OFFICIAL EXPLANATIONProject SC Butler: Sentence Correction (SC1)
Quote:
Many children ride their bicycles at night unprotected by neither rudimentary safety equipment, reflectors, nor headlights.
A) neither rudimentary safety equipment, reflectors, nor
B) neither rudimentary safety equipment, reflectors, or
C) rudimentary safety equipment, reflectors, or
D) rudimentary safety equipment, reflectors, nor
E) either rudimentary safety equipment, reflectors or
• Meaning?The sentence means:
Many children who ride their bicycles at night fail to wear basic safety equipment, reflectors, or headlights.• Split #1: avoid double negatives--
unprotected (
not protected) and
neither are both negating words.
-- When two negating words are used in the same sentence, they create a double negative.
Wrong:
I do not like neither okra nor lima beans.Correct:
I like neither okra nor lima beans.Correct:
I do not like okra or lima beans.Options A and B create a double negative.
Furthermore, in B,
neither is improperly connected to
or.
-- The pairing
neither/nor is correct. (Never use a neither/or pairing.)
Eliminate A and B
Option C creates a double negative.
--
unprotected and
nor are both negating words that create a double negative
Wrong:
I will not eat okra nor cook lima beans.That last sentence sounds okay to most native speakers. It is probably not okay. (See the article I link to below.)
The word
nor negates what it refers to, so this sentence breaks down this way:
I will
not-- eat okra
--
not cook lima beans
Because of the double negative, it sounds as though I
will cook lima beans. Wrong meaning.
Option D creates a double negative with
nor. Eliminate D
(For a very short article about
nor and how to use it, go
here.
• Split #2: eliminate unnecessary wordsOption E uses . . .
unprotected by either X, Y, or Z.Option C uses . . .
unprotected by X, Y, or Z.→ we don't need
either. Option C is just fine without
either.
Eliminate E
The answer is (C)
NOTES Tip: when the logic of a sentence hinges on a negative construction such as
unprotected, rewrite the word in your notes.
We are not attempting to write elegant prose.
We are trying to track on logic.
We could rewrite
unprotected by as
not protected by or
without being protected by.Making the
not explicit helps us to focus on the items that are attached to that
not.
(The children do not wear X, Y, or Z.)
Would I strike an answer if it used
neither/nor or
either/or with more than two items?
No, I would not eliminate for that reason as the only or first basis. I would look for other errors.
As far as I recall, GMAC has not tested whether
neither/nor can be used with more than two items.
I doubt that GMAC will test the issue, which is highly contested.
→ GMAC does test whether a neither/nor or either/or construction is parallel.
→ GMAC may test whether you know that
neither, if paired, is always paired with
nor and is never paired with
or.
COMMENTSrajatchopra1994 , welcome to SC Butler.
This question is deceptively simple.
Some of you need to explain yourselves a little more.
"Subjunctive error," for example, doesn't tell a person what the error is.
A label is not an explanation.
Kudos go to those who were correct before the OA was revealed.
(If I get this time stamp thing wrong, PM me.)
Smiley faces to everyone else.
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