uledssul wrote:
Unlike the other major planets, Pluto has a highly eccentric orbit, which is thus closer to the Sun than Neptune is for 20 years out of every 230-year cycle, even though it is commonly described as the remotest planet in the solar system.
(A) Pluto has a highly eccentric orbit, which is thus closer to the Sun than Neptune is
(B) Pluto has a highly eccentric orbit and is thus closer to the Sun than Neptune is
(C) Pluto's orbit is highly eccentric and is thus closer to the Sun than Neptune
(D) the orbit of Pluto is highly eccentric and thus closer to the Sun than Neptune
(E) the orbit of Pluto is highly eccentric, thus closer to the Sun than Neptune is
I chose D because the comparison seems to focus on 'the other major planets' vs 'Pluto's orbit.
Now I realize, for D, "than Neptune" 'is' should have been included to convey its meaning clearly.
How do you first figure out if the comparison in the original sentence is right? I still don't understand why Pluto vs other major planets have to be compared with instead 'pluto's orbit' vs 'other planets'
Please help.
Hey uledssul,
I'm no expert at this stuff but let me try my best to explain this to you.
First of all, we need to compare other major planets to another planet. Comparing other planets to the orbit of other planets is a faulty comparison. This eliminates D and E.
Secondly, D has another problem: in making a comparison, " the orbit of Pluto is highly eccentric and thus closer to the Sun than Neptune" is comparing the orbit of Pluto with Neptune. For instance, if the sentence went something like this:
"the orbit of Pluto is highly eccentric and thus closer to the Sun than
the orbit of Neptune" OR
"the orbit of Pluto is highly eccentric and thus
Pluto is closer to the Sun than Neptune" The problem with "The orbit of Pluto" is that the "orbit" becomes the main subject and "of Pluto" becomes secondary because of the use of "of" So The second example above reused the word Pluto to compare it with Neptune. (Note however, my first example above changes the meaning of the sentence.)
Now these sentences make correct comparisons and are parallel as well.
The problem with C is that we have a possessive noun "Pluto's orbit".
1. We cannot refer to a possessive noun with a pronoun.
Eg. Florida's weather is awesome. We should go there. WRONG
There cannot refer to Florida's weather.
2. It is less preferable to compare nouns with possessive nouns. (I'm not totally sure about the rule here and some expert on this forum can shed some light on this)
Basically, avoid sentences where a clause modifies a possessive noun, when there are better options around.
Now for A:
"Pluto has a highly eccentric orbit, which is thus closer to the Sun than Neptune is"
The correct use of which with a comma is to introduce a NON-ESSENTIAL modifier. First of the the main point of this sentence is comparing the distance between Pluto and Neptune to the Sun therefore, saying Pluto is closer to the sun than Neptune is an essential part of the sentence and we should not use a "which" here.
And in any case, "which is thus" is an awkward construction at best - "and is thus" is much better.
Hope this helps at least a little and good luck with studying!