SC's Question number - 787 , 788

787). The nephew of Pliny the Elder wrote the only eyewitness account of the great eruption of Vesuvius in two letters to the historian Tacitus.

(A) The nephew of Pliny the Elder wrote the only eyewitness account of the great eruption of Vesuvius in two letters to the historian Tacitus.

(B) To the historian Tacitus, the nephew of Pliny the Elder wrote two letters, being the only eyewitness accounts of the great eruption of Vesuvius.

(C) The only eyewitness account is in two letters by the nephew of Pliny the Elder writing to the historian Tacitus an account of the great eruption of Vesuvius.

(D) Writing the only eyewitness account, Pliny the Elder’s nephew accounted for the great eruption of Vesuvius in two letters to the historian Tacitus.

(E) In two letters to the historian Tacitus, the nephew of Pliny the Elder wrote the only eyewitness account of the great eruption of Vesuvius.

788). The new contract forbids a strike by the transportation union.

(A) forbids a strike by the transportation union

(B) forbids the transportation union from striking

(C) forbids that there be a strike by the transportation union

(D) will forbid the transportation union from striking

(E) will forbid that the transportation union strikes


Answers:

787). (OG 10th Ques no - 256) - OA - E
OE: E, the best choice, conveys its meaning clearly, without ambiguity, and uses straightforward syntax.

A - incorrect - the placement of the phrase in two letters to the historian Tacitus generates ambiguity: the nonsensical suggestion is that the eruption of Vesuvius took place in the letters themselves.

B - incorrect - the verb phrase that begins being the only eyewitness accounts modifies the subject of the preceding clause, suggesting nonsensically that the nephew of Pliny the Elder himself was the eyewitness accounts. Furthermore, To the historian Tacitus, the nephew... wrote two letters is unnecessarily clumsy.

C - incorrect - the meaning of the sentence is unclear (The only eyewitness account of what?), the repetition of account is clumsy, and the syntax is highly
convoluted (... in two letters by the nephew of Pliny the Elder writing to the historian Tacitus an account...).

D - incorrect - writing the only eyewitness account, Pliny the Elder's nephew accounted is redundant, and the placement of in two letters to the historian Tacitus generates ambiguity, suggesting under one available reading that the eruption took place in the letters

788). OA - A

Correct idiom is x forbids y to do z or x prohibits y from doing z thus A is equivalent to - The new contract forbids the transportation union to strike

B - incorrect - unidiomatic - ...forbid...from.. http://www.bartleby.com/68/83/2583.html

C - incorrect - wordy - ..there be...

D, E - incorrect - use of will is wrong....simple present tense is required here. Further contract (singular) so we need forbids(singular).