Somewhat analogous to the Chinese system
of writing in difficulty for non-native speakers
to learn and loosely based on the Chinese
system of writing the Japanese system of
writing known as Kanji.
to
difficulty
loosely based
the
Correction: is the
Level of Difficulty:
HARD!!
Magic explanation:
Whew! This is a hard question for a couple of
reasons. First, the sentence is long and has a
lot of extra phrases. Second, we have inversion
here. The main subject is "the Japanese system
of writing," so, we need a main verb, "is."
173.
______ big cats, housecats have polyphasic
sleeping patterns; that, is they take several naps
a day.
They are like
Magic explanation:
If we choose this answer, we will have two main
sentences with no conjunction between them. Be
careful of this mistake--it is one of the most
common ones on the TOEFL!!
Like
Level of Difficulty:
Easy
Magic explanation:
First, we should notice here that we have a complete
main sentence already. The only thing we have
to worry about is using another word or phrase
with "big cats." If we use the preposition
"like," then "big cats" becomes
the object of the preposition.
It is the
Magic explanation:
If we choose this answer, we will have two main
sentences with no conjunction between them. Be
careful of this mistake--it is one of the most
common ones on the TOEFL!!
The
Magic explanation:
If we choose this answer, we will essentially
have two main subjects here, or what we often
call a "double subject."
174.
It was as a direct result of the
widespread implementation electricity that
the US had a source of light other than gas
lights.
It was
result of
implementation
Correction: implementation
of
Level of Difficulty:
medium
Magic explanation:
First, we should notice that we have a preposition
here, "of." "implementation"
is the object of this preposition. A preposition
can NEVER have two objects, so we should use another
preposition with the noun "electricity."
a source of
175.
______ many communications companies are now
able to offer radio and television broadcasts over
the Internet.
Advanced technology has enabled
Magic explanation:
This answer choice is wrong for two reasons. First,
"enabled" needs an object. Second, even
if we have an object for "enabled,"
we would end up with two complete sentences with
no conjunction between them. As I stated above,
this is a big no-no and is a very common mistake.
Introducing advanced technology and
Magic explanation:
This answer choice is wrong because we need another
noun to be parallel with "technology."
If we had another noun, for example "new
methods of storing data," then this answer
choice would be correct.
Because the introduction of advanced technology
Magic explanation:
This answer choice is wrong because we need a subordinate
verb after the subordinating
conjunction "because."
With the introduction of advanced technology
Level of Difficulty:
Medium
Magic explanation:
First, we should notice that we have a complete
main sentence here and that nothing is missing
from the sentence as it is written. When nothing
is missing from the sentence, we should add something
that is both optional and complete. This answer
choice is the only one that meets these criteria--it
is a prepositional phrase, and prepositional phrases
are almost always optional in the sentence.
176.
While it is actually a planet,
Venus is often mistaken a star in the
night sky.
While it
a planet
mistaken
Correction: mistaken
for
Level of Difficulty:
Medium
Magic explanation:
The correct idiom to use here is "to mistake
x for y" (in the active voice), or "x
is mistaken for y" (in the passive voice).
the night
177.
______ its area of defense, a fort should be built
on an elevation and with some sort of natural feature
of the landscape to obstruct direct access to the
fort.
To better protect
Level of Difficulty:
Hard
Magic explanation:
We should use the infinitive of purpose here to
explain how or why something is done.
Protecting better
Magic explanation:
If you missed this question, you probably chose
this answer. We cannot choose this answer choice
because "protecting" modifies "fort"
in this sentence either as an adjective phrase
or an adverbial phrase (we have some ambiguity
in this construction). Since the main sentence
is making recommendations about how to build a
fort, we should use the infinitive of purpose,
not the participial form.
For the better of
Magic explanation:
The easiest way to explain this one is simply
to point out that "better" cannot be
a noun.
It is better for
Magic explanation:
Again, this answer choice would give us two main
clauses with no conjunction
between them.
178.
In 2000 William Jefferson Clinton entered
his last year officeas President
of the United States.
In 2000
entered
office
Correction: of office
Level of Difficulty:
Medium
Magic explanation:
The verb "entered" can have only one
object. In this case, the object of "entered"
is "year," leaving us with an extra
noun, "office." Since "entered"
cannot have two objects, we should use a preposition
to make "office" the object of the preposition.
as President
179.
It was ______ the Industrial Revolution that the
United States was able to increase productivity through
mechanization.
when
Magic explanation:
If we choose this answer choice, we would be missing
a subordinate verb. In other words, we would have
to have a complete subordinate clause, something
like this: …when the Industrial Revolution… DID
something.
at the time
Magic explanation:
The easiest way to explain this one is to point
out that we would need to say "at the time
of."
during
Level of Difficulty:
Medium
Magic explanation:
We essentially need a preposition
(or some other word) here for the noun phrase
Industrial Revolution.
because
Magic explanation:
If we choose this answer choice, we would be missing
a subordinate verb. In other words, we would have
to have a complete subordinate clause, something
like this: …because the Industrial Revolution…
DID something.
180.
______ Einstein was able to come up with a theory
that has yet to be disproved.
Other scientists
Magic explanation:
This answer choice would give us a double subject,
a big no-no on the TOEFL.
Similar to other scientists
Level of Difficulty:
Medium
Magic explanation:
This is a typical TOEFL question. First, we should
notice that we have a complete main sentence here
and that nothing is missing from the sentence
as it is written. When nothing is missing from
the sentence, we should add something that is
both optional and complete. This answer choice,
and the last one, are the only ones that meet
these criteria.
Just as other scientists
Magic explanation:
Since "as" is a subordinating
conjunction, we would need a subordinate verb
here.
To be a scientist
Magic explanation:
This choice is wrong because we should not use
the infinitive of purpose here; i.e., the main
clause does not explain HOW or WHY Einstein was
a scientist.
