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30 Jan 2022, 00:58
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E
Be sure to select an answer first to save it in the Error Log before revealing the correct answer (OA)!
Difficulty:
25%
(medium)
Question Stats:
72% (01:12) correct
28%
(01:26)
wrong
based on 162
sessions
History
Date
Time
Result
Not Attempted Yet
Plastic surgeons who perform surgery for non-medical reasons defend their practice on the basis of the free rights of patients; many others in the health field, however, contend that plastic surgery degrades natural beauty, which they liken to reconstructing a national park.
A) which they liken to reconstructing a national park.
B) which they liken to a national park with reconstruction done to it.
C) which they liken to reconstruction done on a national park.
D) likening it to a national park with reconstruction done on it.
E) likening it to reconstructing a national park.
30 Jan 2022, 01:00
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OFFICIAL EXPLANATION
Option E proves best—correct, logical, and succinct—in comparing plastic surgery to the act of reconstructing a national park. In short, the patient is being compared to a national park while the act of plastic surgery is being likened to the act of reconstructing a national park.
The word “likening” functions as a participle [a verbING word]: it introduces the participle phrase “likening it to reconstructing a national park.” This phrase properly refers to surgery, not natural beauty.
In choices A, B, and C, the relative pronoun which refers not to plastic surgery but to the noun immediately preceding it, natural beauty. As a result, natural beauty is inaccurately compared to:
reconstructing a national park (option A),
a national park (option B), and to
reconstruction (choice C).
Choice D corrects this comparison problem by eliminating the which construction and supplying the pronoun it, thus referring clearly to “plastic surgery,” but option D then illogically compares plastic surgery to a national park.
Moreover, the double use of “it” in (D) is not correct: the first it refers to plastic surgery while the second it refers to a national park.
The singular pronoun “it” may possess one and only one antecedent. The word “it” cannot stand for two different nouns.
Option E is the best answer.
COMMENTS
This question follows a pattern I often see in official questions: COMMA + which is pitted against COMMA + participle [verbING] modifier.
True, this question alters the pattern slightly.
In OG questions of this sort, which usually does not refer to a stated noun and instead erroneously tries to refer to the entire preceding clause. In this question, "which" is too close to the wrong noun, but most of you picked up on that fact—and those who did not will learn from this question and be just fine.
Winston Churchill said a lot of really smart things. One of his best declarations?
Perfection is the enemy of progress.
Quote:
Plastic surgeons who perform surgery for non-medical reasons defend their practice on the basis of the free rights of patients; many others in the health field, however, contend that plastic surgery degrades natural beauty, which they liken to reconstructing a national park.
A) which they liken to reconstructing a national park.
→ The "Modifier Touch Rule" states that a noun modifier should be as close as possible to the noun it modifies.
Which, it appears, modifies natural beauty.
Now, the antecedent noun need not be right next to its modifier (which introduces an adjective clause), but which and other relative pronouns typically do come right after their nouns.
If "which" is far from its noun, that distance is typically created by a long prepositional phrase that follows the noun but precedes the which; in such a case, which "reaches back" over the prepositional phrase and "touches" its noun.
At the very least, the placement of which creates ambiguity and confusion.
If which modifies natural beauty (a conclusion that most native readers would draw and certainly the one I drew upon first and second reading), then natural beauty is nonsensically "likened" (compared) to reconstructing a national park.
If which does not modify natural beauty, we must work too hard to figure out the noun antecedent of which.
Eliminate A.
B) which they liken to a national park with reconstruction done to it.
Same problem as that in option A: if which does not refer to natural beauty, we are working too hard and against the grain of normal diction to discern the antecedent of which.
If we draw the natural conclusion that which modifies natural beauty, we now deal with a nonsensical comparison between natural beauty and a national park.
Eliminate B
C) which they liken to reconstruction done on a national park.
Same problem as those in options A and B.
If we draw the natural conclusion that which modifies natural beauty, we now deal with a nonsensical comparison between natural beauty and reconstruction.
Eliminate C.
D) likening it to a national park with reconstruction done on it.
→ because participle (verbING) modifiers often modify the subject of the preceding clause, we understand from the word "likening" that the first it sensibly refers to plastic surgery.
→ but then (D) illogically compares plastic surgery to a national park.
Eliminate D.
E) likening it to reconstructing a national park.
→ plastic surgery is logically compared to the act of reconstructing.
KEEP.
A) which they liken to reconstructing a national park.
→ The "Modifier Touch Rule" states that a noun modifier should be as close as possible to the noun it modifies.
Which, it appears, modifies natural beauty.
Now, the antecedent noun need not be right next to its modifier (which introduces an adjective clause), but which and other relative pronouns typically do come right after their nouns.
If "which" is far from its noun, that distance is typically created by a long prepositional phrase that follows the noun but precedes the which; in such a case, which "reaches back" over the prepositional phrase and "touches" its noun.
At the very least, the placement of which creates ambiguity and confusion.
If which modifies natural beauty (a conclusion that most native readers would draw and certainly the one I drew upon first and second reading), then natural beauty is nonsensically "likened" (compared) to reconstructing a national park.
If which does not modify natural beauty, we must work too hard to figure out the noun antecedent of which.
Eliminate A.
B) which they liken to a national park with reconstruction done to it.
Same problem as that in option A: if which does not refer to natural beauty, we are working too hard and against the grain of normal diction to discern the antecedent of which.
If we draw the natural conclusion that which modifies natural beauty, we now deal with a nonsensical comparison between natural beauty and a national park.
Eliminate B
C) which they liken to reconstruction done on a national park.
Same problem as those in options A and B.
If we draw the natural conclusion that which modifies natural beauty, we now deal with a nonsensical comparison between natural beauty and reconstruction.
Eliminate C.
D) likening it to a national park with reconstruction done on it.
→ because participle (verbING) modifiers often modify the subject of the preceding clause, we understand from the word "likening" that the first it sensibly refers to plastic surgery.
→ but then (D) illogically compares plastic surgery to a national park.
Eliminate D.
E) likening it to reconstructing a national park.
→ plastic surgery is logically compared to the act of reconstructing.
KEEP.
Option E proves best—correct, logical, and succinct—in comparing plastic surgery to the act of reconstructing a national park. In short, the patient is being compared to a national park while the act of plastic surgery is being likened to the act of reconstructing a national park.
The word “likening” functions as a participle [a verbING word]: it introduces the participle phrase “likening it to reconstructing a national park.” This phrase properly refers to surgery, not natural beauty.
In choices A, B, and C, the relative pronoun which refers not to plastic surgery but to the noun immediately preceding it, natural beauty. As a result, natural beauty is inaccurately compared to:
reconstructing a national park (option A),
a national park (option B), and to
reconstruction (choice C).
Choice D corrects this comparison problem by eliminating the which construction and supplying the pronoun it, thus referring clearly to “plastic surgery,” but option D then illogically compares plastic surgery to a national park.
Moreover, the double use of “it” in (D) is not correct: the first it refers to plastic surgery while the second it refers to a national park.
The singular pronoun “it” may possess one and only one antecedent. The word “it” cannot stand for two different nouns.
Option E is the best answer.
COMMENTS
This question follows a pattern I often see in official questions: COMMA + which is pitted against COMMA + participle [verbING] modifier.
True, this question alters the pattern slightly.
In OG questions of this sort, which usually does not refer to a stated noun and instead erroneously tries to refer to the entire preceding clause. In this question, "which" is too close to the wrong noun, but most of you picked up on that fact—and those who did not will learn from this question and be just fine.
Winston Churchill said a lot of really smart things. One of his best declarations?
Perfection is the enemy of progress.
30 Jan 2022, 02:03
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My answer is (E). It took me 01:21.
(A) "Which" appears to refer to "natural beauty", but it is nonsensical to liken "natural beauty" to "reconstructing a national park". Maybe "which" refers to "plastic surgery", but "plastic surgery' is placed too far away.
(B) it is nonsensical to liken "natural beauty" to "a national park with reconstruction done to it"
(C) it is nonsensical to liken "natural beauty" to "reconstruction"
(D) What does "it" refer to? "plastic surgery". Can we liken "plastic surgery" to a national park"? Not if we want to sound rational.
Another perspective: (D) is much shorter. Shorter is better.
(E) It is fine to liken "(the process of) plastic surgery" to "(the process of) reconstructing a national park".
(A) "Which" appears to refer to "natural beauty", but it is nonsensical to liken "natural beauty" to "reconstructing a national park". Maybe "which" refers to "plastic surgery", but "plastic surgery' is placed too far away.
(B) it is nonsensical to liken "natural beauty" to "a national park with reconstruction done to it"
(C) it is nonsensical to liken "natural beauty" to "reconstruction"
(D) What does "it" refer to? "plastic surgery". Can we liken "plastic surgery" to a national park"? Not if we want to sound rational.
Another perspective: (D) is much shorter. Shorter is better.
(E) It is fine to liken "(the process of) plastic surgery" to "(the process of) reconstructing a national park".
