The most favorable time for moving a plant to a growing area, rather than being the active, flowering stage of the plant’s reproductive cycle, would be the inactive, dormant stage, during which the plant can afford to bear the stress that replanting causes, without suffering from stunted leaf growth.
(A) growing area, rather than being the active, flowering stage of the plant’s reproductive cycle, would be the inactive, dormant stage
(B) growing area is not the active, flowering stage of the plant’s reproductive cycle but the inactive, dormant stage
(C) growing area is the inactive, dormant stage of the plant’s reproductive cycle rather than the active, flowering stage
(D) growing area, instead of being the active, flowering stage of the plant’s reproductive cycle, would be the inactive, dormant stage
(E) growing area is, instead of the active, flowering stage of the plant’s reproductive cycle, rather the inactive, dormant stage
Explanation: The original underlined phrase conveys the intended meaning and maintains the clarity and coherence of the sentence structure. Let's check other options as well.
(A) growing area, rather than being the active, flowering stage of the plant’s reproductive cycle, would be the inactive, dormant stage
As discussed above, let's keep this option.
(B) growing area is not the active, flowering stage of the plant’s reproductive cycle but the inactive, dormant stage
This option changes the structure of the sentence and alters the intended meaning. The original sentence emphasizes that the most favorable time for moving the plant to a growing area is during the inactive, dormant stage, rather than the active, flowering stage. Also the parallelism is not maintained here. INCORRECT
(C) growing area is the inactive, dormant stage of the plant’s reproductive cycle rather than the active, flowering stage
Similar to Option B, this option changes the structure of the sentence and alters the intended meaning. It suggests that the active, flowering stage is the stage during which the plant can afford to bear the stress that replanting causes, without suffering from stunted leaf growth. INCORRECT
(D) growing area, instead of being the active, flowering stage of the plant’s reproductive cycle, would be the inactive, dormant stage
This option is similar in structure to the original option A with the difference in the use of 'rather than' and 'instead of'.
'Rather than' is often used to present a contrast or alternative between two options. It implies a choice between two possibilities and suggests that one option is preferred over the other. In this case, it emphasizes that the dormant stage is preferred over the active, flowering stage for moving the plant to a growing area.
'Instead of' is also used to present a contrast or substitution between two options. It suggests that one option is chosen or used in place of another. In this context, it implies that the dormant stage is used or selected as a replacement for the active, flowering stage when moving the plant to a growing area. Here per then intended meaning 'rather than' should be used. INCORRECT
(E) growing area is, instead of the active, flowering stage of the plant’s reproductive cycle, rather the inactive, dormant stage
This option also changes the structure of the sentence and introduces unnecessary complexity by using 'instead of' and 'rather' in the same sentence in a way that disrupts the clarity and flow of the sentence. INCORRECT
Option A is the right answer.