973. No matter how patiently they explain their reasons for confiscating certain items, travelers often treat customs inspectors like wanton poachers rather than government employees.
(A) travelers often treat customs inspectors like wanton poachers rather than government employees
(B) travelers often treat customs inspectors as wanton poachers instead of government employees
(C) travelers often treat customs inspectors as if they were not government employees but wanton poachers
(D) customs inspectors are often treated by travelers as if they were wanton poachers rather than government employees
(E) customs inspectors are often treated not like government employees but wanton poachers by travelers
Solution:
Modifiers + Idioms
A, B, and C are clearly incorrect since they have a misplaced modifier (it’s not the “travelers” who confiscate the items as the choices wrongly indicate, but the “custom inspectors”)
E: "by travelers" is too far away from the verb “treated” and hence, leads to ambiguity.
An adverbial modifier such as "by travelers" need not be right next to the verb, but it should be close enough to be unambiguous. Moreover, "not like X, but Y" doesn’t maintain parallelism. There should be “like” after “but”. Furthermore, “as” would be preferred here over “like”.
D: the best choice. “No matter how patiently they explain their reasons for confiscating certain items, customs inspectors are often treated by travelers as if they were wanton poachers rather than government employees”
Sentence Correction - 1000 Questions with Solution:
(A) travelers often treat customs inspectors like wanton poachers rather than government employees
(B) travelers often treat customs inspectors as wanton poachers instead of government employees
(C) travelers often treat customs inspectors as if they were not government employees but wanton poachers
(D) customs inspectors are often treated by travelers as if they were wanton poachers rather than government employees
(E) customs inspectors are often treated not like government employees but wanton poachers by travelers
Solution:
Modifiers + Idioms
A, B, and C are clearly incorrect since they have a misplaced modifier (it’s not the “travelers” who confiscate the items as the choices wrongly indicate, but the “custom inspectors”)
E: "by travelers" is too far away from the verb “treated” and hence, leads to ambiguity.
An adverbial modifier such as "by travelers" need not be right next to the verb, but it should be close enough to be unambiguous. Moreover, "not like X, but Y" doesn’t maintain parallelism. There should be “like” after “but”. Furthermore, “as” would be preferred here over “like”.
D: the best choice. “No matter how patiently they explain their reasons for confiscating certain items, customs inspectors are often treated by travelers as if they were wanton poachers rather than government employees”
Sentence Correction - 1000 Questions with Solution: