Thanks everyone for their overwhelming participation in this question. Sorry about the delay in posting the solution. Here it comes:
Astronomers have
determined that at least one asteroid weighing about 130,000 metric tons flies very close to Earth about every 40 years and that one likely hits the planet about once every 1,200 years.
•
Astronomers have determined
• that at least one asteroid weighing about 130,000 metric tons flies very close to Earth about every 40 years
• and that one likely hits the planet about once every 1,200 years.
Astronomers have determined two things:
a. at least one asteroid that weighs about 130,000 metric tons flies very close to Earth.
b. one such asteroid likely hits Earth about once every 1,200.
Error Analysis•
Astronomers have determined
• that at least one asteroid weighing about 130,000 metric tons flies very close to Earth about every 40 years
• and that one likely hits the planet about once every 1,200 years.
1. All the SV pairs in the sentence are accounted for.
2. All the verbs are correctly written in present tense.
3. Verb-ing modifier “weighing” correctly modifies “asteroid”. Other modifiers also modify the correct entities.
4. The list is parallel and conveys logical meaning.
5.
This sentence has no errors.PoEA. determined that at least one asteroid weighing about 130,000 metric tons flies very close to Earth about every 40 years and that one likely hits:
Correct AnswerB. determined that one asteroid that weighs
at least about 130,000 metric tons flies very close to Earth about every 40 years and that one
hits:
Incorrect.Error 1 – Change in placement of “at least” changes the meaning of the sentence. Per the original sentence, at least one asteroid i.e. one or more asteroids that weigh 130,000 metrics tons fly very close to Earth. “at least” describes the quantity of “asteroids”. However, per this choice, one asteroid that weighs at least 130,000 metrics tons i.e. greater than or equal to 130,000 metric tons flies very close to Earth. Here “at least” describes the weight.
Error 2 – The word “likely” is missing in choice. Thus this choice turns the possibility of an asteroid hitting Earth in 1,200 years into a certainty.
C. determined that one asteroid weighing
at least about 130,000 metric tons flies very close to Earth about every 40 years and
one is likely to hit:
Incorrect.Error 1 – Same change of meaning error as in choice B because of placement of “at least”.
Error 2 – “that” should be repeated before “one” also to make the entities in the list obvious to avoid any ambiguity.
D.
determination of at least one asteroid that weighs about 130,000 metric tons,
flies very close to Earth about every 40 years, and
it likely hits:
Incorrect.Error 1 - “Scientists have determination” is not the same thing as “Scientists have determined”. This expression changes the meaning of the sentence.
Error 2 – Per this choice, the parallel entities are not as intended. As such the two things that scientists determined formed the parallel list. The weight part of information was just the description of the asteroids. In this choice, the weight information has been made parallel to the “fly” information.
Error 3 – Construction of this choice is incorrect. Either the connection of two verbs – weighs and flies - is not correct or the pronoun “it” is unnecessary since “likely hits” is the third verb in the list.
E.
determination of at least one asteroid weighing about 130,000 metric tons,
flying very close to Earth about every 40 years, and
hitting:
Incorrect. Error 1 – Same “determination” expression error as in Choice D.
Error 2 – Same meaning issue because of illogical unintended parallel list – “weighing”, “flying”, and “hitting”.
1. Watch for the change in the placement of certain words. These changes may lead to change in the intended meaning of the sentence.
2. The entities in the list must be both logically and grammatically parallel.
3. When there is a chance of ambiguity, it helps to repeat the elements that could otherwise be taken common. For example, in this sentence, it makes sense to repeat “that” for the second element as well so that it is clear that there are two things that the scientists determined.
Thanks.
Shraddha
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