Dear Friends,
Here is a detailed explanation to this question-
spriya wrote:
In metalwork one advantage of adhesive-bonding over spot-welding is that the contact, and hence the bonding, is effected continuously over a broad surface instead of a series of regularly spaced points with no bonding in between.
(A) instead of
(B) as opposed to
(C) in contrast with
(D) rather than at
(E) as against being at
Concepts tested here: Parallelism + Idioms + Redundancy/Awkwardness• Any elements linked by a conjunction (“instead of”, “as opposed to, “in contrast with”, and “rather than” in this sentence) must be parallel.
• “being” is only to be used when it is part of a noun phrase or represents the passive continuous verb tense; the use of passive continuous must be justified in the context.
A: Trap. This answer choice fails to maintain parallelism between “over a broad surface area” and “a series of regularly spaced points”; please remember, any elements linked by a conjunction (“instead of” in this sentence) must be parallel.
B: Trap. This answer choice fails to maintain parallelism between “over a broad surface area” and “a series of regularly spaced points”; please remember, any elements linked by a conjunction (“as opposed to” in this sentence) must be parallel.
C: This answer choice fails to maintain parallelism between “over a broad surface area” and “a series of regularly spaced points”; please remember, any elements linked by a conjunction (“in contrast with” in this sentence) must be parallel.
D: Correct. This answer choice maintains parallelism between the prepositional phrases “over a broad surface area” and “at a series of regularly spaced points”. Further, Option D is free of awkwardness and redundancy.
E: This answer choice incorrectly utilizes the word “being”, leading to redundancy; “being” is only to be used when it is part of a noun phrase or represents the passive continuous verb tense; the use of the passive continuous tense must be justified in context.
Hence, D is the best answer choice.All the best!
Experts' Global Team