Mechmeera wrote:
The vice-president of engineering argued that the biggest advantage of the proposed alloy for the designs of the new fuselage would lay in not its unusually light weight but in its superior resistance to the corrosive influence of the elements.
a. would lay in not its
b. would lie not in its
c. will lie in not their
d. will lay not in its
e. would lay in not their
The word
lay is something we call a transitive verb, which means it must be used with a
stated object. In other words, if we use the word
lay, we must state the object that is the
recipient of this verb.
For example, in the sentence
Kwan lays the book on the table, the verb is
lays. Kwan is the SUBJECT performing that action, and the book is the OBJECT that is receiving the action.
Since we have a clear,
stated object receiving the action, the word
lay is correctly used.
Conversely, we use the word
lie when there is NO
stated object receiving the action.
For example, in the sentence
Cornelius lies on the sofa, the verb is
lies, and Cornelius is the SUBJECT performing that action.
Notice that there is no
stated object receiving the action. Sure, one might say that Cornelius is the object here, but this is
implied, not stated. Since there is no
stated object receiving the action, the word
lies is correctly used.
---------------------------------
Now onto the question....
The vice-president of engineering argued that the biggest advantage of the proposed alloy for the designs of the new fuselage
would lay in not its unusually light weight but in its superior resistance to the corrosive influence of the elements.
When we see the word
lay, we should ask "What is being laid?" Since there is no stated object (that is being laid), the word
lay is incorrect here.
ELIMINATE A, D and E
This leaves
B) would lie not in its
C) will lie in not their
We know that the
advantage . . . lies in
Since
advantage is SINGULAR, we need the SINGULAR "its"
Answer:
B
Cheers,
Brent
