Which of the following choices will most improve this sentence? If the sentence is ok, choose (A).
To judge the Tidy City contest, we picked an uninterested party.
(A.) picked an uninterested party.
(B.) picked an interested party!
(C.) picked a disinterested party.
(D.) are in the process of picking an uninterested party.
(E.) picked an disinterested party.
This question has one purpose: to see if you know the difference between “uninterested” and “disinterested.” If I am uninterested in something, I am apathetic toward it. On the other hand, if I am disinterested in something, it means that I am impartial. If I took someone to court, I would want a disinterested judge to hear the case—a judge who was not playing favorites. The judge for the Tidy City contest needs to be disinterested. An uninterested judge would just choose anything without any kind of deliberation. A disinterested judge would consider all of the entries fairly and equally, and only make a decision after careful deliberation. That said, we know we can eliminate (A) and (D). What about (B)? (B) would be ok on its own; but we want a choice that improves the sentence. (B) doesn’t really improve it. The fact that a judge is interested in participating does not guarantee his/her impartiality. That leaves (C) and (E). (E) is wrong because it says “an disinterested party.” I don’t need to explain why that’s wrong, do I? The answer is (C).
source: testprepreview.com
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