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Each of the three latest books on Darwin- Ken Thompson’s Darwin’s Most Wonderful Plants, Elizabeth Hennessy’s On the Backs of Tortoises, Bill Jenkins’s Evolution Before Darwin - offer a unique slant on Darwin and his understanding of how life works and how the wonders of diversity and complexity and adaptation have come to be.
A. Each of the three latest books on Darwin- Ken Thompson’s Darwin’s Most Wonderful Plants, Elizabeth Hennessy’s On the Backs of Tortoises and Bill Jenkins’s Evolution Before Darwin - offer a unique slant on Darwin and his understanding of how life works
B. The latest books on Darwin -Ken Thompson’s Darwin’s Most Wonderful Plants, Elizabeth Hennessy’s On the Backs of Tortoises, and Bill Jenkins’s Evolution Before Darwin - offer a unique slant on Darwin and his understanding of how life works
C. Ken Thompson’s Darwin’s Most Wonderful Plants, Elizabeth Hennessy’s On the Backs of Tortoises, Bill Jenkins’s Evolution Before Darwin- each of them latest books on Darwin- offers a unique slant on Darwin and his understanding of how life works
Incorrect Choice.
D. Offering a unique slant on Darwin- Ken Thompson’s Darwin’s Most Wonderful Plants, Elizabeth Hennessy’s On the Backs of Tortoises, and Bill Jenkins’s Evolution Before Darwin- each a latest book on Darwin
E. A unique slant on Darwin and his understanding of how life works- - Ken Thompson’s Darwin’s Most Wonderful Plants, Elizabeth Hennessy’s On the Backs of Tortoises and Bill Jenkins’s Evolution Before Darwin- each of the three latest books on Darwin offer
Meaning is crucial to solving this problem:Understanding the intended meaning is key to solving this question; the intended meaning of this sentence is that Ken Thompson’s Darwin’s Most Wonderful Plants, Elizabeth Hennessy’s On the Backs of Tortoises, and Bill Jenkins’s Evolution Before Darwin are collectively the three latest books on Darwin and offer a unique slant on Darwin and his understanding of how life works and how the wonders of diversity and complexity and adaptation have come to be.
Concepts tested here: Subject-Verb Agreement + Meaning + Awkwardness/RedundancyA: This answer choice incorrectly refers to the singular pronoun "Each" with the plural verb "offer". Further, Option A uses the needlessly wordy phrase "Each of the three latest books on Darwin", leading to awkwardness and redundancy.
B: Correct. This answer choice correctly refers to the plural noun "books" with the plural verb "offer". Further, Option B acts upon the independent noun "books" with the active verb "offer" to form a complete thought, leading to a complete sentence. Additionally, Option B uses the phrase "offer a unique slant...and how...came to be", conveying the intended meaning - that Ken Thompson’s Darwin’s Most Wonderful Plants, Elizabeth Hennessy’s On the Backs of Tortoises, and Bill Jenkins’s Evolution Before Darwin are collectively the three latest books on Darwin and offer a unique slant on Darwin and his understanding of how life works and how the wonders of diversity and complexity and adaptation have come to be. Besides, Option B is free of any awkwardness or redundancy.
C: This answer choice incorrectly refers to the plural noun phrase "Ken Thompson’s Darwin’s Most Wonderful Plants, Elizabeth Hennessy’s On the Backs of Tortoises, Bill Jenkins’s Evolution Before Darwin" with the singular verb "offers". Further, Option C alters the meaning of the sentence through the phrase "each of them latest books on Darwin"; the construction of this phrase illogically implies that each individual book among the three: Ken Thompson’s Darwin’s Most Wonderful Plants, Elizabeth Hennessy’s On the Backs of Tortoises, and Bill Jenkins’s Evolution Before Darwin is multiple latest books; the intended meaning is that Ken Thompson’s Darwin’s Most Wonderful Plants, Elizabeth Hennessy’s On the Backs of Tortoises, and Bill Jenkins’s Evolution Before Darwin are collectively the three latest books on Darwin.
D: This answer choice fails to form a complete sentence; as "Offering" is a present participle ("verb+ing" - "Offering" in this sentence) acting as a noun modifier, there is no active verb to act upon the subject "Ken Thompson’s Darwin’s Most Wonderful Plants, Elizabeth Hennessy’s On the Backs of Tortoises, and Bill Jenkins’s Evolution Before Darwin". Further, Option D alters the meaning of the sentence through the phrase "each a latest book on Darwin and how...came to be"; the construction of this phrase incorrectly implies that each book is about Darwin and how the wonders of diversity and complexity and adaptation have come to be; the intended meaning is that each book offers a unique slant on how the wonders of diversity and complexity and adaptation have come to be.
E: This answer choice incorrectly refers to the singular pronoun "each" with the plural verb "offer". Further, Option E alters the meaning of the sentence through the clause "each of the three latest books on Darwin offer and how...came to be"; the construction of this phrase leads to an incoherent meaning.
Hence, B is the best answer choice.All the best!
Experts' Global Team