suitable in this context.

the island nation has set fire to four boats caught poaching sea cucumbers and other marine life in its waters.

There are a few errors in the given sentence.

One is the dandling modifier, ‘fighting a rising tide of illegal fishing’. Who is fighting illegal fishing? The island nation (not the boats poaching in the waters). So, ‘island nation’ should follow the modifier, not ‘four boats’.

The second error is in the placement of the word ‘caught’. This verb does not relate to sea cucumbers and other marine life in the waters. Marine life has been poached. The boats have been caught poaching.

Finally, ‘island nation’ is singular. So, the pronoun that relates to this should be singular. The correct usage is ‘its waters’, not ‘their waters’.

Also note that in the answer options,  says ‘set fire on’. This is incorrect. The correct usage is ‘set fire to’, or ’set on fire’.