Bunuel
Noticing the fact that the three students were arguing while they were writing a joint science report over the proper use of semicolons, their discussion was interrupted by the teacher to give them a quick lesson on punctuation.
A. Noticing the fact that the three students were arguing while they were writing a joint science report over the proper use of semicolons, their discussion was interrupted by the teacher
B. Noting that the three students were arguing while they were writing a joint science report over the proper use of semicolons, their discussion was interrupted by the teacher
C. Noting that the three students were arguing over the proper use of semicolons while they were writing a joint science report, the teacher interrupted their discussion
D. Noticing the fact that the three students were arguing over the proper use of semicolons while they were writing a joint science report, the teacher interrupted their discussion
E. Noting that the three students were arguing over the proper use of semicolons while writing a joint science report, the teacher interrupted their discussion
KAPLAN OFFICIAL EXPLANATION
(C)
Step 1: Read the Original Sentence Carefully, Looking for ErrorsThe sentence starts with a modifying phrase (“Noticing the fact that . . . ”), so the noun that this phrase is intended to modify must appear immediately after the comma. In this case, the teacher is the one who is noticing something, so it is incorrect for the clause after the comma to start with “their discussion.” In addition, there is another misplaced modifier in the first clause: the students were arguing, not writing, over the proper use of a semicolon. The correct choice must fix both of these mistakes.
Step 2: Scan and Group the Answer ChoicesLike (A), choice (B) retains “their discussion was interrupted by the teacher” after the comma, while (C), (D), and (E) change it to “the teacher interrupted their discussion.”
Step 3: Eliminate Choices Until Only One RemainsSince the first clause is modifying the teacher, not the discussion, eliminate (A) and (B). A quick vertical scan of the remaining choices reveals a 2-1 split at the beginning of each: (D) keeps the original phrasing (“Noticing the fact that . . . ”), while (C) and (E) change it to “Noting that . . . ” Either “[n]oticing” or “[n]oting” is a correct word here, but the addition of “the fact” adds nothing. Since “[n]oting that” is more concise, eliminate (D).
Both (C) and (E) fix the other misplaced modifier in the original sentence, correctly moving the phrase “over the proper use of a semicolon” to follow the word it modifies (“arguing”). The only difference between them is that (C) uses the original language “while they were writing,” while (E) shortens it to “while writing.” You might be tempted to choose the more concise phrasing in (E), but omitting the words “they were” makes the meaning ambiguous: were the students arguing over the proper use of semicolons in joint science reports specifically or the proper use of semicolons in any type of writing while these particular students happened to be writing a joint science report? Because (C) contains no such ambiguity, it is the correct answer. Read it into the sentence to confirm:
Noting that the three students were arguing over the proper use of semicolons while they were writing a joint science report, the teacher interrupted their discussion to give them a quick lesson on punctuation and mechanics.