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Difficulty: MediumComparatives and Superlatives

The following sentence compares the architectural features of two historic buildings. Complete the sentence by filling in the blanks with the correct comparative and referential words to form a grammatically correct and logical comparison.

Answer:Although both monuments are grand, the columns of the Supreme Court Building are taller 【than】 【those】 of the nearby Library of Congress.

Answer

than those (or than the columns)
The correct response requires 'than' to form the comparison and 'those' (or a plural equivalent) to refer back to the plural noun 'columns'. This ensures a grammatically correct and logical comparison of architectural elements.

Step-by-Step Solution

1
Identify the two entities being compared.
The columns of the Supreme Court Building are compared to the columns of the Library of Congress.
Establishing the comparison targets helps determine the correct number (singular or plural) for referential pronouns.
2
Choose the correct comparative conjunction.
Use 'than' to connect the two compared elements.
The word 'than' is the correct conjunction for comparisons, whereas 'then' is a homophone used for time or sequence.
3
Select a plural pronoun to complete the comparison logically.
Use 'those' (or 'the columns') before the preposition 'of'.
Since the compared noun 'columns' is plural, the plural pronoun 'those' is required to ensure a logical comparison (comparing columns to columns, rather than columns to a building).

Key Concept

Logical comparisons (comparative conjunctions and referential pronouns)
Estimated Time:1m 0s
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Topics

Comparatives and Superlatives

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