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In 1973 mortgage payments represented twenty-one percent of an average thirty-year-old male's income; and forty-four percent in 1984
A. income; and forty-four percent in 1984 B. income; in 1984 the figure was forty-four percent C. income, and in 1984 forty-four percent D. income, forty-four percent in 1984 was the figure E. income that rose to forty-four percent in 1984
To establish the clearest comparison between circumstances in 1973 and those in 1984, a separate clause is needed to describe each year. Choices A and C, in failing to use separate clauses, are too elliptical and therefore unclear. Choice A also incorrectly uses and and a semicolon to separate an independent clause and a phrase. Choice D incorrectly separates two independent clauses with a comma; moreover, the placement of in 1984 is awkward and confusing. In choice E, that refers illogically to income, thereby producing the misstatement that income rather than mortgage payments rose to forty-four percent in 1984. Choice B is best; two properly constructed clauses that clearly express the comparison are separated by a semicolon.
In 1973 mortgage payments represented twenty-one percent of an average thirty-year-old male's income; and forty-four percent in 1984
A. income; and forty-four percent in 1984 B. income; in 1984 the figure was forty-four percent C. income, and in 1984 forty-four percent D. income, forty-four percent in 1984 was the figure E. income that rose to forty-four percent in 1984
To establish the clearest comparison between circumstances in 1973 and those in 1984, a separate clause is needed to describe each year.
Choices A and C, in failing to use separate clauses, are too elliptical and therefore unclear. Choice A also incorrectly uses and and a semicolon to separate an independent clause and a phrase.
Choice D incorrectly separates two independent clauses with a comma; moreover, the placement of in 1984 is awkward and confusing.
In choice E, that refers illogically to income, thereby producing the misstatement that income rather than mortgage payments rose to forty-four percent in 1984.
Choice B is best; two properly constructed clauses that clearly express the comparison are separated by a semicolon.
Further I rejected option B, because I thought there is no clear antecedent for the term the figure. I thought mortgage payment represented some portion is more symbolic than numeric.
I am not convinced that it is necessary to express these ideas in separate clauses and elliptical construction in C is not acceptable.
Experts could you please help understand me that why B is preferred to C.
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Re: In 1973 mortgage payments represented twenty-one percent of an average
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16 Jun 2014, 23:02
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1
Quote:
I am not convinced that it is necessary to express these ideas in separate clauses and elliptical construction in C is not acceptable.
there are two reasons firstly the parallelism is absurd here secondly the construction "in 1984 forty-four percent" is just plain wrong !! .you cannot have a "hung up construction "forty-four percent" by itself . either u have to have "forty-four percent of "something" OR u have to refer back so some "figure" as is done in option B
also note that "ellipses" does not allow u the kind of construction that u r trying to have in option C .you cannot cherry pick a "construction" and put it as per ur need as u seem to be doing in option C have a look as how ur ellipses wud look like in option C : In 1973 mortgage payments represented twenty-one percent of an average thirty-year-old male's income, and in 1984 [ mortgage payments represented] forty-four percent [of an average thirty-year-old male's income]
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18 Dec 2016, 09:31
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1. A semi colon will entail a full fledged independent clause after the punctuation. A is gone.
2 Both sides of the conjunction and have to be // and balanced. C is gone. 3. Two independent clauses can not be joined by a comma; D is gone 4. Income that rose is wrong modification. The mortgage payments rose. E is gone
B remains dodging the above mentioned errors.
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08 Jan 2017, 11:08
I do not understand why B is correct at all!
There is a rule that states a semi coln is only used when there are two independent clauses together.
Question: In 1973 mortgage payments represented twenty-one percent of an average thirty-year-old male's income; and forty-four percent in 1984.
If we delete everything before the semi colon, to result in only... and forty-four percent in 1984. The second clause of the sentance has absolutely no meaning whatsoever.
We could be talking about anything from the change in number of harvested oranges to the change in number of teeth pulled out by a dentist.
Can somebody please expain why I am wrong, regarding my semi-colon rule.
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08 Jan 2017, 19:20
Kesterton2017 wrote:
I do not understand why B is correct at all!
There is a rule that states a semi coln is only used when there are two independent clauses together.
Question: In 1973 mortgage payments represented twenty-one percent of an average thirty-year-old male's income; and forty-four percent in 1984.
If we delete everything before the semi colon, to result in only... and forty-four percent in 1984. The second clause of the sentance has absolutely no meaning whatsoever.
We could be talking about anything from the change in number of harvested oranges to the change in number of teeth pulled out by a dentist.
Can somebody please expain why I am wrong, regarding my semi-colon rule.
Thanks in advance
Yes, in choice A, if we delete everything befor the semi colon, the remaining is meaningless. That's why the choice A is incorrect.
In choice B, the full sentence is: In 1973 mortgage payments represented twenty-one percent of an average thirty-year-old male's income; in 1984 the figure was forty-four percent
The second part is: In 1984 the figure was forty-four percent.
"The figure" here clearly refers to the representative of mortgage payments in an average thirty-year-old male's income. Hence, this part is full meaning.
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11 Jan 2017, 06:30
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In 1973 mortgage payments represented twenty-one percent of an average thirty-year-old male's income; and forty-four percent in 1984.
In 1973…………. Mortgage payments represented twenty-one percent of an average thirty year-old male’s income; And forty- four percent in 1984.
Two time scenarios (1973 and 1984) Subject is mortgage payments.
1) A semi-colon is used to connect two independent clauses. 2) Comma+ FANBOYS is used to connect two independent clauses • Here semi-colon+ FANBOYS is used to connect independent clause to a phrase • ‘and forty-four percent in 1984’- it is not even a clause as it has no subject and no verb.
A. income; and forty-four percent in 1984 (OUT) B. income; in 1984 the figure was forty-four percent (CORRECT as mentioned in the reasoning above) C. income, and in 1984 forty-four percent (COMMA+ AND CONSTRUCTION IS NOT CORRECT HERE) D. income, forty-four percent in 1984 was the figure (TOO WORDY AND IS NOT CONNECTED PROPERLY) E. income that rose to forty-four percent in 1984 (THAT refers to income of thirty year old male which is non-sensical as it did not increase.)
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Help me make my explanation better by providing a logical feedback.
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28 Aug 2017, 19:40
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nehanishika wrote:
In 1973 mortgage payments represented twenty-one percent of an average thirty-year-old male’s income; and forty-four percent in 1984.
(A) income; and forty-four percent in 1984 (B) income; in 1984 the figure was forty-four percent (C) income, and in 1984 forty-four percent (D) income, forty-four percent in 1984 was the figure (E) income that rose to forty-four percent in 1984
The answer is B
A is out as we have to connect two independent sentences with semicolon B correct as the sentence after semicolon provides additional information . C not correct although semicolon is not there but we do have a proper comparison 44 % of what. D it awkward E it was not the income that rose , it was mortgage payments.
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28 Aug 2017, 21:56
aditya8062 wrote:
Quote:
I am not convinced that it is necessary to express these ideas in separate clauses and elliptical construction in C is not acceptable.
there are two reasons firstly the parallelism is absurd here secondly the construction "in 1984 forty-four percent" is just plain wrong !! .you cannot have a "hung up construction "forty-four percent" by itself . either u have to have "forty-four percent of "something" OR u have to refer back so some "figure" as is done in option B
also note that "ellipses" does not allow u the kind of construction that u r trying to have in option C .you cannot cherry pick a "construction" and put it as per ur need as u seem to be doing in option C have a look as how ur ellipses wud look like in option C : In 1973 mortgage payments represented twenty-one percent of an average thirty-year-old male's income, and in 1984 [ mortgage payments represented] forty-four percent [of an average thirty-year-old male's income]
in the ellipsis pattern, the cut off part must be one phrase, not two phrases at two places. consider I learn English in 2000 and (I learn) French in 2002 I learn English well in 2000 year and (I learn) French (well) in 2002 year
the first sentence is correct, the second sentence is incorrect.
In 1973 mortgage payments represented twenty-one percent of an average thirty-year-old male's income; and forty-four percent in 1984
A. income; and forty-four percent in 1984 B. income; in 1984 the figure was forty-four percent C. income, and in 1984 forty-four percent D. income, forty-four percent in 1984 was the figure E. income that rose to forty-four percent in 1984
In 1973 mortgage payments represented twenty-one percent of an average thirty-year-old male's income; and forty-four percent in 1984
A. income; and forty-four percent in 1984 B. income; in 1984 the figure was forty-four percent C. income, and in 1984 forty-four percent D. income, forty-four percent in 1984 was the figure E. income that rose to forty-four percent in 1984
The answer is B A the use of semicolon is to join two independent sentences here what follows semicolon is a fragment . B Correct it is an independent sentence C gain wrong wrong parallelism D run on it is written rather awkwardly E now this choice might seem perfectly correct grammatically but there is a meaning error .It was not the income that rose but mortgage payments.
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16 Sep 2017, 04:13
why c is wrong it takes me a few hours to think. i have one idea.
in eliptical pattern, the cut off part must be one phrase. it can not be two phrases at two places. consider
I learn english and french. the cut off part is one phrase, "i learn french'
i learn english with my friend in 2000 and she French her friend 2001 the cut off part is " learn...with...in" this is impossible. the cut off part is 3 phrases in 3 places.
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18 Mar 2018, 22:14
nehanishika wrote:
In 1973 mortgage payments represented twenty-one percent of an average thirty-year-old male’s income; and forty-four percent in 1984.
(A) income; and forty-four percent in 1984 (B) income; in 1984 the figure was forty-four percent (C) income, and in 1984 forty-four percent (D) income, forty-four percent in 1984 was the figure (E) income that rose to forty-four percent in 1984
To establish the clearest comparison between circumstances in 1973 and those in 1984, a separate clause is needed to describe each year.
Choices A and C, in failing to use separate clauses, are too elliptical and therefore unclear.
Choice A also incorrectly uses and and a semicolon to separate an independent clause and a phrase.
Choice D incorrectly separates two independent clauses with a comma; moreover, the placement of in 1984 is awkward and confusing.
In choice E, that refers illogically to income, thereby producing the misstatement that income rather than mortgage payments rose to forty-four percent in 1984.
Choice B is best; two properly constructed clauses that clearly express the comparison are separated by a semicolon.
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04 May 2018, 02:46
Whenever you see 'AND' after a comma, check for two possibilities : 1. a list(apples, carrots, and bananas) 2. two main clauses(I like India, and she likes South Africa)
Here, in option C, there is independent clause after 'AND'. Therefore it is incorrect.
In 1973 mortgage payments represented twenty-one percent of an average
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10 May 2019, 01:07
In 1973 mortgage payments represented twenty-one percent of an average thirty-year-old male's income; and forty-four percent in 1984
A. income; and forty-four percent in 1984 - incorrect sentence structure- semicolon+ and incorrectly separates an IC and a phrase here B. income; in 1984 the figure was forty-four percent C. income, and in 1984 forty-four percent D. income, forty-four percent in 1984 was the figure - run- on sentence E. income that rose to forty-four percent in 1984 - that incorrectly refers to income
I was down to options B and C and ended up choosing option C. 1. In option B, what does 'the figure' refer to? Logically, it seems that it refers to the percentage of average thirty-year-old male's income represented by mortgage payments. Can you give some examples of such construction? 2. Also, what is the issue with option C?
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14 May 2019, 20:11
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Skywalker18 wrote:
In 1973 mortgage payments represented twenty-one percent of an average thirty-year-old male's income; and forty-four percent in 1984
A. income; and forty-four percent in 1984 - incorrect sentence structure- semicolon+ and incorrectly separates an IC and a phrase here B. income; in 1984 the figure was forty-four percent C. income, and in 1984 forty-four percent D. income, forty-four percent in 1984 was the figure - run- on sentence E. income that rose to forty-four percent in 1984 - that incorrectly refers to income
I was down to options B and C and ended up choosing option C. 1. In option B, what does 'the figure' refer to? Logically, it seems that it refers to the percentage of average thirty-year-old male's income represented by mortgage payments. Can you give some examples of such construction? 2. Also, what is the issue with option C?
You are correct here that "figure" refers to "the percentage of average thirty-year-old male's income represented by mortgage payments". The word "figure" used in this way can refer to any number (or percentage). For example:
In December, I read 8 books; in January, the figure was 10.
The chart illustrating the stock price indicates that the figure increased over time.
In the first sentence, "figure" refers to the number of books. In the second, it refers to the stock price.
Regarding your second question, when we use a comma followed by "and", a complete clause must follow. In choice C, there is no subject/verb, and so no clause. It would be correct if it instead stated:
In 1973 mortgage payments represented twenty-one percent of an average thirty-year-old male's income, and in 1984 they represented forty-four percent.
In that case, we have a clause following "and", since we now have a subject ("they") and a verb ("represented").
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63% (01:12) correct 
