Four Challenge Questions with Answers and Explanations

1. Lorena Ochoa has been recognized not only as a champion golfer but also being a humanitarian, having created a foundation to support young people in Mexico.
(A) but also being
(B) but also as
(C) she also is
(D) also that she is
(E) and also as

2. Relations between the United States and China began to thaw in 1971, when the Chinese table-tennis team invited its American counterpart to play in a series of exhibition matches.
(A) when the Chinese table-tennis team invited
(B) where the Chinese table-tennis team had invited
(C) as the Chinese table-tennis team invites
(D) that was when the Chinese table-tennis team invited
(E) the Chinese table-tennis team invited

3. Crows and their relatives--which include ravens, magpies, and jays--are renowned for their intelligence and the capability to flourish in landscapes dominated by humans.
(A) the capability
(B) are capable
(C) how they are ble
(D) their ability
(E) to be able

4. Leaders of programs that promote gender equity frequently point to the role that parents and educators play in promoting young women's interests in science, technology, and math.
(A) play in promoting
(B) plays in promoting
(C) is playing to promote
(D) plays to promote
(E) having played in promoting

Click below for answers and explanations.


Answers (highlight): 1B 2A 3D 4A

Explanation:
1. "Not only...but also" indicates parallelism. Not only as, but also as. Pick B
2. (B) is wrong because of its unnecessary use of "had". (C) is in the present tense and is thus wrong. (D) present tense -- wrong. (D) wordy + comma splice. wrong. (E) comma splice. Pick (A)
3. "capability/capable" always goes with the word "of", not "to". "Able/ability" always goes with the word "to". Pick (D) so that "ability" is used. The word "their" and the noun form of "ability" makes (D) parallel. (E) is wrong because it is not parallel.
4. (B) is wrong, subject-verb agreement. (C) unnecessary use of -ing. (D) wrong. subject-verb agreement. (E) unnecessary use of -ing and "having". wrong. Answer is (A)