Dear friends,
Here is a detailed explanation for this question -
spriya wrote:
Turning away from literary realism to write romantic stories about the peasant life and landscape of northern Sweden, in 1909 Selma Lagerlöf was the novelist who became the first woman and was also the first Swedish writer to win the Nobel Prize for Literature.
(A) Turning away from literary realism to write romantic stories about the peasant life and landscape of northern Sweden, in 1909 Selma Lagerlöf was the novelist who became the first woman and was also the first Swedish writer to win
(B) She turned away from literary realism and wrote romantic stories about the peasant life and landscape of northern Sweden, and novelist Selma Lagerlöf in 1909 became the first woman as well as the first Swedish writer that won
(C) Selma Lagerlöf was a novelist who turned away from literary realism to write romantic stories about the peasant life and landscape of northern Sweden, and in 1909 she became the first woman in addition to the first Swedish writer winning
(D) A novelist who turned away from literary realism to write romantic stories about the peasant life and landscape of northern Sweden, Selma Lagerlöf became in 1909 the first woman and also the first Swedish writer to win
(E) As a novelist, Selma Lagerlöf turned away from literary realism and wrote romantic stories about the peasant life and landscape of northern Sweden, in 1909 becoming the first woman and also the first Swedish writer that won
Meaning is crucial to solving this problem:Understanding the intended meaning is key to solving this question; the intended meaning of this sentence is that Selma Lagerlöf was a novelist who turned away from literary realism to write romantic stories about the peasant life and landscape of northern Sweden, and in 1909, she became the first woman and also the first Swedish writer to win the Nobel Prize for Literature.
Concepts tested here: Meaning + Pronouns + Verb Forms + Awkwardness/Redundancy• "that" cannot be used to refer to human beings.
• The infinitive verb form ("to + base form of verb") is preferred over the present participle ("verb+ing") for referring to the purpose/intent of action.
• The introduction of the present participle ("verb+ing"- “becoming” in this case) after comma generally leads to a cause-effect relationship.
A: This answer choice alters the meaning of the sentence through the phrases "Turning away from literary realism...northern Sweden" and "was the novelist who became the first woman"; the construction of these phrases illogically implies that Selma Lagerlöf was the first women in
existence because she turned away from literary realism to write romantic stories about the peasant life and landscape of northern Sweden; the intended meaning is that Selma Lagerlöf was a novelist who turned away from literary realism to write romantic stories about the peasant life and landscape of northern Sweden, and
as a separate action, in 1909, she became the first woman
to win the Nobel Prize for Literature. Further, Option A uses the passive voice construction "was the novelist who became", leading to awkwardness and redundancy.
B: This answer choice incorrectly refers to the nouns "woman" and "writer" with the pronoun "that"; please remember, "that" cannot be used to refer to human beings. Further, Option B alters the meaning of the sentence through the phrase "and wrote romantic stories...Sweden"; the use of "and" incorrectly implies that turning away from literary realism and writing romantic stories about the peasant life and landscape of northern Sweden were two
separate actions taken by Selma Lagerlöf; the intended meaning is that Selma Lagerlöf turned away from literary realism
in order to write romantic stories about the peasant life and landscape of northern Sweden.
C: Trap. This answer choice uses the present participle ("verb+ing" - "winning" in this sentence) to refer to the intent of the action "became the first woman in addition to the first Swedish writer"; please remember, the infinitive verb form ("to + base form of verb") is preferred over the present participle ("verb+ing") for referring to the purpose/intent of action. Further, Option C uses the needlessly wordy constructions "in addition to" and "Selma Lagerlöf was a novelist...", leading to awkwardness and redundancy.
D: Correct. This answer choice avoids the pronoun errors seen in Options B and E, as it does not use a pronoun to refer to the nouns "woman" and "writer". Further, Option D uses the phrases "A novelist who turned away from literary realism to write romantic stories...Sweden", "became...the first woman and also the first Swedish writer to win", conveying the intended meaning - that Selma Lagerlöf was a novelist who turned away from literary realism
in order to write romantic stories about the peasant life and landscape of northern Sweden, and
as a separate action, in 1909, she became the first woman
to win the Nobel Prize for Literature. Additionally, Option D uses the infinitive verb form ("to + base form of verb" - "to + win" in this sentence) to refer to the intent of the action "became...the first woman and also the first Swedish writer". Besides, Option D is free of any awkwardness or redundancy.
E: This answer choice incorrectly refers to the nouns "woman" and "writer" with the pronoun "that"; please remember, "that" cannot be used to refer to human beings. Further, Option E alters the meaning of the sentence through the phrase "and wrote romantic stories...Sweden"; the use of "and" incorrectly implies that turning away from literary realism and writing romantic stories about the peasant life and landscape of northern Sweden were two
separate actions taken by Selma Lagerlöf; the intended meaning is that Selma Lagerlöf turned away from literary realism
in order to write romantic stories about the peasant life and landscape of northern Sweden. Moreover, Option E further alters the meaning of the sentence through the phrase "in 1909 becoming"; the use of the "comma + present participle ("verb+ing" - "becoming" in this sentence)" construction incorrectly implies that Selma Lagerlöf was a novelist who turned away from literary realism to write romantic stories about the peasant life and landscape of northern Sweden, and
as a result, in 1909, she became the first woman and also the first Swedish writer to win the Nobel Prize for Literature; the intended meaning is that Selma Lagerlöf was a novelist who turned away from literary realism to write romantic stories about the peasant life and landscape of northern Sweden, and
as a separate action in 1909, she became the first woman and also the first Swedish writer to win the Nobel Prize for Literature; remember, the introduction of the present participle ("verb+ing"- “becoming” in this case) after comma generally leads to a cause-effect relationship.
Hence, D is the best answer choice.All the best!
Experts' Global Team
, I was able to get the right answer following the process of elimination but I'm not sure if the the use of 'win' in "Selma Lagerlöf became in 1909 the first woman and also the first Swedish writer to
" is correct or not? The entire sentence is in past tense but then we are using a present tense as a verb.
Or have we considered the writer's win as a general truth or a fact, because then the use of present tense will be justified.
close
19 Dec 2020, 20:58
