In preparation for the cold winter months, it was the usual custom fo

Official Explanation

First, the Modifier during the summer is intended to modify the actions of gathering and preserving meat, but is placed instead between two constructions that it doesn’t modify. As a result, the sentence appears to be saying that the cold winter months occurred during the summer, or else that the actions described were only customary during the summer. Also, the initial modifier (in preparation for the cold winter months) should be placed next to the action that it modifies. The original also has problems with Parallelism: with smoke and by salting it are not properly parallel. Finally, usual custom is a redundant construction.

(A) This choice is incorrect as it repeats the original sentence.

(B) CORRECT. Both modifiers are placed correctly: in preparation for the cold winter months is correctly placed next to the actions that it describes, as is during the summer. Additionally, by smoking and by salting are properly parallel, and the redundant descriptor usual has been removed.

(C) The initial modifier is still misplaced; it should be placed next to the actions undertaken in preparation for winter, not next to the statement that it was the custom…. Additionally, with smoke and by salting are not properly parallel. Finally, this choice introduces an idiom error: as much is incorrectly paired with that (rather than the correct form, as much as).

(D) The modifier during the summer is placed improperly, suggesting that these actions ceased to be customary once summer ended. In addition, the presence of it destroys parallelism between smoking and salting it.

(E) The initial modifier is still misplaced; it should be placed next to the actions undertaken in preparation for winter, not next to the statement that it was usual…. In addition, the which modifier is not placed next to a noun, so it doesn’t logically modify anything; it should be placed next to meat. Finally, the use of the passive voice, while not ungrammatical or unidiomatic, alters the meaning; this usage creates a sentence in which we don’t know who smoked or salted the meat.

Answer: B