ELPAC Practice

Which sentence uses a comparison incorrectly?

Read a Student Essay · ELPAC Grades 6–8 reading. The correct answer, and the reasoning behind it.

An essay written as if by a classmate, with numbered sentences. The student finds the sentence containing the error.

Read the essay. Then answer the questions.

Our Street Needs a Protected Bike Lane

  1. Every morning, dozens of students ride their bikes to Jefferson Middle School along Grove Avenue.
  2. The street is wider than most in our town, but cars travel quickly on it, and the bike lane is only a painted line.
  3. Not long ago, a seventh grader was knocked off her bike by a car that turned without signaling.
  4. Fortunately, she was not seriously hurt, but many parents have stopped letting their children ride.
  5. A protected bike lane, which uses curbs or posts to separate bikes from traffic, would make the trip more safer.
  6. Cities that have built these lanes often see more people choose to ride.
  7. Some business owners worry that they will lose parking spaces in front of their shops.
  8. However, a bike takes up far less space than a car, so one parking space can hold several bike racks.
  9. Our student council has wrote a letter to the city council asking for a protected lane on Grove Avenue.
  10. If you agree, please sign it before the end of the month.

The question

Choose the best answer.

Which sentence uses a comparison incorrectly?

  • Sentence 2: “The street is wider than most in our town, but cars travel quickly on it, and the bike lane is only a painted line.”
  • Sentence 5: “A protected bike lane, which uses curbs or posts to separate bikes from traffic, would make the trip more safer.”Correct answer
  • Sentence 6: “Cities that have built these lanes often see more people choose to ride.”
  • Sentence 8: “However, a bike takes up far less space than a car, so one parking space can hold several bike racks.”

Why “Sentence 5: “A protected bike lane, which uses curbs or posts to separate bikes from traffic, would make the trip more safer.”” is correct

This tests comparative adjectives. Sentence 5 uses "more safer", which doubles up the comparison: a short adjective such as "safe" takes "-er" (safer) or, less commonly, "more", but never both. Every other choice also contains a comparison, which makes the student check each one rather than spot a comparison word.

Why the other answers are wrong

  • Sentence 2: “The street is wider than most in our town, but cars travel quickly on it, and the bike lane is only a painted line.” — "Wider than most" is the correct comparative form of "wide".
  • Sentence 6: “Cities that have built these lanes often see more people choose to ride.” — "More people" correctly uses "more" with a plural noun.
  • Sentence 8: “However, a bike takes up far less space than a car, so one parking space can hold several bike racks.” — "Far less space than a car" is correct; "less" is used with an amount such as space.

Practice more of this

More reading practice for Grades 6–8, or see the ELPAC practice test for grades 6–8. For other grades, see free ELPAC practice tests by grade.

This is an independent study resource. It is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or connected to the California Department of Education or the official ELPAC program. All questions here are original practice material written to match the published task formats.