ashdah wrote:
It is called a sea, but the landlocked Caspian is actually the largest lake on Earth, which covers more than four times the surface area of its closest rival in size, North America's Lake Superior.
ashdah wrote:
(A) It is called a sea, but the landlocked Caspian is actually the largest lake on Earth, which covers
"which" is referring to Earth in this answer choice, which is
illogical.
ashdah wrote:
(B) Although it is called a sea, actually the landlocked Caspian is the largest lake on Earth, which covers
"which" is referring to Earth in this answer choice, which is
illogical.
Adverb "actually" is placed incorrectly. It
should be placed to demonstrate that although Caspian is called a sea, Caspian is
actually a lake.
ashdah wrote:
(C) Though called a sea, the landlocked Caspian is actually the largest lake on Earth, covering
Correct. The modifiers are logical. The adverb "actually" is placed correctly, demonstrating the contrast that although Caspian is called a sea, it is
actually a lake. We only have one independent clause, so there is no comma splice error.
ashdah wrote:
(D) Though called a sea but it actually is the largest lake on Earth, the landlocked Caspian covers
The Official Explanation doesn't mention this, but this answer choice is a
comma splice. We have two independent clauses joined by a comma.
I'm not sure the pronoun "it" is used effectively here either. Is "it" referring to 'sea,' 'lake' or 'Caspian'?
ashdah wrote:
(E) Despite being called a sea, the largest lake on Earth is actually the landlocked Caspian, covering
Modifier error. The opening clause needs to modify Caspian, not "the largest lake."
The final clause "covering more than four time the surface area..." should be modifying "largest lake," not Caspian.
Modifier errors.