Dear Friends,
Here is a detailed explanation to this question-
x97agarwal wrote:
The health benefits of tea have been the subject of much research; in addition to its possibilities for preventing and inhibiting some forms of cancer, the brewed leaves of Camellia sinensis may also play a role in reducing the risk of heart disease and stroke.
(A) in addition to its possibilities for preventing and inhibiting
(B) in addition to its possibilities to prevent or inhibit
(C) besides the possibility that it prevents and inhibits
(D) besides the possible preventing and inhibiting of
(E) besides possibly preventing or inhibiting
Meaning is crucial to solving this problem:Understanding the intended meaning is key to solving this question; the intended core meaning of this sentence is that the brewed leaves of
Camellia sinensis may prevent or inhibit some forms of cancer, and they may play a role in reducing the risk of heart disease and stroke.
Concepts tested here: Meaning + Pronouns + Parallelism + Idioms + Awkwardness/Redundancy• "possibility + of" and "possibility + that" are the correct, idiomatic constructions.
• Any elements linked by a conjunction ("in addition" and “besides” in this case) must be parallel.
A: This answer choice incorrectly uses the singular pronoun "its" to refer to the plural noun "leaves". Further, Option A fails to maintain parallelism between the verb phrase "play a role" and the noun phrase "its possibilities"; please remember, any elements linked by a conjunction ("in addition" in this sentence) must be parallel. Additionally, Option A uses the unidiomatic construction "possibilities for"; please remember, "possibility + of" and "possibility + that" are the correct, idiomatic constructions. Besides, Option A uses the needlessly wordy phrase "in addition to its possibilities", leading to awkwardness and redundancy.
B: This answer choice incorrectly uses the singular pronoun "its" to refer to the plural noun "leaves". Further, Option B fails to maintain parallelism between the verb phrase "play a role" and the noun phrase "its possibilities"; please remember, any elements linked by a conjunction ("in addition" in this sentence) must be parallel. Additionally, Option B uses the unidiomatic construction "possibilities to"; please remember, "possibility + of" and "possibility + that" are the correct, idiomatic constructions. Besides, Option B uses the needlessly wordy phrase "in addition to its possibilities", leading to awkwardness and redundancy.
C: This answer choice incorrectly uses the singular pronoun "it" to refer to the plural noun "leaves". Further, Option C alters the meaning of the sentence through the phrase "prevents and inhibits"; the use of "and" incorrectly implies that the brewed leaves of
Camellia sinensis may both prevent and inhibit some forms of cancer; the intended meaning is that the brewed leaves of
Camellia sinensis may either prevent or inhibit some forms of cancer. Additionally, Option C fails to maintain parallelism between the verb phrase "play a role" and the noun phrase "the possibility"; please remember, any elements linked by a conjunction ("besides" in this sentence) must be parallel. Besides, Option C uses the needlessly wordy phrase "besides the possibility", leading to awkwardness and redundancy.
D: This answer choice alters the meaning of the sentence through the phrase "preventing and inhibiting"; the use of "and" incorrectly implies that the brewed leaves of
Camellia sinensis may both prevent and inhibit some forms of cancer; the intended meaning is that the brewed leaves of
Camellia sinensis may either prevent or inhibit some forms of cancer. Further, Option D fails to maintain parallelism between the active verb phrase "play a role" and the present participle ("verb+ing" - "preventing" and "inhibiting" in this sentence) phrase "the possible preventing and inhibiting"; please remember, any elements linked by a conjunction ("besides" in this sentence) must be parallel. Besides, Option D uses the needlessly wordy phrase "the possible preventing and inhibiting of", leading to awkwardness and redundancy.
E: Correct. This answer choice avoids the pronoun error seen in Options A, B, and C, as it uses no pronouns. Further, Option E uses the phrase "preventing or inhibiting", conveying the intended meaning - that the brewed leaves of
Camellia sinensis may either prevent or inhibit some forms of cancer. Additionally, Option E maintains parallelism between the active verb phrases "play a role" and "preventing or inhibiting". Moreover, Option E avoids the idiomatic error seen in Options A and B, as it uses the adverb "possibly" rather than the noun "possibilities". Besides, Option E is free of any awkwardness or redundancy.
Hence, E is the best answer choice.All the best!
Experts' Global Team
. One question I'm finding it hard to see the parallelism here? How is "play a role" parallel with "preventing or inhibiting" ? Do you mean parallel with "in reducing" here? the -ing parallelism? Again not sure why is the need for parallelism here? Thanks for your time in advaned.
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Updated on: 21 May 2021, 01:25
Pronoun in Intro modifier.pdf [16.63 KiB]
