Oceans on Earth(A) CORRECT
(B) Parallelism (X and Y)
(C) Sentence Structure / Parallelism (X and Y)
(D) Parallelism (X and Y)
(E) Sentence Structure / Parallelism (X and Y)
First glanceThe answers start with either
covering, a modifier, or
the oceans cover, a subject-verb pairing. Pay attention to Sentence Structure and Meaning.
Issues(1) Sentence Structure / Parallelism: X and YThe non-underlined portion of the sentence contains the words
and giving. The word and is a parallelism marker (
X and Y), so find the X element. In some of the choices, the X and Y elements are part of the core sentence, so examine the core for all five choices.
(A)
The oceans play an essential role in maintaining …, moderating …, and giving …(B)
The oceans moderate …, and giving …(C)
The oceans cover … and play …, and by moderating …, and giving …(D)
The oceans cover …, play …, and moderate …, and giving …(E)
The oceans cover …, and they moderate …, and giving …Answer (A) contains a valid core sentence and a list of three parallel modifying items (in the form
X, Y, and Z) .
The first part of answer (B) is a valid core sentence, but the Y portion of the
X and Y construction would have to be
give in order to be parallel to
moderate. Eliminate choice (B) for
faulty parallelism.
The first part of answer (C) is again a valid core sentence, but the second half is problematic. The construction
and by moderating implies that a second independent clause (complete sentence) is coming. For example:
She enrolled in school, and by studying hard and participating in class, she will earn top honors.
In answer (C), there is no equivalent to
she will earn top honors. Answer (C) is the equivalent of
she enrolled in school, and by studying hard and participating in class. Eliminate (C) because it is an
incomplete sentence.
Answer (D) is especially tricky because just the underlined portion contains a completely valid
X, Y, and Z structure. However, the sentence contains no X element to go with the non-underlined and giving at the end of the sentence. Eliminate choice (D) for
faulty parallelism.
Likewise, choice (E) does not contain a valid X element to pair with the non-underlined
and giving. (Note: the
–ing words
playing and
maintaining earlier in this choice cannot be the X element to pair with
giving because they are part of a separate clause. The X element has to appear in the same clause as the Y element, sometime after the words
and they moderate.) Eliminate choice (E).
The Correct AnswerCorrect answer (A) has a valid core sentence and a properly-constructed list of three parallel items.