Explanations for the TOEFL Structure/Written Expression, 1-15, (Grammar/Blanks), Test C from the 1998 Official TOEFL Kit

 
Here are the answers, corrections, and explanations for the Written Expression section section of Test C of the 1998 Kit that we actually used in class.

You will notice that some of the explanations have extra questions or vocab. That's because these are the questions that TestMagic students actually asked in class for that particular question.

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Explanations

These explanations were written by Erin Billy.
1. D We need only a main complement here. In this case mineral is the main complement. All the other answer choices have unnecessary words.
2. C We need the infinitive form after continue.
3. B We need to use a subordinating conjunction here to join two sentences. (C) is almost correct, but it uses might, which is  modal and must be followed by the base form of the verb.
4. C We need the main object of the transitive verb devised here.
5. C We need a main verb here.
6. A The correct structure is such + NOUN + as. For example:

We should be very careful about cooking our food completely, especially when eating such foods as chicken, pork, and eggs.
7. B tell is verb that requires two objects. In this case we have only one object, readers, so we should add another object. The second object is a noun clause.
8. C We have an adjective clause here. We need to follow the correct order: relative pronoun + verb.
9. D We need a subordinating conjunction here to join the two sentences. In this case we can use although, an adverb subordinating conjunction.
10. C We need a main subject and a main verb here.
11. D We need a subordinate subject and a subordinate verb here.
12. B We need a determiner for parents since parents refers to a specific group of parents. We cannot use (A) since we would then have two determiners. If we want to use (B), we would have to say both of the parents. Finally, (D) is the worst answer since we should not start a main clause with a coordinating conjunction.
13. A We need a main subject and a main verb here and these need to be in question form since the clause begins with a negative word.
14. A We need a main verb here to be parallel with the first main verb, are. In this case, the second main subject, vertebrates, and the second main verb, evolved, are inverted because this clause begins with an adverbial phrase, from them.
15. C We can use a main subject and a main verb here to be parallel with the other main subject and main verb species and will attack, respectively.