Bunuel
Science fiction has been described as the genre that, by addressing the future,
that it concerns ideas of large scope rather than the ephemeral thoughts and emotions of individuals.
A. that it concerns ideas of large scope rather than the ephemeral thoughts
B. that concerns ideas of large scope instead of the ephemeral thoughts
C. concerns ideas of large scope rather than the ephemeral thoughts
D. so concerns ideas of large scope instead of the ephemeral thinking
E. it concerns ideas of large scope but not the ephemeral thoughts
KAPLAN OFFICIAL EXPLANATION
(C)
Step 1: Read the Original Sentence Carefully, Looking for ErrorsThe clause starting “that it concerns ideas” and going all the way to the end of the sentence describes the genre of science fiction. Since the part of the sentence before the comma already has a “that,” which stands for the word right before it, “genre,” there is no need for another “that” after the comma or for the pronoun “it.”
Step 2: Scan and Group the Answer ChoicesThe choices can be grouped with a 2-2-1 split. (A) and (B) both keep “that.” (C) and (D) get rid of both “that” and “it,” while (E) gets rid of “that” but keeps “it.”
Step 3: Eliminate Choices Until Only One RemainsSince you determined in step 1 that both “that” and “it” were unnecessary, eliminate (A), (B), and (E). To see clearly what sort of connector is needed, try reading the sentence without the unessential prepositional phrase “by addressing the future.” In fact, no connector words are needed after the comma: “Science fiction has been described as the genre that . . . concerns ideas . . . ” (D) uses “so” improperly and changes “thoughts” to “thinking,” which is not parallel with its partner “emotions,” so it can be eliminated. (C) is correct. This can be confirmed by reading it back into the sentence:
Science fiction has been described as the genre that, by addressing the future,
concerns ideas of large scope rather than the ephemeral thoughts and emotions of individuals.