WEEK 1: STRUCTURE SKILL 1-3

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 1

_________ 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
subject. 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
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
The boy _________ going to the movies with a friend.
(A) he is
(B) he always was
(C) is relaxing
(D) will be

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:

Exercise 1
Directions: Choose the one option--(A), (5), (C), or (D)-that correctly completes the
sentences.

1 In the United States, ____________ is generally the responsibility of municipal

governments.
(A) for water treatment
(B) water treatment
(C) where water treatment
(D) in which water treatment

2 Crop rotation ________ of preserving soil fertility

(A) it is one method
(B) one method
(C) a method is one
(D) is one method
3 __________ the dollar as its monetary unit in 1878
(A) Canada adopted
(B) Adopted by Canada,
(C) It was adopted by Canada
(D) The Canadian adoption of
4 ________ almost impossible to capture the beauty of the aurora borealis in
photograph
(A) Being
(B) It is
(C) There is
(D) Is
5 Usually, political cartoons ___________ on the editorial page of a newspaper
 (A) appear
(B) whose appearance
(C) by appearing
(D) when they appear
6 ___________________ two major an museums, the Fogg and the Sadler
(A) Harvard University has
(B) At Harvard University
(C) Harvard University, with its
(D) There at Harvard University

7 American actress and director Margaret Webster _________ Shakespearean

plays
(A) who became famous
(B) famous as she became
(C) becoming famous
(D) became famous
8 _____________ gas tanks connected to welding equipment, one full of oxygen
and the other full of acetylene.
(A) his two
(B) Of the two
(C) There are two
(D) Two
9 _________ by cosmic rays.
(A) The earth is constantly bombarded
(B) Bombarded constantly, the earth
(C) Bombarding the earth constantly
(D) The earth's constant bombardment
10 Compressed air ______ the power to drive pneumatic tools
(A) by providing
(B) provides
(C) that provides
(D) the provision of

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, by, 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 by.

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.

Exercise 2
Directions: Choose the one option-(A), (B), (C), or (D) that correctly completes the
sentences.

1 The major cause _______ the pull of the Moon on the Earth
(A) the ocean tides are

(B) of ocean tides is

(C) of the tides in the ocean

(D) the ocean’s tides

2 On the Moon, _________ air because the Moon’s gravitational field is too week
to retain an atmosphere.
(A) There is no

(B) Where no

(C) no

(D) is no

3 After its introduction in 1969, the float process _______ the world’s principal
method of manufacturing flat sheets of glass.
(A) by which it became
(B) it became
(C) became
(D) which became

4 In geometry, a tangent is a straight line ______ a curve at only one point

(A) it touches
(B) whose touching
(C) its touching
(D) that touches

(E) whose touching

5 ______ for their strong fiber include flax and hemp.

 (A) Plants are grown
(B) Plants grown
(C) Plants that grow
(D) To grow plants

6 Dynamite is ordinarily detonated __________ called a blasting cap

(A) a device is used
(B) that a device
(C) with a device
(D) the use of a device

7 Harmonicas, autoharps, and kazoos ________ folk instruments.

(A) are examples
(B) for example
(C) are examples of
(D) as examples of

8 ________ charming shops and restaurants, Old Town is the most picturesque
section of Albuquerque
(A) With its
(B) Its
(C) Because its
(D) For its

9 _____ seed of a flowering plant is covered by a dense protective coat

(A) On each
(B) Each
(C) Each of
(D) That each

10 ________ the United States, the general movement of air masses is from west
to east
(A) Across
(B) To cross
(C) They cross
(D) It’s across

Skill 3: BE CAREFUL OF APPOSITIVES

Appositives can cause confusion in the Structure section of the TOEFL test because an
appositive can be mistaken for the subject o f a sentence. An appositive is a noun that
comes before or after another noun and has the same meaning.
Sally, the best student in the class, got an A on the exam.

Sarah _________ rarely misses her basketball shots.

(A) An excellent basketball player
(B) An excellent basketball player is
(C) Sarah is an excellent basketball player
(D) Her excellent basketball play

APPOSITIVES
An appositive is a noun that comes before or after another noun and is generally set off
from the noun with commas. If a word is an appositive, it is not the subject.

Exercise 3

Directions: Choose the one option-(A), (B), (C), or (D) that correctly completes the
sentences.

1 The Democratic Party is older than the other major American political party...
(A) which the Republican party
(B) the Republican party
(C) it is the Republican party
(D) the Republican party is

2 ________ relations with friends and acquaintances, play a major role in the
social development of adolescents
(A) What are called peer group relations are
(B) Peer group relations are
(C) Peer group relations, the
(D) By peer group relations, we mean
3 Joseph Henry, ___________first director of the Smithsonian Institute, was
President Lincoln’s advisor on scientific matters
(A) the
(B) to be the
(C) was the
(D) as the

4 The Wassatch Range, ______________ extends from southeastern Idaho into

northern Utah.
(A) which is a part of the Rocky Mountains,
(B) a part of the Rocky Mountains that
(C) is a part of the Rocky Mountains
(D) a part of the Rocky Mountains, it

5 ______ Ruth St. Dennis turned to Asian dances to find inspiration for her
choreography
(A) It was the dancer
 (B) The dancer
(C) That the dancer
(D) The dancer was
6 The organs of taste are the _________ which are mainly located on the tongue
(A) groups of cells, are taste buds
(B) taste buds, are groups of cells
(C) taste buds, these are groups of cells
(D) taste buds, groups of cells
7 In 1878 Frederick W Taylor invented a concept called scientific management,
_____________ obtaining as much efficiency from workers and machines as
possible.
(A) it is a method
(B) a method which
(C) a method
(D) called a method

8 A group of Shakers, ________ settled around Pleasant Hills, Kentucky, 1805

(A) members of a strict religious sect which
(B) whose members of a strict religious act
(C) members of a strict religious sect,
(D) were members of a strict religious sect

9 Norman Weiner, _________ mathematician and logician, had an important role

in the development of the computer.
(A) who, as a
(B) was a
(C) whom a
(D) a

10 ____________ a marshland that covers over 750 square miles in North Carolina
and Virginia.
(A) In the Great Dismal Swamp,
(B) The Great Dismal Swamp, which
(C) The Great Dismal Swamp,
(D) The Great Dismal Swamp is

SKILL 1-3: EXERCISE REVIEW

Directions: Choose the one option-(A), (B), (C), or (D)-that correctly completes the
sentences.

1 The North Platte River _____ from Wyoming into Nebraska.

 (A) it flowed
(B) flows
(C) flowing
(D) with flowing water

2 A pride of lions ________ up to forty lions, including one to three males, several
females, and cubs.
(A) can contain
(B) it contains
(C) contain
(D) containing

3 The tetracyclines, _________ antibiotics, are used to treat infections.

(A) are a family of
(B) being a family
(C) a family of
(D) their family is

4 ________ Biloxi received its name from a Sioux word meaning "first people."
(A) The city of
(B) Located in
(C) It is in
(D) The tour included

5 __________ tea plant are small and white.

(A) The
(B) On the
(C) Having flowers the
(D) The flowers of the

6 Any possible academic assistance from taking stimulants ________ marginal at

best.
(A) it is
(B) there is
(C) is
(D) as

7 Henry Adams, born in Boston,

___________ famous as a historian and novelist.

(A) became
 (B) and became
(C) he was
(D) and he became

8 The major cause _________ the pull of the Moon on the Earth.
(A) the ocean tides are
(B) of ocean tides is
(C) of the tides in the ocean
(D) the oceans' tides
9 Still a novelty in the late nineteenth century, ________ limited to the rich.
(A) was
(B) was photography
(C) it was photography
(D) photography was

10 The three basic chords in ........the tonic, the dominant, and the subdominant.
(A) functional harmony
(B) functional harmony is
(C) functional harmony are
(D) functional harmony they are

11 ________ Hale Telescope, at the Palomar Observatory in southern California,

scientists can photograph objects several billion light years away.
(A) The
(B) With the
(C) They use the
(D) It is the

12 Pepsin _______ an enzyme used in digestion

(A) that
(B) is
(C) of
(D) being
13 Tiger moths _______ wings marked with stripes or spots.
(A) Have
(B) With
(C) Their
(D) whose
14 The art of storytelling ___ almost as old as humanity
(A) that is
(B) is
 (C) it is
(D) being

15 ______ large natural lakes are found in the state of South Carolina
(A) there are no
(B) Not the
(C) It is not
(D) No