Soham68 wrote:
Also, can somebody explain the structure of the sentence. I thought if we remove anything between two dashes/commas, it will still hold the same meaning, but if I remove the part, meaning gets bit weird.
Despite the fact that the impact of Daylight Saving Time, at the onset of which clocks are set forward by an hour, have been shown to be neutral, at best—research indicates that it may actually increase the number of car accidents occurring on the Monday after the clocks spring forward—some countries do not observe it.
The original sentence (that you quote) has a weird meaning anyway. The "DESPITE" does not fit this sentence. If the impact is neutral at best, we do not expect anyone to observe daylight savings time. So we need a cause-and-effect transition such as "SINCE" or "BECAUSE", not a contrast.
The meaning does not get weird if we remove the portion between the dashes.
We are told that the impact is 'neutral at best'. After that, the portion between dashes gives us an example of possible negative impact --
research indicates that it may actually increase the number of car accidents occurring on the Monday after the clocks spring forward.
The sentence works even without the example. The meaning does not change if the example is removed.
Hope this helps!
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