Bunuel wrote:
Scoliosis, a condition when the spine curves abnormally and throws the body out of line, can cause heart and lung problems as well as physical deformity
A. a condition when the spine curves abnormally and throws the body out of line
B. an abnormal curvature of the spine that throws the body out of line
C. a condition of the spine curving abnormally and in which the body is thrown out of line
D. where the body is thrown out of line by an abnormal curvature of the spine
E. a condition of an abnormal curvature of the spine throwing the body out of line
• Option A: Use "when" as a relative pronoun only for actual time or time periods
-- to describe a condition, use "in which" instead
-- But do not automatically eliminate answers with a "when" that is not an actual time. Check. Such answers could be a hidden conditional, this way:
----> If it rains, then the grass will get wet. Also correct: WHEN it rains, the grass will get wet. Zero conditionals can and often do contain
when because they are
always true.
-- In this case, "when" is not a hidden conditional. Use "in which," though the phrase is not as clear as the logic in (B). See (C)
• Option B: correct
• Option C
-- a condition
of the is not correct. (Correct: condition "in which")
-- Further, if we put aside the "of the" error,
a condition of the spine curving abnormally should state
a condition of the spine's curving abnormally . . .
-- A noun or pronoun placed before a gerund is called the "subject" of the gerund.
-- That noun tells what or who is doing the gerund. The subject of the gerund should be in possessive form. (The construction often sounds weird.)
Linus objected to Sally's stealing his blanket, even though she wanted only to wash it.-- the gerund is
curving. Subject of the gerund: spine (the spine is doing the curving)
- "the spine's curving" is correct
-- Finally, "
and in which" is not as clear as the logically direct clause in (B),
X that causes Y • Option D: GMAC is strict—
where is used only for actual places.
• Option E
-- for ailments: a condition "
of an abnormal curvature of the spine" is unidiomatic and here, nonsensical.
-- We can use "condition of" at times ("on condition of anonymity" or "a condition of the contract"), but for an ailment the idiomatic construction is "a condition in which" or "a condition that"
-- The condition is not OF an abnormal curvature of the spine; the condition IS an abnormal curvature of the spine.
(BTW, if the rest of the sentence were correct,
throwing [i.e., that throws] the body out of line would be fine as an essential modifier that is a bit far from its noun "condition," just as "that" is fine in (B).
Any vital modifier can "jump" over a vital prepositional phrase to get to the modifier's subject if meaning is clear and the prepositional phrase cannot be placed differently.)
In correct option B, we have
-- Scoliosis [subject]
-- an abnormal
curvature of the spine
that throws the body out of line [appositive]
-- can cause problems [verb and object]
Answer B