goalsnr wrote:
Geologists believe that the warning signs for a major earthquake may include sudden fluctuations in local seismic activity, tilting and other deformations of the Earth's crust,
changing the measured strain across a fault zone, and varying the electrical properties of underground rocks.
(A) changing the measured strain across a fault zone, and varying
(B) changing measurements of the strain across a fault zone, and varying
(C) changing the strain as measured across a fault zone, and variations of
(D) changes in the measured strain across a fault zone, and variations in
(E) changes in measurements of the strain across a fault zone, and variations among
Verbal Question of The Day: Day 145: Sentence Correction
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RSSFor All QOTD Questions Click HereThe correct answer is (D): "changes in the measured strain across a fault zone, and variations in".
The sentence lists a series of warning signs for a major earthquake that geologists believe may occur. For this list to be clear and grammatically correct, it must maintain parallel structure, meaning that each item in the list should follow the same grammatical form.
(A) "changing the measured strain across a fault zone, and varying"
This option is incorrect because it breaks parallelism. The other elements in the list are nouns ("fluctuations", "tilting", "deformations"), but "changing" and "varying" are gerunds, which are verb forms.
(B) "changing measurements of the strain across a fault zone, and varying"
This option has the same problem as (A). The words "changing" and "varying" break parallelism with the rest of the list.
(C) "changing the strain as measured across a fault zone, and variations of"
This option also breaks parallelism. It mixes the gerund "changing" with the noun "variations".
(D) "changes in the measured strain across a fault zone, and variations in"
This is the correct answer. It maintains parallelism in the list by using the nouns "changes" and "variations".
(E) "changes in measurements of the strain across a fault zone, and variations among"
This option is incorrect because "variations among" is not as clear or precise as "variations in".
The main trap in this question is the maintenance of parallelism in a list. Many test-takers might not notice the shift from nouns to gerunds halfway through the list. It's crucial to ensure that all items in a list follow the same grammatical structure.