---
title: "Edit text: American politics"
subject: "Communication English"
chapter: 3
key: "semester_5/communication_english:edit-text-american-politics"
source: https://www.bctengineer.com/q/semester_5/communication_english/edit-text-american-politics
site: BCT Engineering
---

# Edit text: American politics

Communication English · Chapter 3: Contextual Grammar

- Asked in: 2073 Chaitra, 5 marks
- Answer checked by Claude Opus 5.5 (high effort) on 2026-10-14
- Page: https://www.bctengineer.com/q/semester_5/communication_english/edit-text-american-politics
- Whole chapter: https://www.bctengineer.com/md/semester_5/communication_english/chapter-3

## Question

Edit the following text.
Some argue that american politics has become so polarized that politicians will argue merly to gain power, and the subject to debate is often negligible. The vigorous dispute over where to place a comma in the republican platform for example was motivated not by any significance change of meaning but a desire not to show any deference of the other side.

## Short answer

Capitalize 'American' and 'Republican'; change 'merly' to 'merely'; change 'subject to debate' to 'subject of debate'; add commas around 'for example'; change 'significance' to 'significant'; add 'by' before 'a desire'; change 'deference of' to 'deference to'.

## Answer

#### Edited text
Some argue that American politics has become so polarized that politicians will argue merely to gain power, and the subject of debate is often negligible. The vigorous dispute over where to place a comma in the Republican platform, for example, was motivated not by any significant change of meaning but by a desire not to show any deference to the other side.

#### Corrections made
- "american" and "republican" capitalised as proper adjectives.
- "merly" corrected to "merely".
- "the subject to debate" changed to "the subject of debate".
- Commas placed around "for example".
- "significance" changed to the adjective "significant".
- "but a desire" changed to "but by a desire" to keep the parallel structure with "by any significant change".
- "deference of the other side" changed to "deference to the other side".

## Check yourself

The answer's key points as multiple-choice questions, with the correct option and why.

1. Why are 'american' and 'republican' capitalised?
   A. They start a sentence
   B. They are proper nouns/adjectives
   C. They are verbs
   D. They are titles of books
   Answer: B. Proper names take capitals. (Key point: Proper adjectives)

2. 'The subject to debate' is corrected to
   A. the subject of debate
   B. the subject on debate
   C. the subject for debate to
   D. the subject at debate
   Answer: A. 'Subject of debate' is idiomatic. (Key point: Preposition)

3. Why is 'but a desire' changed to 'but by a desire'?
   A. To make it past tense
   B. To make it plural
   C. To remove a comma
   D. To keep parallel structure with 'by any significant change'
   Answer: D. Both parts need 'by'. (Key point: Parallel structure)

4. 'significance change' is corrected to
   A. significantly change
   B. signify change
   C. significant change
   D. significances change
   Answer: C. An adjective is needed before the noun. (Key point: Adjective)

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