O-Level Editing 4: The School Band
Twelve numbered lines, laid out as the paper does it. Lines 1 and 12 are correct. Of the ten between them, eight carry one grammatical error and two are correct: write the corrected word for the eight, and a tick for the two.
Two of the eight errors here sit a long way from the word that decides them, and one is a word that has been left out.
Spelling and punctuation are not tested. Change a word only when the grammar is wrong.
The passage
(1) Our school band practises in the hall every Tuesday and Thursday after lessons.
(2) The set of drums at the back of the stage belong to the school.
(3) Our conductor has took the band to the national competition four times.
(4) She joined the school the year before I did, and she has never missed a rehearsal.
(5) I was not familiar to the new piece when she gave out the parts.
(6) Last term we rehearse the same eight bars for a month.
(7) Nobody complained, because the piece sounded better every week.
(8) The trumpets, unlike the rest of the brass section, was always in tune.
(9) By the Thursday before the concert the rehearsal schedule had been hand out to everyone.
(10) We were told to listen the recording twice before the next rehearsal.
(11) The concert went ahead in September, and by then we know the whole piece from memory.
(12) The hall was full, and my grandmother said she could hear the drums from the car park.
Check your answers
Line 2: reveal answer
belong → belongs (subject-verb agreement)
The subject is "The set", not "drums". Two phrases stand in the way, and the plural "drums" sits early in the subject, which is the word your ear keeps hold of.
Line 3: reveal answer
took → taken (verb form)
After "has" you need the past participle, "taken".
Line 4: reveal answer
Tick. This line is correct.
"Joined" for the finished event and "has never missed" for the record that still stands. Both are right.
Line 5: reveal answer
to → with (preposition)
You are familiar with something. "Familiar to" exists, but it turns the sentence round: a piece is familiar to a person.
Line 6: reveal answer
rehearse → rehearsed (tense)
"Last term" fixes the sentence in the past.
Line 7: reveal answer
Tick. This line is correct.
The "because" clause gives a proper reason for the first half, and "better" compares the piece with itself week by week, which is fine.
Line 8: reveal answer
was → were (subject-verb agreement)
The subject is "The trumpets". A phrase added between commas does not change the subject, however singular it sounds.
Line 9: reveal answer
hand → handed (verb form)
"Had been" needs the past participle to complete the passive.
Line 10: reveal answer
listen → listen to (preposition)
"Listen" takes "to" before its object. The missing word is easy to skim past, because the line reads smoothly without it.
Line 11: reveal answer
know → knew (tense)
"Was" and "by then" both put the line in the past.
Check the harder lines
Line 2 reads: 'The set of drums at the back of the stage belong to the school.' What is the subject of 'belong'?
Show answer & explanation
Answer: (C) The set
The correct answer is (C). The set belongs to the school, so the verb is 'belongs'. (A) is the plural your ear attaches the verb to, which is what makes the error work. (B) is inside a phrase describing where the set is. (D) comes after the verb. Strip the phrases out and you are left with 'The set belongs', which is hard to get wrong.
Line 8 reads: 'The trumpets, unlike the rest of the brass section, was always in tune.' Why is 'were' correct?
Show answer & explanation
Answer: (B) Because a phrase between commas does not change the subject, and the subject is 'The trumpets'
The correct answer is (B). Cover everything between the commas and the line reads 'The trumpets were always in tune'. (A) is false: 'section' is singular. (C) invents a rule; 'unlike' is a preposition and decides nothing about the verb. (D) is about tense, and 'was' and 'were' are both past. The same test works for 'as well as', 'together with' and 'along with'.
Line 10 reads: 'We were told to listen the recording twice before the next rehearsal.' What kind of error is this?
Show answer & explanation
Answer: (C) A missing preposition
The correct answer is (C). 'Listen' needs 'to' before what is being listened to. (A) is wrong: 'were told' and 'to listen' are both correct here. (B) would mean the wrong part of the verb, such as writing 'to listened'. (D) has nothing to do with the line. Verbs that insist on a preposition are worth listing: listen to, wait for, depend on, apologise for, belong to.
What to take away
Lines 2 and 8 both hid the subject behind a phrase, but the misleading word was in a different place each time: in line 2 it is "drums", early inside the subject, and in line 8 it is "section", sitting right before the verb. Cover everything between the subject and the verb with a finger, and the agreement settles itself.
Lines 4 and 7 were correct. Both hold a verb you could talk yourself into changing, which is why they are there.
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