doe007 wrote:
It took the museum decades of creative and persistent effort and it acquired the outstanding Rembrandt collection.
(A) and it acquired the outstanding Rembrandt collection
(B) before their outstanding Rembrandt collection had been acquired
(C) and finally it had an outstanding Rembrandt collection there
(D) but finally an outstanding Rembrandt collection was acquired at last
(E) to acquire its outstanding Rembrandt collection
Explanation:Concepts tested: Grammatical construction, Meaning, Redundancy
As the sentence starts with “it took decades of effort”, underlined part needs to start with infinitive mode “to + verb”. Only option E meets the criterion.
A) “And” is used incorrectly. Parts before “and” and after “and” are not correlated and the sentence does not convey the result of decades of effort. Wrong.
B) The sentence sounds like someone acquired Rembrandt collection. “Their” has no antecedent. Wrong.
C) “And” is used incorrectly. Parts before “and” and after “and” are not correlated and the sentence does not convey the result of decades of effort. Wrong.
D) Inappropriate use of “but”. “Finally” + “at last” --> redundant. It is not clear who acquired Rembrandt collection. Wrong.
E)
Correct. The sentence is grammatically correct and conveys meaning properly.
Correct Answer is E.