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Skill I: Be Sure The Sentence Has A Subject and A Verb: 200 Structure

The document discusses skills for structure questions on the TOEFL test. It focuses on identifying subjects and verbs in sentences, and ensuring subjects and verbs agree. It provides examples of sentences that are correct or incorrect based on their structure. It also discusses being careful of objects of prepositions, as they can be mistaken for subjects.

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Eka Sari
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157 views2 pages

Skill I: Be Sure The Sentence Has A Subject and A Verb: 200 Structure

The document discusses skills for structure questions on the TOEFL test. It focuses on identifying subjects and verbs in sentences, and ensuring subjects and verbs agree. It provides examples of sentences that are correct or incorrect based on their structure. It also discusses being careful of objects of prepositions, as they can be mistaken for subjects.

Uploaded by

Eka Sari
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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200 STRUCTURE

SKILL I: BE SURE THE SENTENCE HAS A SUBJECT AND A VERB

You know that a sentence in English should have a subject and a verb. The most common
types of problems that you will encounter in structure questions on the TOEFL test have to
do with subjects and verbs: perhaps the sentence is missing either the subject or the verb or
both, or perhaps the sentence has an extra subject or verb.

Example I from the Paper and Computer TOEFL®Tests {II


__ was backed up for miles on the freeway.
(A) Yesterday
(B) In the morning
(C) Traffic
(D) Cars

In this example you should notice immediately that there is a verb was, but there is no sub-
ject. Answer (C) is the best answer because it contains the singular subject traffic that
agrees with the singular verb was. Answer (A), yesterday, and answer (B), in the morning, are
not subjects, so they are not correct. Although answer (D), cars, could be a subject, it is not
correct because cars is plural and it does not agree with the singular verb was.

Example 2 from the Paper and Computer TOEFL®Tests lil) Jll!]


Engineers __ for work on the new space program.
(A) necessary
(B) are needed
( C) hopefully
(D) next month

In this example you should notice immediately that the sentence has a subject engineers
and that there is no verb. Because answer (B), are needed, is a verb, it is the best answer.
Answers (A), ( C), and (D) are not verbs, so they are not correct.

Example 3 from the Paper and Computer TOEFL®Tests {II


The boy __ going to the movies with a friend.
(A) he is
(B) he alwayswas
(C) is relaxing
(D) will be
STRUCTURE QUESTIONS (Paper and Computer) 20 I

This sentence has a subject boy and has part of a verb going; to be correct, some form of the
verb be is needed to make the sentence complete. Answers (A) and (B) are incorrect
because the sentence already has a subject boy and does not need the extra subject he.
Answer ( C) is incorrect because relaxing is an extra verb part that is unnecessary because of
going. Answer (D) is the best answer; will be together with going is a complete verb.
The following chart outlines what you should remember about subjects and verbs:
/

SUBJECTS AND VERBS

A sentence in English must have at least one subjea and one verb.

EXERCISE 1: Underline the subjects once and the verbs twice in each of the following
sentences. Then indicate if the sentences are correct (C) or incorrect (I).

1. Last week went fishing for trout at the nearby mountain lake.

c 2. A schedule of the day's events can be obtained at the front desk.

3. A job on the day shift or the night shift at the plant available.

4. The new computer program has provides a variety of helpful applications.

5. The box can be opened only with a special screwdriver.

6. The assigned text for history class it contains more than twenty chapters.

7. The papers in the wastebasket should be emptied into the trash can outside.

8. Departure before dawn on a boat in the middle of the harbor.

9. Yesterday found an interesting article on pollution.

10. The new machine is processes 50 percent more than the previous machine.

SKILL 2: BE CAREFUL OF OBJECTS OF PREPOSITIONS

An object of a preposition is a noun, pronoun, gerund or noun clause that comes after a
preposition, such as in, at, of, to, IYy, behind, on, and so on, to form a prepositional phrase.
(After his exams) Tom will take a trip (by boat).

This sentence contains two objects of prepositions. Exams is the object of the preposition
after, and boat is the object of the preposition IYy.
An object of a preposition can cause confusion in structure questions on the TOEFL
test because it can be mistaken for the subject of a sentence.

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