S94-07

Official Solution:

A new analysis of ruins on the northernmost tip of Newfoundland reveals that the Viking settlement there is almost 600 years as old as the supposedly first North American colony.

A. as old as the supposedly
B. older than the supposedly
C. as old as the supposed
D. older than their supposed
E. as old as its first supposedly


The comparison in this sentence is unidiomatic and distorts the meaning of the sentence. The sentence should reflect that the Viking outpost has been found to predate its supposed predecessor in North America by 600 years. This sentence incorrectly expresses this comparison in age using the idiomatically incorrect as old as; this construction is only useful for comparing things of the same age. To express that one thing is older than another, we use "older than", and our correct answer choice must contain a correctly formed comparison.

Choice B uses older than without introducing additional errors. The Viking settlement is actually older than the supposedly first settlement.

Choices C and E both fail to correct the idiomatic error and are therefore incorrect.

Choice D uses their, which does not have an antecedent within the sentence.


Answer: B