English entrance exam, 2013 E.C. (2021)

The blank asks about frequency, so the answer must ask how many times something happens in a period.

"How often do you go to the gym?" fits an answer such as "Three times a week." "With who" asks about company and "Which place" asks about location, so neither matches a talk about training and weight. "How many times" is complete only when a time phrase follows it, for example "How many times a week...?"

Rule: Use "How often" to ask about the frequency of a repeated action.

The sentence compares the new team with the old one and says the two are equal in experience.

English builds that comparison with as + adjective + as: "Each member is as experienced as those we had in the last round."

"Very experienced as" is the tempting choice, but only "as" can open this comparison; "very" cannot. "So experienced" needs a "that" clause after it, and "much experienced as" has lost the first "as".

Rule: To say two things are equal, use as + adjective + as.

Try the whole sentence with each choice. Only "You might" gives correct English: "You might need to report it to the police."

"Might" softens the advice, which is normal when you suggest a serious step to a friend.

"It is important you" is the trap. After "It is important that you" we use a plain verb, "you report it", so adding "need to" says the same idea twice. "It is that you" and "The right is you" are not English patterns.

Rule: After "It is important that", use a plain verb form, not "need to".

The blank starts a relative clause that describes "the books", and books are things, not people.

"Which" (or "that") is the relative pronoun for things: "the books which she got from the library".

"Whom" and "whose" point to people, and "those" is a demonstrative word, so it cannot join the two clauses.

Rule: Use who or whom for people and which or that for things when a relative clause describes a noun.

Textbook: Grade 12 English, Unit 6, section 6E.1 Relative Pronouns.

The blank is about a skill the applicant already has, so the sentence needs a modal of ability.

"Can" carries that meaning: "if you can neatly type at least 60 words per minute".

"May" would talk about permission or possibility, "will" about the future, and "would" about an imagined situation, so none of them describes a typing skill.

Rule: Use "can" or "be able to" for present ability.

"May" plus a base verb says that something is possible. Here the conflict is a real risk whenever the dry season arrives, which is why the government must act on the water shortage.

"Shall" is used for offers and suggestions with I and we, and "would" needs a past or imaginary frame, so neither fits this general statement.

Rule: may + base verb means it is possible that this happens.

Note: "will" is also used for events that repeat in a predictable way, so choice A can be defended here too.