Bunuel
Although her X-ray photographs
had laid the foundation for describing the structure of DNA, Rosalind Franklin, an accomplished chemist, did not receive the Nobel prize when it was awarded for this achievement in 1962.
A. had laid the foundation for describing the structure of DNA, Rosalind Franklin, an accomplished chemist, did not receive the Nobel prize when it was awarded for this achievement
B. had laid the foundation for its description, the structure of DNA did not result in accomplished chemist Rosalind Franklin receiving the Nobel prize awarded for it
C. of the structure of DNA had laid the foundation for their description, the accomplished chemist Rosalind Franklin was not awarded the Nobel prize for this achievement◦
D. were the foundation for describing the structure of DNA, the Nobel prize was not awarded to accomplished chemist Rosalind Franklin for it
E. were an achievement by Rosalind Franklin, an accomplished chemist, it did not receive the Nobel prize for laying the foundation for describing the structure of DNA
KAPLAN OFFICIAL EXPLANATION
(A) Step 1: Read the Original Sentence Carefully, Looking for ErrorsThe underlined portion begins with the past perfect verb “had laid,” so first check whether this verb tense is correct. In fact it is, because the photographs “laid the foundation” before another action in the past, the awarding of the Nobel prize. That more recent past action is correctly stated with the simple past tense, “did not receive . . . it was awarded.” The pronoun “it” appears, so make sure the pronoun unambiguously refers to a singular, nonhuman antecedent. “It” refers clearly to “the Nobel prize,” so no problem there. Finally, the overall structure of the sentence is logical: her photographs laid a foundation for a scientific discovery, but Franklin did not win a prize for the discovery. There are no apparent errors, so (A) is likely correct, but scan the other choices to be sure.
Step 2: Scan and Group the Answer ChoicesThere’s no efficient way to group the choices, so check them out one by one.
Step 3: Eliminate Choices Until Only One RemainsIn (B), the final “it” seems to refer to “the structure of DNA,” but describing the DNA earned the prize; the structure itself didn’t earn anything. In (C), the plural pronoun “their” could refer only to the plural noun “photographs,” but the photographs were not being described. It’s hard to know what the “it” at the end of (D) might refer to. And the “it” in (E) would refer to the “photographs,” but “it” is singular and “photographs” is plural; moreover, Franklin (not her photographs) would have been awarded the Nobel. Since every other choice contains an error, (A) is confirmed as correct.