Clarity Through Grammar/Mechanics Practice Test

A city council is debating whether to replace a busy four-way stop near two schools with a roundabout. In a memo, the transportation director argues that roundabouts reduce severe crashes by slowing turning traffic and eliminating head-on collisions. The director notes that in the past three years, the intersection averaged 18 minor fender-benders annually and two injury crashes, mostly from hurried left turns during afternoon pickup. Some residents worry that students will be confused, but the director points out that nearby towns added roundabouts and reported fewer ambulance calls. After reviewing the crash reports, the director told the council the roundabout would make the intersection safer for students in a letter. Which revision most improves clarity of the bolded sentence?

Read the following excerpt from a magazine essay (7 sentences). The writer argues that workplaces should reduce unnecessary meetings.

My office calendar is a mosaic of rectangles labeled “sync,” “touch base,” and “quick check-in.” None of them are quick, and most of them exist to prove that we are busy. When a team meets without an agenda, the loudest voice fills the time like air in an empty jar. We often leave the conference room frustrated, having solved nothing, and the emails that follow make it worse. The problem is not collaboration; it is collaboration without purpose. A written plan, shared in advance, would let people think before they speak. If managers want productivity, they should treat meetings as a tool, not a habit.

Which change best clarifies meaning in the bolded sentence?