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ACT English Test Multiple Choice Questions
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ACT English Test Multiple Choice Questions
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ACT English Test Multiple ChoiceQuestions
If any college student wants to make sure of joining a rock band at school, *you* would be wise to learn
bass or drums because singers and guitarists are a dime a dozen.
A. NO CHANGE
B. one
C. they
D. he or she - ANSWER-D is correct because the main subject of the sentence, *college student*, is third-
person singular. So the sentence needs the third-person singular pronoun(s) *he or she*.
A is incorrect. Although the informal second-person pronoun *you* is often used in hypothetical
examples, in this particular sentence, it does not agree with the third-person *college student*, which is
the subject.
B is incorrect because the formal pronoun *one* needs to be used consistently. If *college student* has
already been established as the subject, then it cannot simply suddenly be replaced with *one* later in
the sentence.
C. is incorrect. Although people frequently use *they* as a gender-neutral third-person singular pronoun
when speaking, it is still considered incorrect by most authorities. TIP: It is definitely wrong on the ACT
test!
You should always be on the lookout for new opportunities, but *one* should also avoid burning bridges
if possible.
A. NO CHANGE
B. you
C. he or she
,D. people - ANSWER-B is correct because the sentence is in the second person (you) and so should not
deviate from this. Constructions like *one* or like *he or she* may be more formal than the second
person, but consistency is more important than formality.
A is incorrect because *one* does not match the initial *you*.
C is incorrect because *he or she* does not match the initial *you*.
D is incorrect because *people* does not match the initial *you*.
As the first of my friends to own a home, *I have always admired Mark*.
A. NO CHANGE
B. and I have always admired Mark.
C. is Mark, whom I have always admired.
D. Mark is someone I have always admired. - ANSWER-D is correct because the dependent descriptive
phrase *As the first of my friends to own a home*, is referring to *Mark*. So the noun Mark must come
immediately after the comma.
A is incorrect because this would imply that the speaker (I), rather than *Mark* is the first of the friends
to own a home.
B is incorrect because the first clause is not an independent one. So a comma plus a conjunction is not
necessary before the second.
C is incorrect. Although this would be acceptable if the comma after *home* were omitted, the comma
is still in the wrong place.
While watching from the top of the hill, *the sunset was indescribably beautiful*.
A. NO CHANGE
, B. the sunset is beautiful beyond description.
C. we were awed by the sunset's indescribable beauty
D. the beauty of the sunset was impossible to describe - ANSWER-C is correct because the dependent-
descriptive phrase *While watching from the top of the hill* needs to be followed immediately by the
noun that was doing the watching. Since *we* were doing the watching, only choice C can be right. Only
choice C begins with a term referring to the people doing the watching.
A is incorrect because this would imply that the sunset was watching itself.
B is incorrect because this would imply that the sunset was watching itself. (The tense change is a red
herring.)
D is incorrect because this would imply that the beauty of the sunset was watching the sunset.
In a hurry to catch her train, *Jennifer's purse was left in her car*.
A. NO CHANGE
B. her purse was left in Jennifer's car.
C. and Jennifer left her purse in the car.
D. Jennifer spaced out and left her purse in the car. - ANSWER-D is correct because the noun being
modified by *In a hurry to catch her train*, which is *Jennifer*, needs to follow immediately after the
comma. This happens only in choice D. The expression *spaced out* may be informal. However, the
other choices are grammatically wrong, and informal is always preferable to wrong.
A is incorrect because although it looks at first as if Jennifer follows the comma, the noun phrase
Jennifer's purse actually does. Jennifer was in a hurry, not her purse.
B is incorrect because Jennifer was in a hurry, not her purse. So *Jennifer* needs to follow the comma.
C is incorrect because this results in a sentence where two dependent groups of words are separated by
a comma, with no independent clause.
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