Believing in 1958 that Alaska and Hawaii would soon become part of the

KAPLAN OFFICIAL EXPLANATION

(A)

Step 1: Read the Original Sentence Carefully, Looking for Errors

The non-underlined part of the sentence is a modifying phrase describing what someone believed. Therefore, what follows the comma must be a word or phrase naming that person. “[H]igh school student Bob Heft” is that person, so the underlined portion starts off well. The next modifying phrase is “for a history class project”; this is an adverbial phrase saying when Bob designed the flag, and it is positioned next to the verb it modifies. After the semicolon, the next complete thought also begins with an introductory modifying phrase, “approved by President Eisenhower.” The verbs are all correctly in the simple past tense, and there are no pronouns or comparisons, nor are there words/phrases that tend to be used incorrectly. This sentence seems to be correct as written. Check the other choices to make sure you haven’t overlooked anything.

Step 2: Scan and Group the Answer Choices

Of the remaining choices, only (D) also begins with “high school student Bob Heft.” (B) and (E) begin with “for a history class project,” and (C) begins with “the American flag.”

Step 3: Eliminate Choices Until Only One Remains

(C) starts with “the American flag,” which was not capable of “[b]elieving” anything. Eliminate (C).

(D) begins correctly. However, this choice ends in passive voice with “the American flag was what that design became,” which is less concise and direct than the original. Eliminate (D).
By placing “for a history class project” right after the introductory “[b]elieving” phrase, (B) and (E) make it sound as though Bob believed in the eventual statehood of Hawaii and Alaska as part of his history class project. That doesn’t reflect the author’s intended meaning, so these choices are both incorrect. Also, (E) has the same awkward construction at the end as (D). Eliminate both and choose (A).