Early cities rely on food and water / from the surrounding countryside, / but today cities often depend on distant sources. / No error
- (a)Early cities rely on food and water
- (b)from the surrounding countryside,
- (c)but today cities often depend on distant sources.
- (d)No error
Correct — A, 'Early cities rely on food and water.' The sentence contrasts early cities with 'today', so the first clause describes the past and needs the past tense 'relied' — 'Early cities relied on food and water'.
- (b)from the surrounding countryside, — Error-free — a correct prepositional phrase describing the source.
- (c)but today cities often depend on distant sources. — Error-free — 'today ... depend' correctly uses the present tense for the present-day contrast.
- (d)No error — Wrong — segment (a) uses the present 'rely' where the contrast with 'today' requires the past tense 'relied'.
An error-spotting item on tense consistency — a clause about 'early cities' set against 'today' should be in the past tense to match the time contrast the sentence draws.
No directly related past PYQ was found.
- practice — not a real PYQ
Spot the error: (a) In the past, farmers / (b) depend on / (c) the monsoon rains. / (d) No error
- (a)In the past, farmers
- (b)depend on
- (c)the monsoon rains.
- (d)No error
Answer(b) depend on — 'In the past' requires the past tense 'depended'.
- practice — not a real PYQ
Fill in the blank: Long ago, people ____ on rivers for transport.
- (a)rely
- (b)relied
- (c)relies
- (d)are relying
Answer(b) relied — the past-time marker 'Long ago' calls for the past tense.