Idioms

Writing: Identifying Sentence Errors

The following sentence contains either a single error or no error at all. If the sentence contains an error, select the one underlined part that must be changed to make the sentence correct. If the sentence contains no error, select choice E. 

Read the original sentence to yourself, listening for errors.  Then quickly check each underlined portion against the Big 8 Grammar Rules.  If you find an error, mark it, but be sure to check all of the choices.

ALong been isolated Bfrom the outside world and perched Chigh in the Tibetan Himalayas, Lhasa is the capital of Tibet, Dan autonomous region of the People’s Republic of China. ENo error

(A) If the phrase “long been” sounds odd to you, you are on the right track.  The word “been” is unnecessary because it is followed by the alternative and better verb “isolated.”  Eliminate it.  Note: the word "been" requires some variation of the phrase "have been."  Mark this error and quickly check the other answer choices.

(B)  The preposition “from” is idiomatically correct to explain what something is isolated from or set apart from.  There is no error here.

(C)  It is idiomatically correct to use the phrase “high in the mountains,” so there is no error here.

(D) The correct article, "an," is used before a word beginning with a vowel.  That word is also singular (a single region).  The modifier “autonomous” is placed as close as possible to the word it modifies, “region.”  There is no error here.

(E) This cannot be the correct answer because you have already marked an error. 

The correct answer is (A).

On sat.collegeboard.org, 73% of the responses were correct.

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