jimmyjamesdonkey wrote:
To Josephine Baker, Paris was her home long before it was fashionable to be an expatriate, and she remained in France during the Second World War as a performer and an intelligence agent for the Resistance
(A) To Josephine Baker, Paris was her home long before it was fashionable to be an expatriate
(B) For Josephine Baker, long before it was fashionable to be an expatriate, Paris was her home
(C) Josephine Baker made Paris her home long before to be an expatriate was fashionable
(D) Long before it was fashionable to be an expatriate, Josephine Baker made Paris her home
(E) Long before it was fashionable being an expatriate, Paris was home to Josephine Baker
We need to look for the best option and that is why we eliminate the other options here.
(A) To Josephine Baker, Paris was her home long before it was fashionable to be an expatriate
First of all, I would think that 'her' is redundant here. When we say "To J, Paris was home" it implies that J thought Paris was her home.
Also, "she remained in France..." the subject "she" of the second independent clause has J as its antecedent. It is better placed as the subject of the first clause.
"J made this and she stayed there..." is clearer with 'she' referring to J. We discuss this in pronoun ambiguity that 'she' - the subject of the second clause will naturally refer to J, the subject of the first clause. If it cannot, then we need to "find" to whom it is referring and that is sub optimal.
Another thing - I like the "J made Paris her home" construction much more than "Paris was her home" with the presence of "long before it was fashionable..." When I want to say "long before this", I would like to say "J did that" - an action, not a state. The use of "made Paris home" is better than "was home" in this case. Not that I can find much fault with "Paris was home" either but since we seem to be pointing to a time before it became fashionable, "made" seems more apt. She did this before that happened.
Mind you, inspite of all these issues, I would hold on to (A).
(B) For Josephine Baker, long before it was fashionable to be an expatriate, Paris was her home
The double stacked phrases ("for J..." and "long before it was...") are not suitable if not really necessary hence will avoid this option.
(C) Josephine Baker made Paris her home long before to be an expatriate was fashionable
This is a bit of a clutter. "long before to be ... " is confusing. Only after reading the entire sentence do we understand what it meant. We usually use "it is fashionable to be an expatriate" and not "To be an expatriate is fashionable".
(D) Long before it was fashionable to be an expatriate, Josephine Baker made Paris her home
Sorts out all problems discussed above.
(E) Long before it was fashionable being an expatriate, Paris was home to Josephine Baker
Wouldn't look at this option now with "being an expatriate". One is an expatriate, not being an expatriate. It is a state, not a temporary condition.
Answer (D)