OFFICIAL EXPLANATIONProject SC Butler: Sentence Correction (SC2)
THE PROMPTQuote:
In many popular works of fiction, American detectives are portrayed as far too energetic in their pursuit of the killer, forever racing along those mean streets at high speeds, firing off guns erratically, in periods of less physical exertion, confronting their emotional neuroses.
• Meaning?
The sentence provides a list of three attributes of American detectives.
The three attributes should be parallel:
racing, firing, and
confronting.
• Oxford comma
In a list of more than two items, on the GMAT, the last item on the list must be preceded by COMMA + AND
→ This construction is called an "Oxford comma."
→ In British English, in every newspaper that I know of, and in many respected journals, the Oxford comma is not used.
On the GMAT, the Oxford comma is always used.
THE OPTIONSQuote:
A) forever racing along those mean streets at high speeds, firing off guns erratically, [AND] in periods of less physical exertion, confronting their emotional neuroses.
• in a list of more than two items, the last item must be preceded by COMMA+ AND
→ GMAC writers
never fail to include the "Oxford comma."
ELIMINATE A
Quote:
B) [AND] they are forever racing along those mean streets at high speeds, firing off guns erratically and, in periods of less physical exertion, confronting their emotional neuroses.
• The use of
they in the underlined portion creates a second independent clause.
Independent clauses cannot be joined by just a comma.
Doing so creates an improper comma splice.
• Comma splice
→ two independent clauses are incorrectly "stuck together" with nothing more than a comma
→ we need a conjunction or we need that comma to be a semicolon
I just wrote about comma splices in
this post, here. See option D and especially Notes.
ELIMINATE B
Quote:
C) forever racing along those mean streets at high speeds, firing off guns erratically and, in periods of less physical exertion, confronting their emotional neuroses.
• I do not see any errors
•
racing, firing, and
confronting modify the subject of the previous clause (
American detectives).
• those ___ING words (present participles, verbING words) can modify, elaborate on, or add details to the previous clause or to the subject of that clause.
KEEP
Quote:
D) they are forever racing along those mean streets at high speeds, they fire off guns erratically and, in periods of less physical exertion, they confront their emotional neuroses.
• comma splice
As is the case in option B, the use of
they in the underlined portion creates a second independent clause, resulting in a run-on sentence because a comma is being used improperly to connect two independent clauses.
Quote:
E) forever racing along those mean streets at high speeds and firing off guns erratically and, in periods of less physical exertion, they confront their emotional neuroses.
• parallelism: The use of
racing and
firing is not parallel to
they confront.ELIMINATE
The correct answer is C.COMMENTSAs always, I am glad to see a diverse group.
Yet again I will mention that I am impressed by those of you who continue to prepare and who contribute your posts.
Spring is coming in the northern hemisphere.
Especially given this last year, your work and persistence are in keeping with the turning of seasons.
A few of these answers are outstanding: they explain why something is incorrect.
The others are pretty good.
Kudos all around.
Nicely done.