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The energy source on Voyager 2 is not a nuclear reactor, in [#permalink]
 19 Jan 2012, 22:43
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74% (01:25) correct
25% (00:32) wrong based on 27 sessions
The energy source on Voyager 2 is not a nuclear reactor, in which atoms are actively broken apart; rather a kind of nuclear battery that uses natural radioactive decay to produce power. (A) apart; rather (B) apart, but rather (C) apart, but rather that of (D) apart, but that of (E) apart; it is that of isnt "a kind of nuclear battery ..." a clause? if yes, why cant i connect the 2 clauses with a semi colon using rather?Please explain
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Re: semi colon and comma [#permalink]
19 Jan 2012, 23:05
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Answer is B.
You can not use a semicolon since you do not have two independent clauses.
The following can not stand alone on its own:
Rather a kind of nuclear battery that uses natural radioactive decay to produce power.
It is dependent on the preceding clause. It is also unidiomatic. The idiom is - "not X, but rather Y"
So you have to stick with it. This eliminates A and E.
Parallelism eliminates C and D.
not a nuclear reactor, but rather a kind of battery. Adding that messes it all up.
Hope this helps.
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Re: semi colon and comma [#permalink]
20 Jan 2012, 00:35
Thanks, would the following construction be right?
The energy source on Voyager 2 is not a nuclear reactor, in which atoms are actively broken apart; it is a kind of nuclear battery that uses natural radioactive decay to produce power.?
also, isnt nuclear battery a noun and uses a verb for the sentence post the semi colon in the original question to qualify as a clause
just trying to get my concept clear
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Re: semi colon and comma [#permalink]
20 Jan 2012, 09:24
The sentence requires the use of a conjunction which brings in contrast .Hence the use of but is a must here.I think an independent clause cannot begin with rather although there might be an independent subject and verb etc.The use of rather itself brings in a sense of dependency .
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Re: semi colon and comma [#permalink]
20 Jan 2012, 17:16
devinawilliam83 wrote: Thanks, would the following construction be right?
The energy source on Voyager 2 is not a nuclear reactor, in which atoms are actively broken apart; it is a kind of nuclear battery that uses natural radioactive decay to produce power.?
also, isnt nuclear battery a noun and uses a verb for the sentence post the semi colon in the original question to qualify as a clause
just trying to get my concept clear It appears correct to me. The only thing that could be questionable (for the record I think it is correct) is the pronoun reference to it. Logically "it" refers to the energy source on Voyager 2 so I think you are good to go. Someone correct me if they believe otherwise.
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Re: semi colon and comma [#permalink]
20 Jan 2012, 20:57
Isn't 'but rather' repetitive in the option B?
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Re: semi colon and comma [#permalink]
21 Jan 2012, 03:20
Hi u0422811 i dont think so "It" is correct, beacuse It can refer to nuclear reactor also
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Re: semi colon and comma [#permalink]
21 Jan 2012, 11:24
not an independent clause... +1 B
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Re: semi colon and comma [#permalink]
24 Jan 2012, 10:24
devinawilliam83 wrote: The energy source on Voyager 2 is not a nuclear reactor, in which atoms are actively broken apart; rather a kind of nuclear battery that uses natural radioactive decay to produce power.
(A) apart; rather
(B) apart, but rather
(C) apart, but rather that of
(D) apart, but that of
(E) apart; it is that of
isnt "a kind of nuclear battery ..." a clause? if yes, why cant i connect the 2 clauses with a semi colon using rather?Please explain Hi, The prerequisite for any clause is that it must have a subject and it must have a verb. Presence of SV pair makes a clause, either a dependent or an independent. This sentence can be divided into following clauses:
The energy source on Voyager 2 is not a nuclear reactor (Independent Clause) (blue = subject, green = verb) in which atoms are actively broken apart (Dependent clause) rather a kind of nuclear battery that uses natural radioactive decay to produce power. (dependent clause) "rather a kind of nuclear battery" is not a clause because it does not have any verb. Together, this phrase and the last clause build a dependent clause that appears after the semicolon. This is the incorrect sentence structure. Also note that for every clause, IC or DC, the SV pairs must be independent. The verb of one clause cannot play the role of verb for the subject of another clause. devinawilliam83 wrote: Thanks, would the following construction be right?
The energy source on Voyager 2 is not a nuclear reactor, in which atoms are actively broken apart; it is a kind of nuclear battery that uses natural radioactive decay to produce power.?
also, isnt nuclear battery a noun and uses a verb for the sentence post the semi colon in the original question to qualify as a clause
just trying to get my concept clear The sentence that you have cited is correct. "it" in the beginning of the second IC correctly refers to "The energy source on voyager 2" because they both are placed in the subject position of the ICs. This is from the grammatical standpoint. Logically also "it" refers to the same because the second IC is talking about "nuclear battery" which is a kind of "energy source" only. Hope this helps. Shraddha 
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Re: semi colon and comma [#permalink]
28 Jul 2012, 15:16
bsaikrishna wrote: Isn't 'but rather' repetitive in the option B? Can someone answer above point? This question brought me here in the forum. I ,in fact, striked this option being an convoluted repetitive option, when going through the options in the first run. Though, I got this question correct by selecting this choice in the second pass because I scratched all the choices, still want to know the best answer for this construction. I know that "but rather" is OA, but wouldn't "but" only would be sufficient : Shouldn't (B) apart, but or even (B) apart, rather work?
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Re: semi colon and comma [#permalink]
30 Jul 2012, 02:27
devinawilliam83 wrote: The energy source on Voyager 2 is not a nuclear reactor, in which atoms are actively broken apart; rather a kind of nuclear battery that uses natural radioactive decay to produce power.
(A) apart; rather
(B) apart, but rather
(C) apart, but rather that of
(D) apart, but that of
(E) apart; it is that of
isnt "a kind of nuclear battery ..." a clause? if yes, why cant i connect the 2 clauses with a semi colon using rather?Please explain Usage of "not X...but rather Y..." A: semi-colon can't be used so eliminated B. Should be it..C. Introduces parallelism err "that of" D. Parallelism & idiom errs E. "that of" parallelism err
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Re: The energy source on Voyager 2 is not a nuclear reactor, in [#permalink]
02 Feb 2013, 06:28
[quote="devinawilliam83"]The energy source on Voyager 2 is not a nuclear reactor, in which atoms are actively broken apart; rather a kind of nuclear battery that uses natural radioactive decay to produce power.
(A) apart; rather
(B) apart, but rather
(C) apart, but rather that of
(D) apart, but that of
(E) apart; it is that of
CORRECT CONSTRUCTION: The energy source on V2 is not X, but rather Y that uses natural radioactive decay...
The correct construction should be NOT [NOUN] BUT [NOUN]... "That of" is not necessary and is in fact wrong. Thus, (C), (D) and (E) are eliminated.
Semicolon (;) is used to precede an independent clause. "rather a kind of X that uses Y.." is not an independent clause. Thus (A) is wrong
Answer: B
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Re: The energy source on Voyager 2 is not a nuclear reactor, in
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02 Feb 2013, 06:28
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