Read the following excerpt from a student essay. How can the writer best improve his or her grammar and mechanics?

Question

In 1932, pilot Amelia Earhart became the first woman to fly solo across the Atlantic Ocean. At that time, many women didn't know how to drive a car, and certainly far fewer understand how to fly an airplane. Earhart is remarkably brave and showed that women were just as capable as men of achieving greatness. One of Earhart's greatest aspirations was to be the first person to fly around the world. In March 1937, she set off from Oakland, California, but has problems with her plane. She makes a second attempt from Miami in June, but she and her plane disappear over the South Pacific. The mystery of her disappearance was never solved.

Answer 1

The writer can improve their grammar and mechanics by making the following revisions:

1. Change "certainly far fewer understand" to "and certainly far fewer understood," to match the past tense of the sentence.
2. Change "Earhart is remarkably brave" to "Earhart was remarkably brave," to maintain past tense consistency.
3. Change "has problems with her plane" to "had problems with her plane," for past tense consistency.
4. Change "but she and her plane disappear" to "but she and her plane disappeared," for past tense consistency.
5. Change "The mystery of her disappearance was never solved" to "The mystery of her disappearance has never been solved," for clarity and to maintain past tense consistency throughout the paragraph.