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10.The cost of securely disposing of the unused
A
medications is roughly two times what the
B C
pharmacist paid to purchase it. No error
D E
Let’s walk through the answer choices step by step to catch the Pronoun Agreement error.
(A) “securely” is an adverb modifying the verb “disposing.”
(B) “is” is a singular verb that refers to the subject “the cost.” If you didn’t catch this and thought
that “is” referred to “medications” you forgot to cross out your prep phrase of the unused
medications. Remember, the subject is NOT going to be inside the preposition. “Roughly” is
an adverb modifying the adjective “two.”
(C) “two times what” is idiomatically correct. Check it by throwing it into our own expression:
This is two times what I thought it would be.
(D) should “to purchase” be “purchasing?” No way! What does the pronoun “it” refer to?
Medications, which is plural! It should be them.
Revised sentence:
The cost of securely disposing of the unused
A
medications is roughly two times what the
B C them Pronoun Agreement
pharmacist paid to purchase it. No error
D E
Correct Answer: (D)