SHSAT English Language Arts Quiz: Removing Redundancy
20 questions · exam conditions
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Removing RedundancyQuestion 1 of 20

Many experts agree that a consensus of opinion has formed about the importance of reducing carbon emissions.

Which revision best eliminates redundancy?

Many experts agree that a consensus has formed about the importance of reducing carbon emissions.
Many experts agree that a consensus of opinion has formed about the importance of reducing carbon emissions.
Many experts have formed a consensus of opinion that reducing carbon emissions is important.
Many experts agree with the consensus of opinion that reducing carbon emissions is very important.
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SHSAT English Language Arts Quiz

SHSAT English Language Arts Quiz: Removing Redundancy

Practice Removing Redundancy in SHSAT English Language Arts with focused quiz questions that help you check what you know, review explanations, and build confidence with test-style prompts.

What this quiz covers

This quiz focuses on Removing Redundancy, giving you a quick way to practice the rules, question types, and explanations that matter most for SHSAT English Language Arts.

How to use this quiz

Try each quiz question before looking at the correct answer. Use the explanations to review missed ideas, then come back to similar questions until the pattern feels familiar.

All questions

Question 1

Many experts agree that a consensus of opinion has formed about the importance of reducing carbon emissions.

Which revision best eliminates redundancy?

  1. Many experts agree that a consensus has formed about the importance of reducing carbon emissions. (correct answer)
  2. Many experts agree that a consensus of opinion has formed about the importance of reducing carbon emissions.
  3. Many experts have formed a consensus of opinion that reducing carbon emissions is important.
  4. Many experts agree with the consensus of opinion that reducing carbon emissions is very important.
Explanation: When you encounter questions about eliminating redundancy, you're being tested on your ability to identify and remove unnecessary repetition in writing. Redundancy occurs when words or phrases repeat the same meaning, making sentences wordy and inefficient. The key issue in the original passage is the phrase "consensus of opinion." This is redundant because a consensus already means a general agreement of opinion among a group. Adding "of opinion" unnecessarily repeats this meaning. Choice A correctly eliminates this redundancy by removing "of opinion" while preserving the sentence's original meaning. The phrase "consensus has formed" clearly conveys that experts have reached agreement without the redundant addition. Choice B is identical to the original sentence and keeps the redundancy intact, making it incorrect. Choice C rearranges the sentence structure but still contains "consensus of opinion," maintaining the same redundancy problem. Choice D not only keeps the redundant phrase but also adds "with the consensus" and "very important," creating additional wordiness without improving clarity. When revising for redundancy, look for phrases where one word already contains the meaning of another word in the same phrase. Common redundant pairs include "true facts" (facts are already true), "past history" (history refers to the past), and "advance planning" (planning is done in advance). The most effective revision removes the unnecessary word while maintaining the sentence's clarity and meaning.

Question 2

Paragraph: (1) The committee met at 3:00 p.m. in the afternoon. (2) After a brief introduction, they reviewed last month's minutes. (3) The treasurer presented a summary overview of the budget. (4) Members suggested several possible alternatives for fundraising.

Which sentence in the paragraph should be revised to remove unnecessary repetition?

  1. Sentence 1 (correct answer)
  2. Sentence 2
  3. Sentence 3
  4. Sentence 4
Explanation: When you encounter questions about unnecessary repetition, you're being tested on your ability to identify redundant words or phrases that don't add meaning to a sentence. Look for instances where the same information is conveyed twice using different words. Let's examine each sentence for redundancy. In sentence 1, "3:00 p.m. in the afternoon" contains unnecessary repetition because "p.m." already indicates afternoon time. Since "p.m." means "post meridiem" (after noon), adding "in the afternoon" repeats the same time information. This sentence should be revised to either "3:00 p.m." or "3:00 in the afternoon." Now let's check why the other options are incorrect. Choice B (sentence 2) uses "brief introduction" appropriately—"brief" describes the length of the introduction, adding meaningful information. Choice C (sentence 3) contains "summary overview," which might seem redundant, but these words serve slightly different purposes: "summary" indicates condensed information while "overview" suggests a broad perspective. Choice D (sentence 4) uses "several possible alternatives" without redundancy—"several" indicates quantity, "possible" suggests they're options to consider, and "alternatives" names what they are. The key strategy for these questions is to look for phrases where one word or phrase makes another completely unnecessary. Time expressions are common culprits—watch for redundancies like "a.m. in the morning," "advance planning," or "past history." When you spot these doubles, you've likely found your answer.

Question 3

In my personal opinion, the plan should be revised before we proceed further.

Choose the revision that removes redundant wording without changing the meaning.

  1. In my opinion, the plan should be revised before we proceed. (correct answer)
  2. My personal opinion is that the plan should be revised before we proceed further ahead.
  3. Personally, I think the plan should be revised before proceeding further.
  4. In my personal opinion, the plan should be revised before we proceed any further.
Explanation: When you encounter questions about redundant wording, you're being tested on conciseness and clarity in writing. The goal is to eliminate unnecessary repetition while preserving the original meaning completely. The original sentence contains redundancy in "In my personal opinion" — since all opinions are inherently personal, adding "personal" is redundant. Choice A correctly removes this redundancy by keeping just "In my opinion," which conveys the same meaning more efficiently. The rest of the sentence remains unchanged, preserving the original meaning perfectly. Let's examine why the other options fail. Choice B actually makes the redundancy worse by adding "further ahead," creating a double redundancy problem — both "personal opinion" and "further ahead" contain unnecessary repetition. Choice C introduces new redundancy with "Personally, I think," which essentially says the same thing twice, plus it changes "before we proceed" to "before proceeding," slightly altering the sentence structure. Choice D keeps the original redundancy of "personal opinion" intact and adds "any further," making the sentence wordier rather than more concise. The key strategy for redundancy questions is to identify words or phrases that repeat the same concept unnecessarily. Look for common redundant pairs like "personal opinion," "past history," "future plans," or "advance forward." Always choose the revision that says the same thing with fewer words while maintaining grammatical correctness and the exact same meaning.

Question 4

Scientists predicted in advance that the comet would be visible to the naked eye.

Select the most concise revision.

  1. Scientists predicted that the comet would be visible to the naked eye. (correct answer)
  2. Scientists predicted in advance beforehand that the comet would be visible to the naked eye.
  3. Scientists made a prediction in advance that the comet would be visible to the naked eye.
  4. Scientists had predicted in advance that the comet would be visible to the naked eye.
Explanation: When you encounter a concision question, you're being tested on your ability to eliminate unnecessary words while preserving the original meaning. The key is identifying redundant phrases or wordy constructions that can be streamlined. The correct answer is A because "predicted" already contains the meaning of "in advance." By definition, a prediction is a statement about what will happen in the future, so adding "in advance" creates redundancy. Choice A maintains the complete original meaning with fewer words, making it the most concise revision. Let's examine why the other options fail. Choice B makes the sentence even wordier by adding both "in advance" and "beforehand" – these phrases mean essentially the same thing, creating double redundancy. Choice C replaces the efficient verb "predicted" with the longer phrase "made a prediction," then keeps the redundant "in advance," making it more verbose than the original. Choice D adds "had" to create past perfect tense, which isn't necessary here and adds an extra word without changing the meaning significantly. Remember this pattern: when revising for conciseness, look for redundant modifiers that repeat information already contained in the main verb or noun. Words like "predicted," "planned," "prepared," and "anticipated" already imply advance action, so phrases like "in advance," "ahead of time," or "beforehand" are usually unnecessary. Always choose the revision that eliminates wordiness while preserving the complete original meaning.

Question 5

The committee reached a unanimous consensus to approve the new bylaws.

Which choice revises the sentence to eliminate redundancy most effectively?

  1. The committee reached a consensus to approve the new bylaws. (correct answer)
  2. The committee reached a unanimous consensus agreement to approve the new bylaws.
  3. The committee unanimously reached a consensus to approve the new bylaws.
  4. The committee reached a unanimous consensus of opinion to approve the new bylaws.
Explanation: Questions about eliminating redundancy test your ability to identify unnecessary repetition of ideas within a sentence. When you encounter these questions, look for words or phrases that express the same concept multiple times. The correct answer is A because it removes the redundant word "unanimous." The word "consensus" already means that everyone agrees—it's an agreement reached by all members of a group. Adding "unanimous" creates redundancy since both words convey the same idea of complete agreement. Choice A preserves the sentence's meaning while eliminating the unnecessary repetition. Choice B makes the redundancy worse by adding "agreement," which creates a triple redundancy: "unanimous consensus agreement" all express the same concept of complete group accord. Choice C keeps both "unanimous" and "consensus" but simply rearranges them, failing to eliminate the redundancy entirely. The sentence still contains the same unnecessary repetition. Choice D compounds the problem further by adding "of opinion," creating even more redundant language since consensus already implies a shared opinion or decision. When tackling redundancy questions on the SHSAT, remember that effective revision means saying more with less. Look for words that mean essentially the same thing and eliminate the unnecessary ones. Common redundant pairs include "close proximity" (close), "final outcome" (outcome), and "past history" (history). The goal is always to maintain the original meaning while using the fewest, most precise words possible.

Question 6

The ancient ruins were completely destroyed by the powerful earthquake.

Which revision best removes the redundant word without altering the meaning?

  1. The ancient ruins were destroyed by the powerful earthquake. (correct answer)
  2. The ancient ruins were completely destroyed in total by the powerful earthquake.
  3. The ancient ruins were totally destroyed completely by the powerful earthquake.
  4. The ancient ruins were completely and totally destroyed by the powerful earthquake.
Explanation: When you encounter questions about redundancy in writing, you're being tested on your ability to identify and eliminate unnecessary words that don't add meaning to a sentence. Redundant words or phrases repeat ideas that are already expressed elsewhere in the sentence. In the original sentence, "completely destroyed" contains redundancy because "destroyed" already means totally ruined or demolished. Adding "completely" doesn't provide any new information—something cannot be partially destroyed and still be considered "destroyed." Choice A correctly removes "completely" while preserving the sentence's full meaning. The word "destroyed" alone conveys that the ruins were entirely ruined by the earthquake. Choice B adds "in total," which creates the same redundancy problem as the original sentence. "In total" and "destroyed" express the same concept of completeness. Choice C makes the redundancy worse by including both "totally" and "completely," which mean essentially the same thing and both repeat what "destroyed" already implies. Choice D compounds the error by keeping "completely" and adding "totally," creating a double redundancy where three words ("completely," "totally," and "destroyed") all express the same idea of thoroughness. Strategy tip: When editing for redundancy, look for modifying words that don't actually modify the meaning. Words like "completely," "totally," "entirely," or "absolutely" are often redundant when paired with absolute terms like "destroyed," "unique," or "perfect." Trust that strong verbs and adjectives can stand alone.

Question 7

In order to successfully succeed in the competitive market, the company must innovate continuously.

Which revision best removes redundancy?

  1. To succeed in the competitive market, the company must innovate continuously. (correct answer)
  2. In order to succeed successfully in the competitive market, the company must innovate continuously.
  3. In order to succeed in the competitive market, the company must continuously innovate successfully.
  4. To successfully succeed, the company must continuously innovate in the competitive market.
Explanation: This question tests your ability to identify and eliminate redundancy—the unnecessary repetition of words or ideas that add no new meaning. When revising for conciseness, you should look for phrases where multiple words express the same concept. The original passage contains clear redundancy: "successfully succeed" uses both an adverb and verb that mean the same thing. To succeed already implies doing something successfully, so adding "successfully" is unnecessary repetition. Choice A correctly eliminates this redundancy by removing "successfully" and keeping "succeed." The phrase "To succeed" is also more concise than "In order to succeed," making this revision clean and efficient without losing any meaning. Choice B actually makes the redundancy worse by keeping both "successfully" and "succeed" while adding another redundant element—it now says "succeed successfully," which is painfully repetitive. Choice C creates new redundancy by adding "successfully" at the end. Now the sentence says the company must "innovate successfully," but this adds unnecessary wordiness since effective innovation is already implied. Choice D keeps the original redundancy of "successfully succeed" and just rearranges other words. Moving "continuously" doesn't fix the core problem of saying the same thing twice. When you encounter redundancy questions on the SHSAT, look for word pairs that essentially mean the same thing (like "successfully succeed," "end result," or "past history"). The best revision will eliminate the repetition while preserving the original meaning in the most concise way possible.

Question 8

The meteorologist made a prediction that future forecasts would include more extreme weather events.

Choose the most concise revision.

  1. The meteorologist predicted that future forecasts would include more extreme weather events. (correct answer)
  2. The meteorologist made a prediction that in the future the forecasts would include more extreme weather events.
  3. The meteorologist's prediction foretold that future forecasts would include more extreme weather events.
  4. The meteorologist issued a prediction forecast indicating more extreme weather events in the future.
Explanation: When you encounter revision questions asking for the "most concise" version, you're being tested on your ability to eliminate wordiness while preserving the original meaning. Look for unnecessary phrases, redundant words, and overly complex constructions that can be simplified. The correct answer is A because it eliminates the wordy phrase "made a prediction" and replaces it with the more direct verb "predicted." This revision cuts unnecessary words while maintaining the exact same meaning as the original sentence. Let's examine why the other options are less concise: Option B actually makes the sentence longer by adding the redundant phrase "in the future" when "future forecasts" already indicates timing. Option C introduces unnecessary wordiness with "foretold that" – using both "prediction" and "foretold" creates redundancy since they express the same concept. Option D is the wordiest choice, using the awkward phrase "issued a prediction forecast," which is redundant (predictions and forecasts are essentially the same thing), and then adds "in the future" when it's already implied. Notice how option A transforms the noun phrase "made a prediction" into the active verb "predicted." This noun-to-verb conversion is a classic conciseness strategy that appears frequently on standardized tests. Strategy tip: When revising for conciseness, look for opportunities to replace wordy noun phrases (like "made a decision," "gave consideration to") with their corresponding verbs ("decided," "considered"). Also watch for redundant time markers and synonymous words used together.

Question 9

The two companies collaborate together on several innovative projects every year.

Which option revises the sentence to remove redundant wording most effectively?

  1. The two companies collaborate on several innovative projects every year. (correct answer)
  2. The two companies collaborate together jointly on several innovative projects every year.
  3. The two companies jointly collaborate together on several innovative projects every year.
  4. Every year, the two companies collaborate in joint partnership together on several innovative projects.
Explanation: This question tests your ability to identify and eliminate redundancy in writing. When you encounter revision questions on the SHSAT, look for unnecessarily repetitive words or phrases that convey the same meaning. The original sentence contains redundant wording: "collaborate together." The word "collaborate" already means to work together, so adding "together" is repetitive and wordy. Effective writing eliminates such redundancies to create clearer, more concise sentences. Option A correctly removes the redundant "together" while preserving the sentence's full meaning. "The two companies collaborate on several innovative projects every year" communicates the same information more efficiently. Option B adds even more redundancy by including both "together" and "jointly." Since "collaborate," "together," and "jointly" all convey the same concept of working in partnership, using multiple terms creates unnecessary wordiness. Option C compounds the redundancy problem by keeping "together" and adding "jointly" before "collaborate." This creates a triple redundancy that makes the sentence awkward and verbose. Option D represents the worst revision, layering multiple redundant phrases: "collaborate in joint partnership together." This option transforms a simple concept into an unnecessarily complex and repetitive construction. When revising for redundancy on the SHSAT, ask yourself: "Do any words or phrases repeat the same meaning?" Look for common redundant pairs like "collaborate together," "join together," "combine together," or "merge together." The most effective revision typically removes the redundant elements while maintaining the sentence's original meaning and clarity.

Question 10

If we all cooperate together, we can finish the project ahead of schedule.

Select the revision that eliminates redundancy with precision.

  1. If we all cooperate, we can finish the project ahead of schedule. (correct answer)
  2. If we all work cooperatively together, we can finish the project ahead of schedule.
  3. If we all collaborate together as a team, we can finish the project ahead of schedule.
  4. If we all cooperate with each other, we can finish the project ahead of schedule.
Explanation: When you encounter a revision question about eliminating redundancy, you're looking for unnecessary words that repeat the same meaning. Redundancy occurs when multiple words or phrases express identical concepts. In the original sentence, "cooperate together" contains redundancy because "cooperate" already means to work together with others. Adding "together" repeats this collaborative meaning unnecessarily. Choice A correctly eliminates this redundancy by removing "together" while preserving the sentence's complete meaning. "If we all cooperate" clearly conveys that people are working together toward a common goal. Choice B makes the redundancy worse by keeping "together" and adding "cooperatively," which means the same thing as "cooperate." This creates a triple redundancy: cooperate + cooperatively + together. Choice C replaces "cooperate" with "collaborate" but keeps "together" and adds "as a team." Since "collaborate" already implies working together, and "as a team" reinforces the same concept, this choice maintains redundancy rather than eliminating it. Choice D keeps the original redundancy intact by maintaining both "cooperate" and the collaborative concept through "with each other." While "with each other" uses different words than "together," it expresses the same idea that's already contained in "cooperate." When revising for redundancy on the SHSAT, look for words that repeat meanings already expressed elsewhere in the sentence. The most precise revision eliminates unnecessary repetition while keeping the sentence's full meaning intact.

Question 11

She followed the traditional custom of sending thank-you notes after the wedding.

Identify the most concise wording.

  1. She followed the custom of sending thank-you notes after the wedding. (correct answer)
  2. She followed the traditional custom and sent out thank-you notes after the wedding ceremony.
  3. She adhered to the traditional custom that is customary of sending thank-you notes after the wedding.
  4. She followed the customary tradition of sending thank-you notes after the wedding.
Explanation: Questions about concise wording test your ability to eliminate redundancy and wordiness while preserving the original meaning. When you encounter these questions, look for unnecessary repetition, redundant phrases, and overly complex constructions. The most concise version maintains all essential information while removing unnecessary words. Choice A eliminates "traditional" because "custom" already implies an established, traditional practice. The sentence retains its complete meaning—she followed an established custom of sending thank-you notes—without the redundant modifier. Choice B changes the meaning by splitting the action into two parts ("followed" and "sent out") and adds unnecessary words like "ceremony." This makes the sentence longer and slightly alters the original structure. Choice C contains multiple redundancies: "adhered to" is more formal than needed, "traditional custom that is customary" repeats the same concept three times, creating awkward and wordy phrasing. Choice D uses "customary tradition," which is redundant since both words mean essentially the same thing—an established practice passed down over time. The key trap in conciseness questions is assuming that more formal or elaborate language sounds better. Remember that "traditional custom," "customary tradition," and similar phrases are typically redundant. One word usually captures the full meaning. When tackling these questions, read each choice aloud and ask yourself: "Does every word add necessary meaning?" The shortest option that preserves the original meaning is usually correct.

Question 12

On Saturday morning, the students gathered together in order to collaborate jointly on the group project.

Which revision of the sentence removes unnecessary redundancy while preserving its original meaning?

  1. On Saturday morning, the students gathered to collaborate on the group project. (correct answer)
  2. Because it was Saturday morning, the students came together so they could jointly collaborate on the project.
  3. On Saturday morning, the students gathered together for collaborating jointly on the group project.
  4. On Saturday morning, the students gathered together and collaborated jointly on the group project.
Explanation: This question tests your ability to identify and eliminate redundant phrases—words or expressions that repeat the same meaning unnecessarily. When you encounter revision questions about redundancy, look for words that essentially mean the same thing being used together. The original sentence contains two clear redundancies: "gathered together" and "collaborate jointly." The word "gathered" already implies coming together, so adding "together" is unnecessary. Similarly, "collaborate" inherently means working jointly with others, making "jointly" redundant. Additionally, "in order to" is wordy when a simple "to" conveys the same meaning. Choice A correctly eliminates all redundancy by removing "together," "jointly," and "in order to," while preserving the sentence's complete meaning. The revision is clean and concise. Choice B actually adds more redundancy by including "came together" (which repeats the gathering concept) and keeping "jointly collaborate." It also introduces unnecessary complexity with "Because it was Saturday morning" and changes the sentence structure awkwardly. Choice C keeps both original redundancies—"gathered together" and "collaborating jointly"—while making the sentence more awkward with "for collaborating." Choice D maintains both redundant phrases from the original sentence without making any improvements, simply connecting clauses with "and." Strategy tip: When tackling redundancy questions, read each phrase carefully and ask yourself: "Does this word add new meaning, or does it just repeat what another word already tells me?" The most concise version that preserves all essential meaning is typically correct.

Question 13

He returned back to the library to retrieve the book he had left behind.

Which revision most effectively removes redundancy?

  1. He returned to the library to retrieve the book he had left behind. (correct answer)
  2. He went back again to the library to retrieve back the book he had left behind.
  3. He returned back again to the library in order to retrieve the book he had left behind.
  4. He went again returning back to the library to retrieve the book he had left behind.
Explanation: When you encounter questions about redundancy, you're being tested on your ability to identify and eliminate unnecessary repetition in writing. Redundancy occurs when words or phrases repeat the same meaning, making sentences wordy and less effective. The correct answer is A because it removes the redundant word "back" from the original sentence. The verb "returned" already implies going back to a previous location, so adding "back" creates unnecessary repetition. Choice A maintains the sentence's meaning while making it more concise and clear. Let's examine why the other options fail. Choice B adds even more redundancy by including "again," "back," and "back" once more - tripling the redundancy problem. Choice C compounds the issue by adding both "back" and "again" to "returned," plus includes the wordy phrase "in order to" when a simple "to" suffices. Choice D creates the most awkward construction by stacking redundant terms: "went again returning back" uses three different words that all express the same concept of returning to a previous location. Remember that effective revision often means cutting unnecessary words rather than adding them. When you see revision questions on the SHSAT, look for the option that expresses the same idea most clearly and concisely. Watch especially for common redundant pairs like "returned back," "advanced forward," "past history," or "future plans" - the second word in each pair is usually unnecessary.

Question 14

Paragraph: (1) The parade will begin at exactly 10 a.m. sharp. (2) Streets will close 30 minutes earlier. (3) Spectators are advised to arrive early to secure good viewing spots.

Which sentence contains redundant wording that should be edited?

  1. Sentence 1 (correct answer)
  2. Sentence 2
  3. Sentence 3
  4. All three sentences are free of redundancy.
Explanation: When you encounter questions about redundant wording, you're being tested on your ability to identify unnecessary repetition that makes writing less concise and effective. Look for phrases where multiple words or expressions convey the same meaning. Let's examine each sentence carefully. In sentence 1, "The parade will begin at exactly 10 a.m. sharp," the phrase contains redundancy. Both "exactly" and "sharp" serve the same purpose—they emphasize precision in timing. When you say "10 a.m. sharp," you're already indicating that the time is precise, making "exactly" unnecessary. Either "The parade will begin at 10 a.m. sharp" or "The parade will begin at exactly 10 a.m." would be more concise. Looking at the other options: Choice B (sentence 2) uses clear, direct language without repetition—"Streets will close 30 minutes earlier" is concise and specific. Choice C (sentence 3) also avoids redundancy—"Spectators are advised to arrive early to secure good viewing spots" uses each word purposefully. Choice D suggests all sentences are free of redundancy, but we've identified the problem in sentence 1. The correct answer is A because sentence 1 contains the redundant pairing of "exactly" and "sharp." Study tip: When checking for redundancy, read each sentence aloud and ask yourself if any words repeat the same idea. Common redundant pairs include "past history," "final outcome," "completely finished," and "exactly... sharp." Training your ear to catch these doubles will improve your editing skills significantly.

Question 15

Paragraph: (1) First and foremost, we must prioritize safety. (2) Next, we should then consider cost implications. (3) Finally, the last point involves scheduling.

Which sentence contains the redundancy that should be revised?

  1. Sentence 1
  2. Sentence 2
  3. Sentence 3 (correct answer)
  4. No sentence is redundant.
Explanation: When you encounter questions about redundancy, you're looking for unnecessary repetition of words or ideas within a sentence that makes the writing wordy or awkward. Let's examine each sentence for redundant elements. In sentence 1, "First and foremost" is a common idiomatic expression that emphasizes priority without redundancy. In sentence 2, while "next" and "then" both indicate sequence, they work together naturally - "next" introduces the second point while "then" connects it to the previous idea. Sentence 3 contains clear redundancy: "Finally" and "the last point" express exactly the same concept. Both words signal that this is the concluding item in the sequence. Using both creates unnecessary repetition that weakens the writing. The sentence would be much cleaner as either "Finally, this involves scheduling" or "The last point involves scheduling." Choice A is incorrect because "first and foremost" is an established phrase that adds emphasis rather than redundancy. Choice B is wrong because "next" and "then" serve slightly different functions and flow naturally together. Choice D is incorrect because sentence 3 clearly contains redundant language. For SHSAT writing questions, always scan for words or phrases that repeat the same meaning unnecessarily. Common redundancies include "final conclusion," "past history," "advance planning," or as in this case, using multiple transition words that serve the identical purpose. Train your ear to hear when ideas are being stated twice.

Question 16

The reason that attendance declined was due to the fact that the lecture was scheduled during a holiday weekend.

Which option revises the sentence to eliminate redundancy most effectively?

  1. Attendance declined because the lecture was scheduled during a holiday weekend. (correct answer)
  2. The reason attendance declined was because the lecture was scheduled during a holiday weekend.
  3. The decline in attendance was due to the fact that the lecture was scheduled during a holiday weekend.
  4. Attendance declined for the reason that the lecture was scheduled during a holiday weekend.
Explanation: When you encounter a sentence revision question about redundancy, you're being tested on your ability to identify and eliminate unnecessary words that repeat the same meaning without adding value. The original sentence contains multiple redundant elements. "The reason that" and "was due to the fact that" both express causation, creating unnecessary repetition. Additionally, "due to the fact that" is a wordy phrase that can be simplified to a single word like "because." Option A eliminates all redundancy by removing "The reason that" from the beginning and replacing "was due to the fact that" with the simple, direct "because." This creates a clear, concise sentence that maintains the original meaning while using the fewest words necessary. Option B keeps "The reason" while also using "because," which creates redundancy since both express causation. You wouldn't say "The reason was because" in clear writing. Option C retains the wordy phrase "due to the fact that" instead of using the simpler "because." While it eliminates some redundancy, it's still unnecessarily verbose. Option D replaces one redundant phrase with another equally redundant one: "for the reason that." This doesn't solve the wordiness problem and actually makes the sentence more awkward. Strategy tip: When revising for redundancy, look for phrases that express the same concept twice (like reason + because, or due to the fact that instead of because). The most effective revision typically uses the simplest, most direct language while preserving the original meaning.

Question 17

The new museum exhibit provides an advance preview of artifacts never before displayed to the public.

Select the best revision for conciseness.

  1. The new museum exhibit provides a preview of artifacts never before displayed to the public. (correct answer)
  2. The new museum exhibit provides an advance preview in advance of artifacts never before displayed to the public.
  3. The new museum exhibit provides an advance preview previewing artifacts never before displayed to the public.
  4. The new museum exhibit provides an advance preview of artifacts never before publicly displayed to the public audience.
Explanation: When you encounter revision questions focused on conciseness, you're being tested on your ability to eliminate redundancy and wordiness while preserving the original meaning. The goal is to express the same idea using fewer words without losing clarity or important information. Choice A is correct because it removes the redundant phrase "advance preview." The word "preview" already means seeing something in advance, so adding "advance" creates unnecessary repetition. By eliminating this redundancy, the sentence becomes more concise while maintaining its original meaning perfectly. Choice B compounds the redundancy problem by adding "in advance" after "advance preview," creating a triple repetition of the same concept. This makes the sentence significantly more wordy without adding any new information. Choice C creates awkward repetition by following "advance preview" with "previewing." This creates both redundancy and poor sentence flow, as the gerund form "previewing" awkwardly echoes the noun "preview." Choice D adds unnecessary wordiness with "publicly displayed to the public audience." The phrase "never before displayed to the public" already conveys that these artifacts haven't been shown publicly, so adding "publicly" and "audience" creates redundancy and makes the sentence clunky. Study tip: When revising for conciseness, look for words or phrases that repeat the same meaning. Common redundant pairs include "advance preview," "past history," "future plans," and "end result." Always choose the version that eliminates repetition while keeping the meaning intact.

Question 18

The unexpected surprise of his arrival left everyone speechless.

Which revision eliminates redundancy with the greatest clarity?

  1. His unexpected arrival left everyone speechless. (correct answer)
  2. His completely unexpected surprise arrival left everyone totally speechless.
  3. Everyone was left speechless by his sudden and unexpected surprise arrival.
  4. The unexpected surprise when he arrived left everyone who was there speechless.
Explanation: When you encounter questions about eliminating redundancy, you're being tested on your ability to identify and remove unnecessary repetition while maintaining the sentence's original meaning and clarity. The original sentence contains a clear redundancy: "unexpected surprise." By definition, a surprise is something unexpected, so using both words together is repetitive and wordy. The goal is to keep the essential meaning while removing the redundant elements. Choice A correctly eliminates the redundancy by removing "surprise" and keeping "unexpected," which effectively conveys the same meaning as the original sentence. The revision is concise and clear: "His unexpected arrival left everyone speechless." Choice B makes the redundancy problem much worse by adding "completely" and "totally," creating multiple layers of unnecessary repetition. This choice goes in the opposite direction of what the question asks for. Choice C attempts to fix the problem but actually makes the sentence wordier and more awkward by adding "sudden and" while keeping the redundant phrase "unexpected surprise." The phrase "sudden and unexpected surprise" is even more repetitive than the original. Choice D keeps the original redundancy intact with "unexpected surprise" and adds unnecessary wordiness with "when he arrived" and "who was there," making the sentence longer and more cumbersome without solving the core problem. Remember: when eliminating redundancy, look for words or phrases that mean the same thing, then choose the clearest, most concise option that preserves the original meaning. Less is often more in effective writing.

Question 19

The company offered a free gift to every participant who filled out the survey.

Which revision best removes unnecessary repetition?

  1. The company offered a gift to every participant who filled out the survey. (correct answer)
  2. The company offered a complimentary free gift to every participant who filled out the survey.
  3. The company offered a free present to each and every participant who filled out the survey.
  4. The company offered a gift that was free of charge to every participant who filled out the survey.
Explanation: Questions about removing redundancy test your ability to identify and eliminate unnecessary repetition in writing. When you see "unnecessary repetition" in the question stem, look for words or phrases that convey the same meaning. The key issue in the original sentence is the phrase "free gift." This is a redundancy because a gift, by definition, is something given without charge. Adding "free" doesn't provide any new information—it just repeats what "gift" already means. Choice A correctly eliminates this redundancy by removing "free" and keeping just "gift." The sentence maintains its original meaning while being more concise and precise. Choice B makes the problem worse by adding "complimentary" alongside "free gift," creating a triple redundancy. All three words mean the same thing in this context. Choice C replaces "free gift" with "free present" and changes "every" to "each and every." This keeps one redundancy ("free present") and adds another ("each and every" means the same as just "every"). Choice D attempts to fix the redundancy but actually makes it more wordy by replacing "free" with "that was free of charge." While technically not redundant, this creates unnecessary wordiness when "gift" alone would suffice. Remember this pattern: when editing for concision, always ask whether each word adds new meaning. If two words mean essentially the same thing in context, choose the one that's more precise or commonly understood, and eliminate the other.

Question 20

During the summit, leaders from various different nations signed a historic agreement.

Identify the revision that best eliminates redundancy.

  1. During the summit, leaders from various nations signed a historic agreement. (correct answer)
  2. During the summit, leaders from different various nations signed a historic agreement.
  3. During the summit, leaders from various and different nations signed a historic agreement.
  4. During the summit, leaders from various different nations signed an agreement that was historic in nature.
Explanation: When you encounter a revision question asking you to eliminate redundancy, you're looking for words or phrases that repeat the same meaning unnecessarily. Redundancy occurs when multiple words express identical ideas, making writing wordy and inefficient. In the original sentence, "various" and "different" both convey the same concept—that the nations are not all the same. Using both words together creates redundancy because they're synonymous in this context. The most effective revision removes one of these duplicate terms while preserving the intended meaning. Choice A correctly eliminates the redundancy by keeping only "various" and removing "different." This creates a cleaner, more concise sentence that maintains the original meaning without unnecessary repetition. Choice B simply switches the order of the redundant words ("different various" instead of "various different"), but the redundancy remains since both words still appear together. Choice C makes the redundancy even more obvious by connecting the duplicate terms with "and," creating the phrase "various and different nations." This actually emphasizes the redundant construction rather than eliminating it. Choice D removes neither redundant word from the main phrase and adds new redundancy at the sentence's end with "an agreement that was historic in nature." The phrase "historic in nature" is wordy when "historic" alone suffices, creating additional unnecessary language. Strategy tip: When eliminating redundancy, identify words that mean essentially the same thing in context, then choose the most precise or concise option. Read your revision aloud—if it sounds repetitive or wordy, look for duplicate meanings you can trim.