Vocabulary 4000 - Noel's ESL eBook Library

Idiom & Usage 155
Solutions to Drill V
1. In the past few years and to this day, many teachers of math and science had
chosen to return to the private sector.
(A) had chosen to return to the private sector.
(B) having chosen to return to the private sector.
(C) chose to return to the private sector.
(D) have chosen to return to the private sector.
(E) have chosen returning to the private sector.
Choice (A) is incorrect because it uses the past perfect had chosen,
which describes an event that has been completed before another
event. But the sentence implies that teachers have and are continuing
to return to the private sector. Hence, the present perfect tense
should be used.
Choice (B) is incorrect because it uses the present progressive
tense having chosen, which describes an ongoing event. Although
this is the case, it does not capture the fact that the event began in the
past.
Choice (C) is incorrect because it uses the simple past chose,
which describes a past event. But again, the sentence implies that the
teachers are continuing to opt for the private sector.
Choice (D) is the correct answer because it uses the present
perfect have chosen to describe an event that occurred in the past and
is continuing into the present.
Choice (E) is incorrect because it leaves the thought in the
sentence uncompleted.
2. Most of the homes that were destroyed in last summer’s brush fires were
built with wood-shake roofs.
(A) Most of the homes that were destroyed in last summer’s brush fires
were
(B) Last summer, brush fires destroyed most of the homes that were
(C) Most of the homes that were destroyed in last summer’s brush fires
had been
(D) Most of the homes that the brush fires destroyed last summer’s have
been
(E) Most of the homes destroyed in last summer’s brush fires were being
Choice (A) is incorrect because the simple past were does not
express the fact that the homes had been built before the fire
destroyed them.