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09 Oct 2021, 23:09
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D
Be sure to select an answer first to save it in the Error Log before revealing the correct answer (OA)!
Difficulty:
5%
(low)
Question Stats:
85% (01:08) correct
15%
(01:19)
wrong
based on 242
sessions
History
Date
Time
Result
Not Attempted Yet
When Ellen Sirleaf Johnson delivered her high school graduation speech in 1972, she initiated a political career that would eventually span more than four decades, to make her one of the most powerful women in Africa.
A) 1972, she initiated a political career that would go on to eventually span more than four decades, to make
B) 1972, she initiated a political career that will eventually span more than four decades and making
C) 1972, initiating a political career that will eventually span more than four decades and make
D) 1972, she initiated a political career that would eventually span more than four decades, making
E) 1972, and she initiated a political career that would eventually span more than four decades and make
09 Oct 2021, 23:11
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OFFICIAL EXPLANATION
• POE
THE PROMPT
When Ellen Sirleaf Johnson delivered her high school graduation speech in 1972, she initiated a political career that will eventually span more than four decades,
to make her one of the most powerful women in Africa.
THE OPTIONS
A) 1972, she initiated a political career that would go on to eventually span more than four decades, to make
→ The words go on to and eventually constitute a glaring example of redundant wordiness and awkwardness.
Do not eliminate on this basis on the first pass.
→ to make has nothing to modify. (See Notes, below.)
If you are hesitant, keep this option but look for a better one.
INCORRECT.
B) 1972, she initiated a political career that will eventually span more than four decades and making
→ when all events are in the past, we almost never use simple future tense (will span). When we are “standing” in the past and talking about the future while we are in the past, we use would [span].
→ making is not parallel to initiated
INCORRECT.
C) 1972, [SUBJECT? VERB?] initiating a political career that will eventually span more than four decades and make
→ same future tense verb problem as that in option B: to talk about the future in the past, we use would (span)
→ FRAGMENT. The sentence lacks a main clause with a subject and a verb.
“[When she graduated in 1972], initiating a political career that . . .”
-- notice the highlight.
The subject of the that-clause is that.
That is a subject in its own right and requires its own verb, or, in this case, verbs.
The word that “eats up” the two highlighted verbs, will span and (will) make.
-- The subordinate clause introduced by when is not attached to an independent clause with its own subject and verb, creating a fragment. Fatal.
INCORRECT.
D) 1972, she initiated a political career that would eventually span more than four decades, making
→ the verb would span is correct
→ making . . . is a participial phase that presents the outcome of the previous clause
CORRECT
E) 1972, and she initiated a political career that would eventually span more than four decades and make
→ Two consecutive clauses should not both begin with conjunctions (when and and, respectively).
→ This sentence essentially says, “When X happened, and Y happened.”
Wrong: When he studied hard for the exam, and he earned a good score. : x
INCORRECT
The answer is D.
• NOTES
• Issue: spotting the language that signals the correct verb tense
→ Talking about the future in the past
As a general rule, a sentence that describes events only in the past (1972) should not include verbs in the future such as will . . . span.
An event that, from the perspective of the past, has not yet occurred, should be indicated by the construction would + verb.
We metaphorically "stand" in the past and use would + verb rather than future tense (will + verb) to describe the future of that past.
→ Correct: Richard Nixon resigned as U.S. President in 1974 because he knew that he would be removed from office.
→ Wrong: Richard Nixon resigned as U.S. President in 1974 because he knew that he will be removed from office.
Thus, our sentence should state . . . she initiated a political career that would eventually span four decades.
• CLAUSES and CONJUNCTIONS
→ Two consecutive clauses should not both begin with conjunctions (in this case, a subordinating and coordinating conjunction, respectively).
Stated differently, when you see two consecutive clauses, be sure that you do not also see a conjunction right before each of those consecutive clauses.
-- When can be a subordinating conjunction that demonstrates a relationship between two clauses involving a change of time or place.
-- And is a coordinating conjunction that joins two elements of equal grammatical rank and syntactic importance.
→ Correct: When X happened, Y happened. (only one conjunction; in this case, when anchors the first clause)
→ Correct: When the puppy figured out how to use the dog door, he bolted for the garden to gobble the tomatoes. (True story.)
→ Wrong: When X happened, and Y happened.
→Wrong: When the puppy figured out how to use the dog door, and he bolted to the garden to gobble all the tomatoes.
• TO MAKE
Take a look at option A yet again:
→ what does "to make her one of the most powerful women in Africa" modify?
-- The noun career or decades?
No. That infinitive phrase does not and cannot refer to those nouns. (See whether you can write a coherent sentence.)
Here is an example of an infinitive phrase used correctly as a noun-modifier (an adjective that modifies the noun "alarm clock"):
He needs a loud alarm clock to make him wake up fully.
-- Does "to make" modify the verb span or initiated?
No. "To make" does not function as an adverb, i.e., does not tell us how, where, when, why, for what purpose, etc.
Here is an example of to make used correctly as a verb modifier (an adverb):
To make a lasting impact in your field, you need to publish. (Why do you need to publish?)
Upshot? No, to make does not tell us more about and thus modify the verb span or initiated.
-- On very rare occasions, infinitives can modify clauses, but the logical connection must be crystal clear and the adverb is almost always purposive, hypothetical, or future-oriented.
(By contrast, present participle phrases (verbINGs), frequently modify the previous clause.)
My adverb modifier example, above, could also be called a clause modifier.
The second part of the sentence is the clause:
To make a lasting impact in your field, you need to publish.
Infinitive phrases almost never convey results. (I am hedging but cannot recall a single official question in which an infinitive phrase was allowed to present the results of a previous clause.)
In this sentence, the result of her having worked in politics, and having so worked for a long time, is that she became one of the most powerful women in Africa.
Whether this result was also her purpose does not matter; we have no idea, and the sentence is not trying to tell us about what came before she graduated, but rather, what came after she graduated.
To make suggests purpose, rarely modifies whole clauses, and should be the word making.
COMMENTS
This group is a good cross section of aspirants on the forum.
Styles of explanation are different but effective.
It often requires more than one "go" at an explanation to understand concepts fully; these posts are worth your while.
Just a reminder: all non-expert forum members have a standing invitation to post in SC Butler. Be brave.
Project SC Butler: Sentence Correction (SC1)
• POE
THE PROMPT
When Ellen Sirleaf Johnson delivered her high school graduation speech in 1972, she initiated a political career that will eventually span more than four decades,
to make her one of the most powerful women in Africa.
THE OPTIONS
A) 1972, she initiated a political career that would go on to eventually span more than four decades, to make
→ The words go on to and eventually constitute a glaring example of redundant wordiness and awkwardness.
Do not eliminate on this basis on the first pass.
→ to make has nothing to modify. (See Notes, below.)
If you are hesitant, keep this option but look for a better one.
INCORRECT.
B) 1972, she initiated a political career that will eventually span more than four decades and making
→ when all events are in the past, we almost never use simple future tense (will span). When we are “standing” in the past and talking about the future while we are in the past, we use would [span].
→ making is not parallel to initiated
INCORRECT.
C) 1972, [SUBJECT? VERB?] initiating a political career that will eventually span more than four decades and make
→ same future tense verb problem as that in option B: to talk about the future in the past, we use would (span)
→ FRAGMENT. The sentence lacks a main clause with a subject and a verb.
“[When she graduated in 1972], initiating a political career that . . .”
-- notice the highlight.
The subject of the that-clause is that.
That is a subject in its own right and requires its own verb, or, in this case, verbs.
The word that “eats up” the two highlighted verbs, will span and (will) make.
-- The subordinate clause introduced by when is not attached to an independent clause with its own subject and verb, creating a fragment. Fatal.
INCORRECT.
D) 1972, she initiated a political career that would eventually span more than four decades, making
→ the verb would span is correct
→ making . . . is a participial phase that presents the outcome of the previous clause
CORRECT
E) 1972, and she initiated a political career that would eventually span more than four decades and make
→ Two consecutive clauses should not both begin with conjunctions (when and and, respectively).
→ This sentence essentially says, “When X happened, and Y happened.”
Wrong: When he studied hard for the exam, and he earned a good score. : x
INCORRECT
The answer is D.
• NOTES
• Issue: spotting the language that signals the correct verb tense
→ Talking about the future in the past
As a general rule, a sentence that describes events only in the past (1972) should not include verbs in the future such as will . . . span.
An event that, from the perspective of the past, has not yet occurred, should be indicated by the construction would + verb.
We metaphorically "stand" in the past and use would + verb rather than future tense (will + verb) to describe the future of that past.
→ Correct: Richard Nixon resigned as U.S. President in 1974 because he knew that he would be removed from office.
→ Wrong: Richard Nixon resigned as U.S. President in 1974 because he knew that he will be removed from office.
Thus, our sentence should state . . . she initiated a political career that would eventually span four decades.
• CLAUSES and CONJUNCTIONS
→ Two consecutive clauses should not both begin with conjunctions (in this case, a subordinating and coordinating conjunction, respectively).
Stated differently, when you see two consecutive clauses, be sure that you do not also see a conjunction right before each of those consecutive clauses.
-- When can be a subordinating conjunction that demonstrates a relationship between two clauses involving a change of time or place.
-- And is a coordinating conjunction that joins two elements of equal grammatical rank and syntactic importance.
→ Correct: When X happened, Y happened. (only one conjunction; in this case, when anchors the first clause)
→ Correct: When the puppy figured out how to use the dog door, he bolted for the garden to gobble the tomatoes. (True story.)
→ Wrong: When X happened, and Y happened.
→Wrong: When the puppy figured out how to use the dog door, and he bolted to the garden to gobble all the tomatoes.
• TO MAKE
Take a look at option A yet again:
Quote:
• modifier phrasing error: to make is incorrect
→ what does "to make her one of the most powerful women in Africa" modify?
-- The noun career or decades?
No. That infinitive phrase does not and cannot refer to those nouns. (See whether you can write a coherent sentence.)
Here is an example of an infinitive phrase used correctly as a noun-modifier (an adjective that modifies the noun "alarm clock"):
He needs a loud alarm clock to make him wake up fully.
-- Does "to make" modify the verb span or initiated?
No. "To make" does not function as an adverb, i.e., does not tell us how, where, when, why, for what purpose, etc.
Here is an example of to make used correctly as a verb modifier (an adverb):
To make a lasting impact in your field, you need to publish. (Why do you need to publish?)
Upshot? No, to make does not tell us more about and thus modify the verb span or initiated.
-- On very rare occasions, infinitives can modify clauses, but the logical connection must be crystal clear and the adverb is almost always purposive, hypothetical, or future-oriented.
(By contrast, present participle phrases (verbINGs), frequently modify the previous clause.)
My adverb modifier example, above, could also be called a clause modifier.
The second part of the sentence is the clause:
To make a lasting impact in your field, you need to publish.
Infinitive phrases almost never convey results. (I am hedging but cannot recall a single official question in which an infinitive phrase was allowed to present the results of a previous clause.)
In this sentence, the result of her having worked in politics, and having so worked for a long time, is that she became one of the most powerful women in Africa.
Whether this result was also her purpose does not matter; we have no idea, and the sentence is not trying to tell us about what came before she graduated, but rather, what came after she graduated.
To make suggests purpose, rarely modifies whole clauses, and should be the word making.
COMMENTS
This group is a good cross section of aspirants on the forum.
Styles of explanation are different but effective.
It often requires more than one "go" at an explanation to understand concepts fully; these posts are worth your while.
Just a reminder: all non-expert forum members have a standing invitation to post in SC Butler. Be brave.
10 Oct 2021, 02:15
Kudos
Bookmarks
POE:
A: Option-D is better than Option-A as it
1) uses present participle to express the outcome in place of infinitive, expressing meaning CLEARLY and
2) is less wordy for directly using verb SPAN in place of “GO ON TO EVENTUALLY SPAN.”
3) Also note that SPLIT INFINITIVE (=to eventually span) is not a formal style of writing
B:
1) Parallelism violated: MAKING… is not parallel
2) Suspicious use of Simple future (=WILL) in past speech
C: There is no independent clause
D: Correct
E: Parallelism violated: Dependent clause (When ESJ delivered…) AND independent clause (she initiated…) connected using conjunction AND
A: Option-D is better than Option-A as it
1) uses present participle to express the outcome in place of infinitive, expressing meaning CLEARLY and
2) is less wordy for directly using verb SPAN in place of “GO ON TO EVENTUALLY SPAN.”
3) Also note that SPLIT INFINITIVE (=to eventually span) is not a formal style of writing
B:
1) Parallelism violated: MAKING… is not parallel
2) Suspicious use of Simple future (=WILL) in past speech
C: There is no independent clause
D: Correct
E: Parallelism violated: Dependent clause (When ESJ delivered…) AND independent clause (she initiated…) connected using conjunction AND
