Choose the best word to fill in the blank in each sentence, precede or proceed.
"The gravel lot that had surrounded the diner was occupied now by a great cube of brown-tinted glass, the branch of a statewide bank. Yellow arrows painted on the smooth asphalt told automobiles how to _____ to the drive-in windows." (John Updike, "One More Interview." Trust Me. Alfred A. Knopf, 1987)
"Every three months he visited our church, stayed at Momma's over the Saturday night and preached a loud passionate sermon on Sunday. He collected the money that had been taken in over the _____ months, heard reports from all the church groups and shook hands with the adults and kissed the children." (Maya Angelou, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings. Random House, 1969)
After detaining us for almost an hour, the guard finally let us _____ .
"[M]ost children need a break after a long sedentary day at school. Relaxing and letting off steam, preferably through some kind of outdoor physical exercise, should always _____ settling back down to schoolwork." (Natalie Rathvon, The Unmotivated Child. Fireside, 1996)
"Joe Louis knocked out Hitler's champion Max Schmeling in 1938, famously donated the _____ of two fights to the navy and army fund, and put on morale-boosting boxing exhibitions for the troops." (Fog of War: The Second World War and the Civil Rights Movement, ed. by Kevin M. Kruse and Stephen Tuck. Oxford University Press, 2012)
In English sentences, subjects usually _____ their verbs.
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Answers:
"The gravel lot that had surrounded the diner was occupied now by a great cube of brown-tinted glass, the branch of a statewide bank. Yellow arrows painted on the smooth asphalt told automobiles how to proceed to the drive-in windows." (John Updike, "One More Interview." Trust Me. Alfred A. Knopf, 1987)
"Every three months he visited our church, stayed at Momma's over the Saturday night and preached a loud passionate sermon on Sunday. He collected the money that had been taken in over the preceding months, heard reports from all the church groups and shook hands with the adults and kissed the children." (Maya Angelou, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings. Random House, 1969)
After detaining us for almost an hour, the guard finally let us proceed.
"[M]ost children need a break after a long sedentary day at school. Relaxing and letting off steam, preferably through some kind of outdoor physical exercise, should always precede settling back down to schoolwork." (Natalie Rathvon, The Unmotivated Child. Fireside, 1996)
"Joe Louis knocked out Hitler's champion Max Schmeling in 1938, famously donated the proceeds of two fights to the navy and army fund, and put on morale-boosting boxing exhibitions for the troops." (Fog of War: The Second World War and the Civil Rights Movement, ed. by Kevin M. Kruse and Stephen Tuck. Oxford University Press, 2012)
In English sentences, subjects usually precede their verbs.