Dear Friends,
Here is a detailed explanation to this question-
smashingpumpkins wrote:
Federal legislation establishing a fund for the cleanup of sites damaged by toxic chemicals permits compensating state governments for damage to their natural resources but does not allow claims for injury to people.
(A) compensating state governments for damage to
(B) compensating state governments for the damaging of
(C) giving state governments compensation for damaging
(D) giving compensation to state governments for the damage of
(E) the giving of compensation to state governments for damaging
Concepts tested here: Parallelism + Idioms + Awkwardness/Redundancy• Any elements linked by a conjunction (“but” in this case) must be parallel.
• When “damage” is used as a noun, “damage to” is the correct, idiomatic usage.
A: Correct. This answer choice maintains parallelism between “permits compensating state governments for damage to their natural resources” and “does not allow claims for injury to people”. Further, Option A correctly uses the idiomatic construction “damage to”. Additionally, Option A is free of any awkwardness or redundancy.
B: This answer choice fails to maintain parallelism between “permits compensating state governments for the damaging of their natural resources” and” does not allow claims for injury to people”; please remember, any elements linked by a conjunction (“but” in this case) must be parallel. Further, Option B uses the passive voice construction “the damaging of”, rendering it awkward and needlessly wordy.
C: This answer choice fails to maintain parallelism between “giving state governments compensation for damaging their natural resources” and "does not allow claims for injury to people”; please remember, any elements linked by a conjunction (“but” in this case) must be parallel. Further, Option C uses the passive and needlessly wordy constructions “giving state governments compensation” and “for damaging”, leading to awkwardness and redundancy.
D: This answer choice fails to maintain parallelism between “giving compensation to state governments for the damage of their natural resources” and "does not allow claims for injury to people”; please remember, any elements linked by a conjunction (“but” in this case) must be parallel. Further, Option D incorrectly uses the unidiomatic construction “damage of”; please remember, when “damage” is used as a noun, “damage to” is the correct, idiomatic usage. Additionally, Option D uses the passive and needlessly wordy construction “giving compensation to state governments” leading to awkwardness and redundancy.
E: This answer choice fails to maintain parallelism between “the giving of compensation to state governments for damaging their natural resources” and "does not allow claims for injury to people”; please remember, any elements linked by a conjunction (“but” in this case) must be parallel. Further, Option E uses the needlessly wordy constructions “the giving of” and “for damaging”, leading to awkwardness and redundancy.
Hence, A is the best answer choice.All the best!
Experts' Global Team