<p>Was this on a College Board test? While I cannot pretend to have read every official test, this type of question appears remarkably out of place. Why? Because the use of “comprised of” has become acceptable only because so many fools have repeated it incorrectly ad nauseam. It is one of those moronic aberration from which our modern languages is suffering. In itself, comprised of makes … no sense whatsoever.</p>
<p>I do not think that TCB might write a question that includes such questionable terms. </p>
<p>PS For what it is worth, the correct answer is usually the one that comprises the fewest letters! </p>
<p>Well, many people (at least I) have grown up only hearing comprised of. in fact, it was quite alarming yet interesting to find out that comprised was actually correct, as it is logically correct. </p>
<p>But it is true that collegeboard usually tries to avoid objectionable uses of terms ( or so I’ve read, to avoid being sued. </p>
<p>And the last trick works usually, but occasionally there are spin balls. So I just use the size of the sentence as an order in which I proceed to check the answer, from small to longest. But that should not be the “only” reason for choosing an answer (unless you are out of time… but try not to)</p>
<p>Hunt, the use of “comprised of” has become so ingrained in the mind of people that they would not believe the correct use of comprise. I am no different from you as the incorrect version is heard everywhere. I only notice because my European father never misses the opportunity to “try” to explain when “comprised of” is used incorrectly. Probably the handicap brought by a decade of learning Latin and Greek! </p>
<p>The point I raised is that it is doubfful that ETS/TCB would pick a questionable idiomatic expression. Simply stated, they do not have to rely on such device to “trick” people. Fwiw, I also do not buy the suggestion that ETS does trick people. But that is another story altogether. </p>
<p>PS On a last note, here is the explanation:</p>
<p>Take the sentence “The organization is comprised of 5 members” </p>
<p>After KNOWING that “comprise” means “include, contain.” Try substituting either of those for “comprise” in the original sentence.</p>
<p>The organization is included of 5 members.
The organization is contained of 5 members.</p>
<p>However, I still think that the neologism is best avoided when comprise is correct ALL the time and comprised of accepted by 2/3 of the ears. Many people also confuse the terms infer and imply, and who knows, in a few decades they’ll become interchangeable. </p>
<p>Comprendre n’est pas toujours facile ou à la portée de tous. :)</p>
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