CHAPTER 1

A. 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.
Examples:
1. _______________________ was backed up for miles on the freeway.
(A) Yesterday (C) Traffic
(B) In the morning (D) Cars
2. Engineers _________________ for work on the new space program.
(A) necessary (C) hopefully
(B) are needed (D) next month

Exercise 1.
Match Subject with Verb based on Their Agreement
1. Carol, along with his classmates, (is/are) planning to the party
2. The picture of her old friends (bring/brings) back many memories
3. The quality of these recordings (is/are) not very good
4. If the duties of these officers (isn’t/aren’t) reduced, there will not be enough time to
finish the project
5. The effects of cigarette smoking (have/has) been proven to be extremely harmful
6. The use of credit cards in place of cash (have/has) increased rapidly in recent years
7. Advertisements on online platforms (is/are) becoming more competitive than ever
before
8. Living expenses in this country, as well as in many others, (is/are) at an all-time high
9. Mr.Jack, accompanied by several members of the committee, (have/has) proposed
some changes of the rules
10. The levels of students’ achievement in this senior high school (vary/varies) from
their age and background

Exercise 2.
Complete the Sentences with the most Appropriate Options!
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B. 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, by, behind, on, and so on, to form a prepositional
phrase. If a word is an object of a preposition, it is not the subject.

Examples:
1. (After his exams) Tom will take a trip (by boat).
2. The interviews (by radio broadcaster) were carried live by the station.
3. (For the fever and headache) took two aspirin tablets.
4.

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Exercise 1.
Find the prepositions as the numbers found at the end of each sentence!

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 Exercise 2.
Identifying Prepositions and Their Objects. Underline each preposition in the
following sentences, and draw an arrow to its object.

C. BE CAREFUL OF APPOSITIVES
An appositive is a noun that comes before or after another noun and has the same
meaning generally set off from the noun with commas. If a word is an appositive, it
is not the subject.
Examples:
1. Sally, the best student in the class, got an A on the exam.
2. ___________________ George, is attending the lecture.
(A) Right now (C) Because of the time
(B) Happily (D) My friend

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 Exercise 1.
Identify and underline the appositive found in each sentence.

Exercise 2.
Determine whether each sentence is TRUE or FALSE!
1. Last week went fishing for trout at the nearby mountain lake.
2. The new computer program has provides a variety of helpful applications.
3. The box can be opened only with a special screwdriver.
4. The assigned text for history class it contains more than twenty chapters.
5. For the last three years at various hospitals in the county has been practicing
medicine.
6. The report with complete documentation was delivered at the conference.
7. Shopping in the downtown area of the city it has improved a lot in recent years .
8. Valentine's Day, February 14, is a special holiday for sweethearts.
9. The new tile pattern, yellow flowers on a white background, really brightens up the
room.
The only entrance to the closet, the door was kept locked at all times.