Question

englishforeveryone.org
name
date
advanced paragraph correction 3
directions: read the passage below. then answer questions about errors in the passage.
edward murphy was a member of an air force team that performed complicated experiments during the 1) 1940s his work required much preparation and perfect execution. murphy has become renowned for 2) “murphys’ law,” which states that “if anything can go 3) wrong it will.” this 4) somewhat funny observation has spawned a plethora of 5) corrollaries, such as hofstadter’s law: “it always takes longer than you expect, even when you take hofstadters law into account.” 6) these smart comments on the perceived perversity of daily life have been published in 7) several books. some of the volumes are general in 8) scope; some pertain to technical careers in aerospace or professional areas such as medicine or law.
1)
a. 1940’s, his
b. 1940s. his
c. 1940s! his
d. 1940’s – his
e. correct as is
2)
a. “murphy’s law,”
b. murphy’s law,”
c. “murphy’s law”,
d. “murphys law,”
e. correct as is
3)
a. wrong, it will”.
b. wrong it, will.”
c. wrong, it will.”
d. wrong it will,”
e. correct as is
4)
a. hilarious
b. lofty
c. comical
d. laughable
e. tenuous
5)
a. corollaries
b. corolaries
c. corollairies
d. corroleries
e. correct as is
6)
a. witty musings
b. complex phrases
c. detrimental utterances
d. sophisticated sayings
e. harmless annotations
7)
a. several books, but some
b. several books: some
c. several books, some
d. correct as is
8)
a. scope some
b. scope. some
c. scope & some
d. scope, while others

Explanation:

1. For the first question, the decade should be "1940s" and a period is needed to end the sentence, and "His" should be capitalized as it starts a new sentence.
2. "Murphy's Law" is the correct possessive form, with a single - apostrophe after "Murphy".
3. The correct punctuation is to have a comma before "it will" in the quote.
4. "hilarious" is a suitable synonym for "funny" with a stronger connotation.
5. "corollaries" is the correct spelling.
6. "witty musings" is a good replacement for "smart comments" to describe these sayings.
7. A colon is appropriate to introduce the list of different scopes of the volumes.
8. "scope, while others" creates a more complete and correct comparison structure.

Answer:

1. B. 1940s. His
2. A. "Murphy's Law,"
3. A. wrong, it will".
4. A. hilarious
5. A. corollaries
6. A. witty musings
7. B. several books: some
8. D. scope, while others