Massachusetts Tests for Educator Licensure (MTEL):
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Response and Rationale for Writing Subtest Sample Question #40

Answer: Anyone who raises his or her hand is automatically a volunteer.

 

Rationale: “Anyone” is an indefinite pronoun, which means a pronoun that does not refer to any specific person or thing. It is singular; therefore it takes a singular pronoun. But it becomes complicated because it has no gender. “anyone” could be either male or female. So it is correct to say “his or her.” However, it may be a smoother grammatical construction to change the whole sentence to the plural: “Those who raise their hands are automatically volunteers.”

 

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