Find the part of the sentence that contains an error: The suddenness with which the issue escalated (1)/ took not only the negotiators but also the observers (2)/ by surprise who were expecting (3)/ a gradual resolution process. (4)
(3)
The error lies in part (3): "by surprise who were expecting". The relative clause "who were expecting..." is meant to describe "the negotiators... and... the observers", so it must sit immediately next to that noun phrase. As written, the phrase "by surprise" wrongly separates the relative pronoun "who" from the people it refers to, creating a misplaced modifier.
The corrected segment should read "...took not only the negotiators but also the observers, who were expecting a gradual resolution process, by surprise" — keeping "who" right after "observers". Hence, the part containing the error is (3).
Parts (1), (2) and (4) are grammatically sound: "The suddenness with which the issue escalated" is a correct relative construction, the correlative pair "not only... but also" is used properly in (2), and the noun phrase "a gradual resolution process" in (4) is well formed.
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Important Questions from Error Spotting
Direction: Each item in this section has a sentence with three underlined parts labelled (a), (b) and (c) Read each sentence to determine whether there is an error in any underlined part and indicate your response in the Answer Sheet against the corresponding letter, i.e., (a) or (b) or (c). If you find no error, your response should be indicated as (d).
A honest mistake (a) / is no more than that; (b) / just an honest mistake. (c) / No error (d)Direction: Each item in this section has a sentence with three underlined parts labelled (a), (b) and (c) Read each sentence to determine whether there is any error in any underlined part and indicate your response in the Answer Sheet against the corresponding letter, i.e., (a) or (b) or (c). If you find no error, your response should be indicated as (d).
A company of five thousand soldiers , (a) / having marched tirelessly for over five days , (b) / have just moved into their cantonment . (c) / No error (d)Direction: Each item in this section has a sentence with three underlined parts labelled (a), (b) and (c) Read each sentence to determine whether there is an error in any underlined part and indicate your response in the Answer Sheet against the corresponding letter, i.e., (a) or (b) or (c). If you find no error, your response should be indicated as (d).
Every person who believes in principles (a) / must stand up to fight (b) / for their convictions . (c) / No error (d)Direction: Each item in this section has a sentence with three underlined parts labelled (a), (b) and (c) Read each sentence to determine whether there is any error in any underlined part and indicate your response in the Answer Sheet against the corresponding letter, i.e., (a) or (b) or (c). If you find no error, your response should be indicated as (d).
The Olympic Games reflects(a) / the highest spirit of (b) / human endeavour and achievement . (c) / No error (d)Direction: Each item in this section has a sentence with three underlined parts labelled (a), (b) and (c) Read each sentence to determine whether there is an error in any underlined part and indicate your response in the Answer Sheet against the corresponding letter, i.e., (a) or (b) or (c). If you find no error, your response should be indicated as (d).
The principal of the school (a) / stressed the need for discipline (b) / amongst the students. (c) / No error (d)
