Victory for the ACT Student Text 15e

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EXPLANATIONS

23. (A) English/Conventions of Standard English/No Change The original sentence is correct because the present tense is consistent with the other tenses in the sentence and the verb form maintains the parallel structure “reaches,” “collapses,” and “forms.” F. NO CHANGE G. have been H. will have been J. would have been 24. (G) English/Conventions of Standard English/Grammar and Usage/Subject-Verb Agreement The problem with the original sentence is subject-verb agreement. Since the subject “most of the stars and gas” is plural, the verb must be plural. However, the verb “has been” is singular. (G) is correct because the plural verb “have been” agrees with the subject. (H) is wrong because the future tense is inconsistent with the other verb tenses in the paragraph. (J) is wrong because the use of the subjunctive implies contingency, but the idea of the sentence is that the “swallowing” does occur, not that it might occur if something else happens. 25. A. NO CHANGE B. to a relatively C. for a relative and D. relatively 25. (B) English/Conventions of Standard English/Grammar and Usage/Adjectives versus Adverbs The original sentence is incorrect because an adverb is required to modify the adjective “quiet.” (B) is correct because –Š‡ ƒ†˜‡”„ Dz”‡Žƒ–‹˜‡Ž›dz ‘†‹ϐ‹‡• Dz“—‹‡–Ǥdz (C) is wrong because it is not idiomatic; the correct expression is “settles down to,” not “settles down for.” Additionally, the sentence would say the “nucleus…settles down for a relative…existence,” a phrase that is meaningless. Finally, (D) destroys the logic of the sentence. 26. F. NO CHANGE G. by H. up to J. OMIT the underlined portion. 24.

[2] When most of the stars and gas in the core of a galaxy has been swallowed up by the black hole, the nucleus of the galaxy settles 24

down to a relative quiet existence. This is probably the state of the nucleus of our own galaxy, but every hundred million years or 25

•‘ ‹– ƒ› ϐŽƒ”‡ for a brightness 100 times its present level when a globular cluster or 26