Why is verb to 'be' omitted before 'tested' in the following sentence?
Almost a fifth of all chickens (18 per cent) tested positive for the bug above the highest level of contamination
This is an intransitive meaning of "to test". From the Oxford Dictionary:
"[ no obj., with complement ] produce a specified result in a medical test, especially a drugs test or AIDS test: he tested positive for steroids during the race."
27 พฤศจิกายน 2014
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More simply, "they tested positive". No need for "be" here. Tested is the verb, past tense of to test.