Sentence Improvement – MBA CET questions with solutions

Approach: Correlative conjunction + inversion rule.

Solution: Rule: Hardly / Scarcely + had + subject + past participle + when + past simple.
A: 'Hardly had the meeting begun when several members left early.' — correct inversion and correct pairing.

Why the other options are wrong:
B: 'Hardly… than' is wrong; 'than' goes with 'No sooner'.
C: No inversion after 'Hardly' — 'Hardly the meeting had begun' is wrong.
D: Wrong word order — subject must come between 'had' and 'begun'.
E: 'Hardly… and' — wrong correlative.

Cetking shortcut: Hardly → when; No sooner → than. Then check inversion.

Answer: A

Approach: Correlative conjunction + inversion + tense consistency.

Solution: Rule: No sooner + had + subject + past participle + than + past simple.
C: 'No sooner had the bell rung than the students rushed out of the classroom.' — inversion, correct pair, both clauses in past.

Why the other options are wrong:
A: 'Rush' is present tense — breaks the past sequence.
B: 'No sooner… when' — wrong correlative.
D: Missing inversion ('the bell had rung').
E: Wrong word order — 'had rung the bell'.

Cetking shortcut: No sooner → than; then make sure the second verb is past simple.

Answer: C

Approach: Fix the idiom, then check the preposition.

Solution: The idiom is 'keep one's chin up' = stay positive in difficulty. So 'to keep his chin up despite failures and setbacks'.

Why the other options are wrong:
A — 'chin upwards' is not the idiom.
B — 'cheek' is wrong.
D — 'despite of' is ungrammatical.
E — the original 'cheek upwards' is wrong.

Cetking shortcut: Remember: despite = in spite of; never 'despite of'.

Answer: C

Approach: Check subject–verb agreement and parallelism.

Solution: Subject 'Effective breathing' (singular) takes three present-tense verbs: brings health to our organs, balances the nervous system, and calms the mind — parallel and correct. 'Bring health to' is the correct preposition.

Why the other options are wrong:
A, C — 'bringing' breaks parallelism and leaves no main verb; C also has 'into to'.
B — 'health in our organs' is the wrong preposition.
D — 'will bring' breaks the present-tense series.

Answer: E

Approach: Verb pattern: force + object + to + base verb.

Solution: 'I cannot force her to climb.' 'To climbing' is wrong because 'force' takes an infinitive, not 'to + -ing'.

Why the other options are wrong:
A In climbing, B For climb, C Over the climb, D With climb — none fits the 'force + object + to-infinitive' pattern.

Answer: E

Approach: Verb pattern: verb + object + to-infinitive must suit the meaning (request vs command).

Solution: 'Told his teacher to explain' sounds like an order, which does not fit a boy speaking to his teacher. A request is expressed by 'asked + object + to-infinitive'.
Correct: 'The boy asked his teacher to explain the passage.'

Why the other options are wrong:
A 'called his teacher to explain': means summoned, wrong sense.
B 'said to his teacher to explain': 'say' does not take object + to-infinitive.
D 'spoke his teacher': 'speak' needs 'to'; ungrammatical.
E The original is inappropriate in tone, so it needs improvement.

Answer: C

Approach: Check the part of speech and meaning of the highlighted word.

Solution: After 'efforts to' we need a verb (to-infinitive). 'Rehabilitate' is a verb meaning to restore to a normal, useful life after illness or disability, which is exactly what Helen Keller did despite her triple handicap. So no improvement is needed.

Why the other options are wrong:
A 'manage herself': vague, loses the idea of restoring.
B 'reinstate herself': means restore to a post or position, wrong sense.
C 'readapt herself': weaker and not the standard term for overcoming a disability.
D 'rehabilitation': a noun, cannot follow 'to' here.

Answer: E

Approach: Collocation: which verb the exam expects with 'the truth'.

Solution: Traditional grammar books pair 'truth' with SPEAK: 'He never speaks the truth' (and 'tell' with lies, stories, jokes). So 'speaks' replaces 'tells'.

Why the other options are wrong:
A 'says the truth': 'say' does not collocate with 'the truth'.
B 'utters the truth': unidiomatic.
D 'lives the truth': changes the meaning.
E 'No improvement': 'tells the truth' is common in everyday English, but CET follows the textbook collocation 'speak the truth', so an improvement is expected.

Cetking shortcut: In CET-style sentence improvement, the textbook pairings win: speak the truth, tell a lie, make a mistake, do one's duty.

Answer: C

Approach: Spot the error in each option: verb form, idiom, time expression.

Solution: B: "It looks as if it is going to rain this afternoon." — correct linking phrase, correct 'going to + base verb', idiomatic time phrase.

Why the other options are wrong:
A, E: 'looks likes' — wrong verb form after 'it looks'.
C: 'going to raining' — needs base verb 'rain'; also 'today afternoon'.
D: 'today's afternoon' is not idiomatic — 'this afternoon'.

Cetking shortcut: 'Today morning/afternoon/evening' is always wrong — use 'this'.

Answer: B

Approach: Ambiguous comparison.

Solution: "I can understand my sister better than my mother" has two readings: (i) better than I understand my mother, (ii) better than my mother understands my sister. D removes the doubt: "I can understand my sister better than I can understand my mother."

Why the other options are wrong:
A, B, C: Same ambiguity; B also uses 'more' where 'better' fits 'understand'.
E: 'I can understands' — modal must take base verb.

Cetking shortcut: In comparison questions, prefer the option that repeats the verb to make both sides clear.

Answer: D

Approach: Dangling modifier — who is doing the 'speaking'?

Solution: The subject right after the comma must be the person speaking with the Minister. In B: "While speaking with the Minister, we were informed…" — we were speaking with the Minister. Logical and grammatical.

Why the other options are wrong:
A, D: 'he' is unclear — 'he' (the Minister?) speaking with the Minister; 'In speaking' is also awkward here.
C: The Minister speaking with the Minister — illogical.
E: 'At speaking' is wrong; 'there was any payoffs' — agreement error.

Cetking shortcut: Read the -ing phrase and the first noun after the comma together; if they don't make sense as doer + action, reject.

Answer: B

Approach: Pronoun case — who (subject) vs whom (object).

Solution: Strip the inserted clause 'do you think': the teacher likes ___ the most. The blank is the object of 'likes' → 'him/her' → whom. A: "Of all the students in the class, whom do you think the teacher likes the most?" — formally correct, with 'the most' for a superlative among many.

Why the other options are wrong:
B, C, D: 'who' used as object of 'likes'.
E: 'who' as object and 'the teachers likes' — agreement error.

Cetking shortcut: He/him test: if the answer would be 'him', use whom.

Answer: A

Approach: Fixed conjunction pair Hardly… when.

Solution: Structure: Hardly had + subject + past participle … when + simple past. "Hardly had the train arrived when the passengers started boarding."

Why the other options are wrong:
A: Past continuous 'were starting' — not the simple past this structure needs.
C, D: 'than' goes with 'No sooner', not 'Hardly'; D also keeps present 'start'.
E: Past perfect in the second clause — boarding came after arrival, so simple past.

Cetking shortcut: Hardly/Scarcely → when; No sooner → than.

Answer: B

Approach: Preposition + gerund; keep the idiom intact.

Solution: 'habit of' → 'of' is a preposition, so the verb must be a gerund: passing.
The idiom is 'pass the buck' = shift responsibility to someone else; the article 'the' is part of it.
→ 'Vimal had a habit of passing the buck ...'.

Why the other options are wrong:
A pass to bucking — meaningless.
B passing buck — article missing.
D pass buck — wrong form and no article.
E pass bill — different (and wrong) idiom.

Answer: C

Approach: Fixed idiom with a fixed preposition.

Solution: Carry out an order to the letter = follow it exactly and precisely.
'with the letter' is not idiomatic, so it must be replaced.

Why the other options are wrong:
A for the letter — wrong preposition.
C by the letter — confuses with 'by the book'.
D into the letter — meaningless.
E — the given phrase is wrong.

Cetking shortcut: 'Follow/carry out to the letter' and 'by the book' are separate idioms — don't mix prepositions.

Answer: B

Approach: Parallel structure with 'and'.

Solution: 'He admired the speed ... and appreciated the method adopted by him.' — both verbs simple past, same subject 'He'.
'appreciating' breaks the parallel.

Why the other options are wrong:
A — 'appreciate' wrong tense.
C — base form + 'method of adoption' changes meaning.
D — base form + 'adopting method' is ungrammatical.
E — 'appreciating' is not parallel to 'admired'.

Cetking shortcut: Look left of 'and': the first verb's form decides the second.

Answer: B

Approach: Preposition after "doubts" + use of articles.

Solution: We have doubts about something (not "on"). "The feasibility of the proposal" needs "the" before both nouns because a specific feasibility of a specific proposal is meant. So: "expressed serious doubts about the feasibility of the proposal" — D.

Why the other options are wrong:
A: Keeps wrong "on" and drops "the".
B: "of proposal" drops the needed article.
C: "over" is not idiomatic here and "the" is dropped.
E: "doubts on" is incorrect.

Cetking shortcut: Fix the preposition first (about), then pick the option that keeps every article.

Answer: D

Approach: Fixed phrase "in detail" and noun agreement.

Solution: "Discussed in detail" is the fixed phrase (singular "detail", preposition "in"); "all the senior members of the committee" is correct — plural members, one committee. Nothing needs changing.

Why the other options are wrong:
A: "in details" is wrong; articles dropped.
B: "with detail" is not idiomatic.
C: "committees" changes the meaning to many committees.
D: "in details" and "all the senior member" are wrong.

Cetking shortcut: If the given part already uses the standard phrase, check each option for the one change it makes — every change here introduces an error.

Answer: E

Approach: Intransitive verbs cannot form a passive participle; "attribute X to Y".

Solution: "Attribute … to" is the correct preposition. "Occur" is intransitive, so "errors occurred during" (passive-style reduced clause) is wrong; the reduced relative clause must be active: "errors occurring during the experiment" (= errors that occurred). "The experiment" keeps the article. Option B.

Why the other options are wrong:
A: "errors occurred" (wrong participle) and "during experiment" (missing article).
C: "attributed … for" is wrong; "occurred" also wrong.
D: "for" is wrong and the article is dropped.
E: The original has the wrong participle "occurred".

Cetking shortcut: Intransitive verbs (occur, happen, arise, exist) never give a past-participle adjective clause — use the -ing form or "that occurred".

Answer: B

Approach: Verb pattern: force + object + to-infinitive.

Solution: 'Force' takes the pattern force someone to do something. So 'I cannot force her to play.' 'To playing' (gerund) is wrong after force.

Why the other options are wrong:
A: 'in playing' — wrong preposition and form.
B: 'for play' — wrong.
C: 'over the play' — changes meaning, ungrammatical.
D: 'with play' — wrong.

Cetking shortcut: Force / compel / allow / ask / tell + object + to + base verb.

Answer: E

Approach: Preposition with "hell-bent".

Solution: "Hell-bent" (determined at any cost) takes "on/upon" + -ing: "hell-bent upon getting". "At" is wrong. "Upon" is the formal form of "on", so option C "hell bent upon getting" corrects the sentence.

Why the other options are wrong:
A hell bent on getting: also an acceptable form; the key takes the formal "upon".
B for / D in: wrong prepositions with "bent".
E No improvement: "bent at" is incorrect.

Cetking shortcut: "Bent on/upon" = determined — never "bent at" or "bent for".

Answer: C

Approach: Third conditional — inverted form.

Solution: The result "I would have been able to read" is a past unreal result, so the condition is past perfect. "Had the room been brighter" is the inverted (if-less) third conditional and is the improvement the question expects; note that option D repeats the original text, so the setter treats C as the preferred form.

Why the other options are wrong:
A If the room was brighter: simple past — second conditional, wrong with "would have been".
B If the room are brighter: subject-verb error.
D If the room had been brighter: identical to the given part, so it is not a replacement.
E No improvement: rejected because D already reproduces the original.

Cetking shortcut: Third conditional: "If + had + V3" = "Had + subject + V3".

Answer: C

Approach: Dangling modifier — the doer of 'sitting' must come right after the comma.

Solution: As written, the sentence implies the moon was sitting in the garden. The people sitting were 'we', so 'we' must be the subject, in active voice.
Correct: 'Sitting in the garden, we saw the moon shining in the sky.'

Why the other options are wrong:
A. Keeps 'the moon' as subject — still dangling; also drops 'shining'.
C. Misspells 'shining' and keeps the dangling subject.
D. Misspelt, incomplete ('by …') and still dangling.
E. No improvement — the original is a dangling modifier.

Cetking shortcut: With an opening '-ing' phrase, the answer almost always starts with the human doer (we/he/she).

Answer: B

Approach: Sequence of tenses — past main verb → past form in the subordinate clause.

Solution: Main clause: 'The contractor did not keep his promise' (past). The promise clause must shift back: 'will' → would.
Correct: '… his promise that the work would be finished before the end of the week.'

Why the other options are wrong:
A. could — changes the meaning to ability, not a promise.
B. shall — present/future form; breaks sequence of tenses.
D. was — 'was be finished' is ungrammatical.
E. No improvement — 'will' is wrong after a past main verb.

Answer: C

Approach: Order of adjectives — opinion/condition → size → age → shape → colour → origin → material → purpose → noun.

Solution: 'Broken' describes condition (quality); 'wooden' is material. Material sits closest to the noun.
Correct: 'The principal was angry on seeing a broken wooden chair lying in the corridor.'

Why the other options are wrong:
B. 'Wooden and broken chair' — wrong order and an unnecessary 'and'.
C. 'Broken and wooden chair' — 'and' is not used between adjectives of different categories.
D. 'Broken chair wooden' — adjective after the noun; wrong.
E. No improvement — 'wooden broken' is the wrong order.

Cetking shortcut: Material adjective (wooden, golden, silk) always sits right next to the noun.

Answer: A

Approach: Pronoun–antecedent agreement and consistency of person.

Solution: The antecedent is Anyone — third person, singular. 'You' (second person) is wrong, and the verb must be singular.
Correct: 'Anyone interested in the use of computers can learn much if he or she has access to a personal computer.'

Why the other options are wrong:
A. 'one of them have access' — 'one … have' is wrong agreement; 'them' has no antecedent.
B. 'they have access' — plural; formal grammar keeps 'anyone' singular.
C. 'access can be available' — awkward passive; loses the person.
E. No improvement — 'you' does not match 'anyone'.

Answer: D

Approach: Faulty comparison — compare the same kind of things.

Solution: 'His movements' (plural thing) are being compared with 'a young man' (person) — illogical.
Use the plural pronoun those to stand for 'movements': '… as spirited as those of a young man.'

Why the other options are wrong:
A. 'a young man's' — elliptical and singular in form; 'those of' is the exact, plural match for 'movements'.
B. 'if a young man' — meaningless here.
C. 'of a young man' — still lacks the noun being compared.
E. No improvement — compares movements with a man.

Cetking shortcut: Plural noun compared → 'those of'; singular → 'that of'.

Answer: D