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Difficulty: MediumSubordination and Coordination

The following passage is about oceanographer Marie Tharp:

In the mid-twentieth century, geologist Marie Tharp created the first comprehensive map of the entire ocean floor. [1] Although her colleague Bruce Heezen initially dismissed her findings as 'girl talk,' but Tharp persisted in her analysis of sonar data to discover the Mid-Atlantic Ridge.

Which of the following options, if substituted for the underlined portion in sentence [1], would make the sentence grammatically correct?

  1. A
    Although her colleague Bruce Heezen initially dismissed her findings as 'girl talk,' but Tharp
  2. B
    Her colleague Bruce Heezen initially dismissed her findings as 'girl talk,' Tharp
  3. Although her colleague Bruce Heezen initially dismissed her findings as 'girl talk,' TharpAnswer
  4. D
    Although her colleague Bruce Heezen initially dismissed her findings as 'girl talk'; Tharp

Answer

Although her colleague Bruce Heezen initially dismissed her findings as 'girl talk,' Tharp
The option that removes the coordinating conjunction 'but' while keeping the subordinating conjunction 'Although' correctly subordinates the introductory clause and joins it to the main clause with a comma.

Step-by-Step Solution

1
Analyze the original sentence structure to identify the relationship between the clauses.
The sentence consists of two clauses: 'Although her colleague Bruce Heezen initially dismissed her findings as girl talk' (dependent clause) and 'Tharp persisted in her analysis of sonar data to discover the Mid-Atlantic Ridge' (independent clause).
Understanding the dependency of the clauses helps determine the correct conjunctions and punctuation needed to join them.
2
Identify the grammatical error in the original sentence.
The original sentence uses both 'Although' (a subordinating conjunction) and 'but' (a coordinating conjunction) to link the clauses. This is redundant because only one conjunction is needed to establish the relationship.
Double conjunctions violate standard rules of subordination and coordination.
3
Evaluate the answer choices to find the one that establishes a correct relationship without introducing new errors.
The option that retains 'Although' and removes 'but' correctly subordinates the first clause and allows the comma to join it to the main clause. The option without 'Although' and with just a comma creates a comma splice. The option with a semicolon creates a sentence fragment because the first clause is dependent.
A dependent clause followed by an independent clause must be joined by a comma, not a semicolon, and cannot have both subordinating and coordinating conjunctions.

Key Concept

Subordination and Coordination
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Topics

Subordination and Coordination

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