OFFICIAL EXPLANATIONProject SC Butler: Day 206: Sentence Correction (SC1)
This question is tricky.
"Were evolved" is not considered standard usage.
Although I would never allow "were evolved" to stand, others might, so the phrasing is probably not wrong.
Whoever wrote this question has a good sense of humor.
Darwin himself, in
Origin of Species, used "were evolved" a handful of times.
Biologists use the phrase a fair bit.
There are at least two ways to arrive at the correct answer.
You could decide that the phrase "were evolved" sounds ridiculous (or "not standard") and be left with options B and E.
In that case, pick B. Nothing is wrong with B, whereas option E is oddly phrased.
By definition,
plant and animal species could not evolve from instant creation.
Alternatively, you could decide that "were evolved" is acceptable and still arrive at answer B.
I used both approaches and ended up with the same answer.
For an excellent post in which the author accepts "were evolved,"
see our very own CR forum moderator,
eakabuah ,
in this post, here.
THE PROMPTQuote:
Charles Darwin argued that plant and animal species were evolved slowly through random mutation and natural selection instead of created instantaneously.
THE OPTIONSQuote:
A) Charles Darwin argued that plant and animal species were evolved slowly through random mutation and natural selection instead of created instantaneously.
• "Instead of" is a prepositional phrase that must be followed by a noun, but
instead of is not followed by a noun.
--
created instantaneously is not a noun. It's an adjective phrase that describes the noun
species.
-- be wary of "instead of." GMAC often pits the phrase against "rather than," and strongly prefers
rather than.("Instead of" has been part of a couple of correct answers, but as I recall, in those cases,
instead of was not pitted against
rather than.)
•
were evolved is not standard usage and the phrase sounds very strange.
Native speakers who are not biologists should be jarred by the usage of "were evolved."
A similar verb is "to progress."
We would not say, "The expansion plans were progressed in six-month increments."
Just the word
progressed is correct. Similarly, in this case we need only the word "evolved."
The preposition error (
instead of should be followed by a noun phrase and is not), eliminate A.
Quote:
B) Charles Darwin argued that plant and animal species were not created instantaneously but rather evolved slowly through random mutation and natural selection.
• in the idiomatic construction
X rather than Y -- X and Y must be parallel.
-- in this option, X and Y are both past tense verbs and thus parallel.
X = were [not] created
Y = evolved
KEEP this option
Quote:
C) Charles Darwin argued that plant and animal species were slowly evolved through random mutation and natural selection instead of instantaneous creation.
• repeats option A's misuse of
were [slowly] evolved• the meaning is strange: species cannot "evolve slowly" through instantaneous creation. The verb "evolved" does not fit with "instantaneous creation."
-- "instead of" implies that species could have evolved (1) slowly through mutation and natural selection or (2) in a way similar to instantaneous creation.
--
instead of means
replacement or
in the place of: He uses almond milk instead of cow's milk in his porridge.-- by definition,
instantaneous creation is not actually an option.
• compare to B. Which is better? No contest. Option B wins.
Eliminate C
Quote:
D) Charles Darwin argued that species of plants and animals, rather than being created instantaneously, were slowly evolved through random mutation and natural selection.
• information set off by commas is rendered nonessential.
• But in this case, the information
is essential and should not be set off by commas.
-- We change the meaning of the sentence if we remove that material
--
OG 2020 SC #824 explicitly tests this issue. Essential information should not be set off by commas.
SPOILER ALERT: the link takes you to that question. You now know one incorrect answer to that question.
You can find
OG 2020 SC #824
here.
Eliminate D
Quote:
E) Charles Darwin argued that species of plants and animals evolved slowly through random mutation and natural selection rather than instantaneous creation.
• this sentence doesn't make sense.
-- A species cannot
evolve slowly through
instantaneous creation. I think it means to say: " . . .
species of plants and animals evolved slowly through random mutation and natural selection rather than having been created instantaneously.
• same problem as that in (C): a species cannot
evolve slowly through instantaneous creation. We need a verb,
were not, this way:
... species evolved slowly [through mutation and natural selection] and were not products of instantaneous creation. Eliminate E
The best answer is BCOMMENTSsvasan05 , welcome to SC Butler.
I am always glad to see new posters.
And of course, I extend an open invitation to others: come and post!
These posts are good. I like the dialogue.
I see good critical thinking. Well done.
close
23 Feb 2020, 00:55
45%
(medium)
41%
(01:32)
wrong 
