In many popular works of fiction American detectives are portrayed as

Question

Project SC Butler: Sentence Correction (SC2) 
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In many popular works of fiction, American detectives are portrayed as far too energetic in their pursuit of the killer,  forever racing along those mean streets at high speeds, firing off guns erratically, in periods of less physical exertion, confronting their emotional neuroses.

A) forever racing along those mean streets at high speeds, firing off guns erratically, in periods of less physical exertion, confronting their emotional neuroses.

B) they are forever racing along those mean streets at high speeds, firing off guns erratically and, in periods of less physical exertion, confronting their emotional neuroses.

C) forever racing along those mean streets at high speeds, firing off guns erratically and, in periods of less physical exertion, confronting their emotional neuroses.

D) they are forever racing along those mean streets at high speeds, they fire off guns erratically and, in periods of less physical exertion, they confront their emotional neuroses.

E) forever racing along those mean streets at high speeds and firing off guns erratically and, in periods of less physical exertion, they confront their emotional neuroses.

generis · Answer

OFFICIAL EXPLANATION

Project SC Butler: Sentence Correction (SC2)

THE PROMPT  
 
• Meaning?
The sentence provides a list of three attributes of American detectives.
The three attributes should be parallel:  racing, firing,  and  confronting .

• Oxford comma
In a list of more than two items, on the GMAT, the last item on the list must be preceded by COMMA + AND
→ This construction is called an "Oxford comma."
→ In British English, in every newspaper that I know of, and in many respected journals, the Oxford comma is not used.
On the GMAT, the Oxford comma is always used.

THE OPTIONS  
 
• in a list of more than two items, the last item must be preceded by COMMA+ AND
→ GMAC writers  never  fail to include the "Oxford comma."
ELIMINATE A

• The use of  they  in the underlined portion creates a second independent clause.
Independent clauses cannot be joined by just a comma.
Doing so creates an improper comma splice.
 
• Comma splice
→ two independent clauses are incorrectly "stuck together" with nothing more than a comma
→ we need a conjunction or we need that comma to be a semicolon
I just wrote about comma splices in  this post, here . See option D and especially Notes.
ELIMINATE B

• I do not see any errors
•  racing, firing,  and  confronting  modify the subject of the previous clause ( American detectives ).
• those ___ING words (present participles, verbING words) can modify, elaborate on, or add details to the previous clause or to the subject of that clause.
KEEP

• comma splice
As is the case in option B, the use of  they  in the underlined portion creates a second independent clause, resulting in a run-on sentence because a comma is being used improperly to connect two independent clauses.

• parallelism: The use of  racing  and  firing  is not parallel to  they confront. 
ELIMINATE

The correct answer is C.

COMMENTS

As always, I am glad to see a diverse group.

Yet again I will mention that I am impressed by those of you who continue to prepare and who contribute your posts.
Spring is coming in the northern hemisphere.
Especially given this last year, your work and persistence are in keeping with the turning of seasons.

A few of these answers are outstanding: they explain why something is incorrect.
The others are pretty good.
Kudos all around.

Nicely done.

rvgmat12 · Answer

In many popular works of fiction, American detectives are portrayed as far too energetic in their pursuit of the killer, forever racing along those mean streets at high speeds, firing off guns erratically, in periods of less physical exertion, confronting their emotional neuroses.

A) forever racing along those mean streets at high speeds, firing off guns erratically, in periods of less physical exertion, confronting their emotional neuroses.
The list needs to be in X, Y, and Z and X, Y and Z need to be parallel

B) they are forever racing along those mean streets at high speeds, firing off guns erratically and, in periods of less physical exertion, confronting their emotional neuroses.
Run on. Needs to be a modifier

C) forever racing along those mean streets at high speeds, firing off guns erratically and, in periods of less physical exertion, confronting their emotional neuroses.
Correct

D) they are forever racing along those mean streets at high speeds, they fire off guns erratically and, in periods of less physical exertion, they confront their emotional neuroses.
Needs to be a modifier

E) forever racing along those mean streets at high speeds and firing off guns erratically and, in periods of less physical exertion, they confront their emotional neuroses
Two ands in the list

C must be the answer

Hope this helps

Posted from my mobile device

beeblebrox · Answer

IMO correct option is (C)

In option (B) and (D)  .... they are forever racing along   is an Independent clause, but since the question stem ends with a comma, we need a semicolon(;) to avoid comma splice error. Hence one can easily eliminate these two options.

Between (A), (C) and (E), option (C) is perfectly parallel.
  forever racing, firing off and, confronting

zhanbo · Answer

My answer is  (C) . It took me 59 seconds.

(A) In a list "X, Y, and Z" or "X, Y, or Z", the conjunction "and" or "or" cannot be omitted. 
(B) Comma splice. 
(C) The issue in (A), the missing "and", is fixed. 
(D) Comma splice.
(E) Lack of parallelism between "racing ... firing off" and "confront".

warrior1991 · Answer

There need to be a  and  before the last element in the list i.e confronting....Eliminate

The only difference in between option B and C is the use of  they   in option B and that somehow is creating a run-on sentence. There should have been a semicolon before  they  to join two independent clauses. 
 Option C is correctly using forever racing blah blah blah....as it highlights the additional information

This is same as option B . Usage of  they  is creating a run-on sentence.

the  they  at last breaks the parallelism and therefore is incorrect

IMO C

carouselambra · Answer

IMO C

In many popular works of fiction, American detectives are portrayed as far too energetic in their pursuit of the killer, forever racing along those mean streets at high speeds, firing off guns erratically, in periods of less physical exertion, confronting their emotional neuroses.

3:2 split- Eliminate B and D since they do not modify detectives
Skeleton of the sentence : X, Y  and  Z

A) forever racing along those mean streets at high speeds, firing off guns erratically,  in periods of less physical exertion,  confronting their emotional neuroses.

B)  they are forever  racing along those mean streets at high speeds, firing off guns erratically and, in periods of less physical exertion, confronting their emotional neuroses.

C) forever  racing  along those mean streets at high speeds,  firing  off guns erratically  and , in periods of less physical exertion,  confronting  their emotional neuroses.

D)  they are forever  racing along those mean streets at high speeds, they fire off guns erratically and, in periods of less physical exertion, they confront their emotional neuroses.

E) forever racing along those mean streets at high speeds and firing off guns erratically and, in periods of less physical exertion,  they confront their emotional neuroses. 
Parallelism missing

TarunKumar1234 · Answer

In many popular works of fiction, American detectives are portrayed as far too energetic in their pursuit of the killer, forever racing along those mean streets at high speeds, firing off guns erratically, in periods of less physical exertion, confronting their emotional neuroses.

A) forever racing along those mean streets at high speeds, firing off guns erratically, in periods of less physical exertion, confronting their emotional neuroses.
The list needs to be in X, Y, and Z and X, Y and Z need to be parallel

B) they are forever racing along those mean streets at high speeds, firing off guns erratically and, in periods of less physical exertion, confronting their emotional neuroses.
Run on. Needs to be a modifier

C) forever racing along those mean streets at high speeds, firing off guns erratically and, in periods of less physical exertion, confronting their emotional neuroses.
Correct

D) they are forever racing along those mean streets at high speeds, they fire off guns erratically and, in periods of less physical exertion, they confront their emotional neuroses.
Needs to be a modifier

E) forever racing along those mean streets at high speeds and firing off guns erratically and, in periods of less physical exertion, they confront their emotional neuroses
Two ands in the list

C must be the answer

Hope this helps

Posted from my mobile device

SofiaDahiya · Answer

This sentence is checking parallelism understanding. There are three lists which should be connected using  comma + and .

A) forever racing along those mean streets at high speeds, firing off guns erratically, in periods of less physical exertion, confronting their emotional neuroses. -  Lists are not connected using any connector (and), hence incorrect.

B) they are forever racing along those mean streets at high speeds, firing off guns erratically and, in periods of less physical exertion, confronting their emotional neuroses.
C) forever racing along those mean streets at high speeds, firing off guns erratically and, in periods of less physical exertion, confronting their emotional neuroses.

C) forever racing along those mean streets at high speeds, firing off guns erratically  and,  in periods of less physical exertion, confronting their emotional neuroses. -  Correct

D)  they are forever racing  along those mean streets at high speeds, they  fire off  guns erratically and, in periods of less physical exertion, they  confront  their emotional neuroses. - list is not parallel and Independent clause is connected using only comma. Hence incorrect
E) forever racing along those mean streets at high speeds  and  firing off guns erratically and, in periods of less physical exertion,  they confront  their emotional neuroses. - list is not parallel.

HoneyLemon · Answer

imo   C

In many popular works of fiction, American detectives are portrayed as far too energetic in their pursuit of the killer,  forever racing along those mean streets at high speeds, firing off guns erratically, in periods of less physical exertion, confronting their emotional neuroses.

A) forever racing along those mean streets at high speeds, firing off guns erratically, in periods of less physical exertion, confronting their emotional neuroses.
 -- And missing in the list

B) they are forever racing along those mean streets at high speeds, firing off guns erratically and, in periods of less physical exertion, confronting their emotional neuroses.
 -- No FANBOYS while 2 IC

C)  forever racing along those mean streets at high speeds, firing off guns erratically and, in periods of less physical exertion, confronting their emotional neuroses.
--  Correct

D) they are forever racing along those mean streets at high speeds, they fire off guns erratically and, in periods of less physical exertion, they confront their emotional neuroses.
 -- No FANBOYS while 2 IC

E) forever racing along those mean streets at high speeds and firing off guns erratically and, in periods of less physical exertion, they confront their emotional neuroses.
 -- Sentence structure not correct .. 2 AND make the sentence illogical

jhavyom · Answer

In many popular works of fiction, American detectives are portrayed as far too energetic in their pursuit of the killer,  forever racing along those mean streets at high speeds, firing off guns erratically, in periods of less physical exertion, confronting their emotional neuroses .

A) forever racing along those mean streets at high speeds, firing off guns erratically, in periods of less physical exertion, confronting their emotional neuroses.
parallel marker 'and' is not present.

B) they are forever racing along those mean streets at high speeds, firing off guns erratically and, in periods of less physical exertion, confronting their emotional neuroses.
Run-on.

C) forever racing along those mean streets at high speeds, firing off guns erratically and, in periods of less physical exertion, confronting their emotional neuroses.
Correct but there should be a comma before 'and'.

D) they are forever racing along those mean streets at high speeds, they fire off guns erratically and, in periods of less physical exertion, they confront their emotional neuroses.
Run-on.

E) forever racing along those mean streets at high speeds and firing off guns erratically and, in periods of less physical exertion, they confront their emotional neuroses.
'confront' is not parallel with the other elements in the list.

Choice C is the answer.

kntombat · Answer

The OA has to be C    as it is the only option that is parallel and correctly modifying "detectives".

Option A is out    as it is not parallel due to the absence of the word 'and'.

Option B is out    as it doesn't modify "detectives".

Option D and E     are out as they are not parallel.

The OA is C.

winterschool · Answer

In many popular works of fiction, American detectives are portrayed as far too energetic in their pursuit of the killer, forever racing along those mean streets at high speeds, firing off guns erratically, in periods of less physical exertion, confronting their emotional neuroses.

A)  forever racing  along those mean streets at high speeds,  firing  off guns erratically, in periods of less physical exertion , confronting  their emotional neuroses.  Incorrect

and require to express a series of list

B)  they are  forever racing along those mean streets at high speeds, firing off guns erratically and, in periods of less physical exertion, confronting their emotional neuroses.  Incorrect

two independent must be separated by ; or .

C)  forever racing along those mean streets at high speeds, firing off guns erratically and, in periods of less physical exertion, confronting their emotional neuroses.   Correct

D)  they are  forever racing along those mean streets at high speeds, they fire off guns erratically and, in periods of less physical exertion, they confront their emotional neuroses.  Incorrect

two independent must be separated by ; or .

E)  forever racing  along those mean streets at high speeds  and firing  off guns erratically  and , in periods of less physical exertion,  they  confront their emotional neuroses.  Incorrect

parallelism error - .....forever racing............and firing................ and they confront

generis · Answer

The official explanation is  here .

In many popular works of fiction American detectives are portrayed as

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GMAT Sentence Correction (SC - EA only) Questions

In many popular works of fiction American detectives are portrayed as

Prep Toolkit

615 to 715 in 15 Days (Ria's Strategies)

More than Quant/Verbal Abilities: Speed vs. Accuracy

745 with Only Self-Prep and GMAT Club

From 555 to 765: 210-point Improvement

Perfect 805 Score Debrief by Julia

My Rewards