tuanquang269 wrote:
The publication of Joyce's Ulysses was blocked on grounds of obscenity by the courts in the United States, but he published it in Paris, in which there were less restricted novel contents.
(A) he published it in Paris, in which there were less restricted novel contents
(B) he published the novel in Paris, which had less restricted novel contents
(C) Joyce published it in Paris, where the content of novels was less restricted
(D) Joyce published this novel in Paris, which had less restricted novel contents
(E) Joyce published this novel in Paris, in which there were less restrictions for the contents of such novels
I see there are a few responses on this page, so I'll respond. I wrote this question, among other things as a tribute to one of my
all-time favorite books.
The OA is
(C). Good job to
camlan1990 for figuring this out.
Split #1: The name of the author, James Joyce, appears in the possessive in the first half, so we can use the pronoun "
he" with an antecedent in the possessive. (A) & (B) are incorrect.
Split #2: diction mistake on countable/uncountable. In (E), "
restrictions" is plural, so presumably these are countable---i.e., we would say "
how many restrictions?" not "
how much restrictions?" Much in the same way, we would need to use "
fewer," not "
less." The construction "
fewer restrictions" is correct, and the construction "
less restrictions," which appears in (E), is 100% wrong. This means that (E) is wrong.
This leaves (C) and (D), both of which are, for practical purposes, grammatically correct. Choice (D) replaces the correct pronoun "
it" with the noun "
the novel" --- this is a little more wordy and pedantic, but not incorrect in and of itself.
The problem with (D) is subtle and can be hard for ESL learners to appreciate. Choice (D) is awkward, because it has an "over-modified noun." What do I mean by that? All of the following sound awkward in English
the new car hauling truck ...
the President interviewing reporter ...
the loudly singing soprano ...It's true that a
participle, either a present participle or a past participle, can be used as a noun-modifier. We can use a participle by itself as an adjective preceding the noun, but when we start to add an adverb or direct object to the participle, essentially we are starting to build a participial phrase, and this is too much to include in a before-the-noun adjective. We should change that information into a full phrase or clause, because it's too much for a before-the-noun adjective. Thus:
the truck for hauling new cars ...
the reporter who interviews the President ...
the soprano, singing loudly, ... Much in the same way, the phrase "
less restricted novel contents" is awkward and doesn't sound right. We are trying to modify the noun "
novel contents" with a participle "
restricted," but then we modify the participle with the adverb "
less," and this is too much. Now it is starting to sound like something phrase-like or clause-like stuck at the beginning of the word. It doesn't work.
A correct formulation would be an entire clause to express that idea:
the content of novels was less restrictedAh! A clause-like batch of information actually given a full clause to express itself! Much better! Of course, this is precisely what
(C), the OA, has.
Of course,
Paris is a physical location, so use of the relative adverb "
where" in reference to it is perfectly correct.
Does all this make sense?
Mike
_________________
Mike McGarry
Magoosh Test PrepEducation is not the filling of a pail, but the lighting of a fire. — William Butler Yeats (1865 – 1939)