The process of removing (a) / wool from the body of (b) / an animal is called sharing. (c) / No error (d)
- (a)The process of removing
- (b)wool from the body of
- (c)an animal is called sharing.
- (d)No error
Correct — C, 'an animal is called sharing.' The process of removing wool from a sheep is called shearing, not sharing, so the segment names the wrong word and should read 'an animal is called shearing'. 'Shearing' comes from 'shear', to cut with blades, while 'sharing' means dividing something among people.
- (a)The process of removing — Error-free. 'The process of removing' is a correctly formed noun phrase with its gerund.
- (b)wool from the body of — Error-free. 'Wool from the body of' is a correct prepositional continuation of the phrase.
- (d)No error — There is an error — the segment prints 'sharing' where the sentence needs 'shearing' — so 'No error' is not the answer.
'Shearing' is the cutting away of a fleece; 'sharing' is dividing something between people, and a single letter separates them.
The word stands in the booklet as 'sharing', and that one-letter slip is the error the item is testing. Spotting-error items sometimes turn on a wrong word rather than on syntax, so read the words themselves and not only the structures.
- Shearing is the removal of a sheep's fleece; the verb is 'shear' and its past participle is 'shorn'.
- Skimming a familiar-looking word and missing that it is the wrong one.
- Looking only for agreement and tense faults in a spotting-error item.
Asked as a spotting-errors item — name the segment that contains the error, or mark 'No error'.
No directly related past PYQ was found.
- practice — not a real PYQ
Spot the error. The farmer sold (a) / the wool he had got (b) / from the sharing of his sheep. (c) / No error (d)
- (a)The farmer sold
- (b)the wool he had got
- (c)from the sharing of his sheep.
- (d)No error
Answer(c) from the sharing of his sheep — the cutting of a fleece is 'shearing', not 'sharing'.
- practice — not a real PYQ
Choose the correct word. The sheep were __________ before the summer set in.
- (a)shared
- (b)shorn
- (c)shattered
- (d)shored
Answer(b) shorn — 'shorn' is the past participle of 'shear'.