Question

Select an appropriate alternative to the underlined words. If it cannot be improved, select option D.
In the past, hurricanes were given women's names, now they are given names of both men and women.

• A. women's names, now their
• B. womens' names, now they are
• C. women's names; now they are
• D. no improvement

Answer 1

The correct option is D no improvement

Option A: As compared to the underlined words in the text: "now they are", option A, 'now their' does not improve the sentence. 'Their' and 'they are' do not nearly mean the same. 'Their' is a possessive adjective whereas 'they are' is made up of a personal pronoun 'they' + verb 'are'.
'Their' expresses possession of something, but here it is followed by a verb 'given'. 'Their' cannot perform an action 'given'. Hence this isn't an appropriate option. A is incorrect.
Option B: 'Women' is a plural noun, hence 'womens' is grammatically incorrect. Some nouns do not require an 's' to make them plural, like women, men, children, oxen, etc. Hence option B is incorrect.
Option C: 'Women's names; now they are'
The semi-colon ';' does not improve the sentence. A semi-colon is used to separate two independent clauses in a sentence, which are not connected through connecting words, conjunctions.
The underlined part is joined using the word 'now'. Hence these clauses are already connected. In this case, a comma ',' is preferred over a semi-colon ';'. Hence option C is incorrect.
Since none of the options can improve the sentence, it is established that the sentence does not need an improvement. Hence, D is the correct option.