10920.Her daughter is submitting applications to several
A B
scholarship funds in the hope to acquire
C D
financial aid to pay for college. No error
E
Diction errors are some of the most difficult to catch! Check the answers one by one.
(A) “more” is an adverb modifying the adverb “aggressively,” which is modifying the verb
“bargained.” All is good.
(B) Can you “rise” the price of something? No, but you can “raise” the price of something.
Tricky!
(C) “was willing” is a past tense verb. We are in the past, as evidenced by the past tense verb
“bargained.”
(D) “wasn’t” is parallel to “was willing.”
Revised sentence: raising Diction
She bargained more aggressively, rising the price
A B
she was willing to pay and staying well below
C
the price she wasn’t. No error
D E
Correct Answer: (B)
19.She bargained more aggressively, rising the price
A B
she was willing to pay and staying well below
C
the price she wasn’t. No error
D E
Go through the answer choices if you didn’t catch the Gerund Infinitive Switch on the first read.
(A) first check SVA. “Is” is singular and “daughter” is singular so that checks. She is in the process
of submitting so the present progressive tense is correct as well.
(B) Check the preposition “to.” Can you submit to? Sure – She submitted her short stories to
agents. “Several” is an adjective that modifies “funds” so that is correct.
(C) “in the hope,” is idiomatically correct.
(D) “to acquire” is an infinitive so check to see if it should be a gerund (of acquiring) instead - in
the hope of acquiring. Much better!