Question

most students have loose - leaf paper in their notebooks. sean carries scissors in his book bag because later he will need it to trim the fringe from his essay. no one submits an essay to prof. freeman with fringe!
options:

• change it to them.
• no change is necessary.
• change an to their.
• change their to his or her.

Explanation:

1. For "their notebooks": The antecedent is "Most students" (plural), so "their" (plural possessive) is correct. No change needed here.
2. For "need it": The antecedent is "scissors", which is a plural noun. The correct plural pronoun is "them". This change is required.
3. For "an essay": "Essay" starts with a consonant sound (/ɛ/), so the correct article is "a", not "an". This change is required.
4. The option "Change their to his or her" is incorrect because "Most students" is plural, so the plural possessive "their" is grammatically appropriate.

Looking at the options, the only one that addresses a valid necessary change is adjusting "it" to "them".

Answer:

O Change it to them.