V05-33

Official Solution:

Even though surrounded by wild southern winds, local fishermen said that conditions on the sea at the time of the shrimp hunting was acceptable.

A. local fishermen said that conditions on the sea at the time of the shrimp hunting was acceptable.
B. the sea conditions during the shrimp hunting were acceptable according to local fishermen.
C. according to local fishermen, the sea was in acceptable condition during the time of the shrimp hunting.
D. the sea was in acceptable condition during the shrimp hunting, according to local fishermen.
E. local fishermen said that condition on the sea at the time of the shrimp hunting were acceptable.


A. The modifying phrase at the beginning of this sentence should be followed by the noun that the modifier refers to, “the sea.” The sentence suggests that “local fishermen” were surrounded by wild southern winds. Though the meaning may sound logical, it makes more sense for the sea to be surrounded by wild southern winds. However the most apparent grammatical error is that the plural subject "conditions" does not agree with the singular verb "was acceptable."

B. The modifying phrase “Even though surrounded by wild southern winds” at the beginning of this sentence should be followed by the noun the modifier it refers to, “the sea.” Note that in the noun phrase "the sea conditions," the word "sea" acts as an adjective modifying the noun "conditions."

C. The placement of "according to local fishermen" makes it unclear whether the fishermen stated that the sea was “surrounded by wild southern winds” or that "the sea was in acceptable condition." Furthermore, his choice incorrectly uses the redundant phrase “during the time of” instead of “during.”

D. CORRECT The modifying phrase “Even though surrounded by wild southern winds” is correctly followed by the noun the modifier refers to, “the sea.” The phrase "according to local fishermen" is placed at the end of the sentence, unambiguously referring to the main clause ("the sea was in acceptable condition").

E. The modifying phrase “Even though surrounded by wild southern winds” at the beginning of this sentence should be followed by the noun the modifier refers to, “the sea.” However, the placement of “local fishermen” could also be grammatically correct. But we can not over look the subject-verb error. This choice also has a subject verb agreement - it incorrectly uses “were” for the singular “condition”. Note that a minor grammatical error could make an otherwise correct answer choice incorrect.


Answer: D