Dear Friends,
Here is a detailed explanation to this question-
Sukant2010 wrote:
The defense lawyer and witnesses portrayed the accused as a victim of circumstance, his life uprooted by the media pressure to punish someone in the case.
(A) circumstance, his life
(B) circumstance, and his life
(C) circumstance, and his life being
(D) circumstance; his life
(E) circumstance: his life being
Choice A: Option A links the independent and dependent clauses, appropriately, using the latter as a modifying phrase for the word "circumstance" and linking them through a comma. Thus, Option A is correct.
Choice B: In Option B, we see the clause "his life uprooted by the media pressure to punish someone in the case.", which is not an independent clause as it has no active verb. This clause is linked to the primary clause through the combination of a comma and the word "and". This method is not the appropriate way to link an independent clause with a dependent clause. Thus, Option B is incorrect.
Choice C: Option C suffers from the same error that Option B does. Additionally, Option C unnecessarily uses the word "being" to describe a state of existence. This use of “being” is a form of redundancy. Thus, Option C is incorrect.
Choice D: In Option D, we see the incorrect use of a semicolon to link an independent and dependent clause. Remember, the second clause is not independent, as it has no active verb. Thus, Option D is incorrect.
Choice E: In Option E, we see the incorrect use of a colon to link an independent and dependent clause. Option E also makes the error of using "being" to describe a state of existence. This error is quite similar to the redundancy error seen in Option C. Thus, Option E is incorrect.
Hence, A is the best answer choice.Option A may seem like an odd choice, as it has a rather unique modifier structure; in this structure, we find a noun followed by a participle at the beginning or end of the sentence. Such a structure is known as the absolute phrase and is used to provide additional information.
To understand the concept of “Past perfect Tense and the use of ‘Had’ on GMAT”, you may want to watch the following video (~2 minutes):
All the best!
Experts' Global Team
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