Examkin

Question

Difficulty: MediumEliminating Wordiness

A portion of the passage below is underlined.

In 1961, a group of programmers at MIT set out to create a demonstration program for a newly acquired computer. They decided to build an interactive game, which would eventually be named *Spacewar!*. Over several months, they spent hours writing code, aiming to design a simulation that was realistic. In order to achieve a high degree of realistic simulation that was very true to life, they programmed accurate gravitational pull and star fields.

Which of the following choices is the best replacement for the underlined portion of the sentence?

  1. A
    NO CHANGE
  2. To achieve this realism, they programmedAnswer
  3. C
    To achieve this realism, programming
  4. D
    To achieve this realism, they programmed, they included

Answer

To achieve this realism, they programmed
The correct option is the most concise choice that preserves the meaning of the passage and maintains correct grammar. The phrasing 'To achieve this realism, they programmed' clearly and directly connects the purpose to the action without unnecessary repetition.

Step-by-Step Solution

1
Identify the underlined portion and analyze the context to determine the relationship between the ideas.
The programmers wanted to make their simulation realistic, so they programmed specific features (gravitational pull and star fields).
Understanding the core meaning of the sentence allows us to evaluate which options preserve this meaning while removing excess words.
2
Evaluate the choices for conciseness and redundancy.
The original phrasing 'realistic simulation that was very true to life' contains redundant synonyms. The correct choice must simplify this to a single concise phrasing like 'this realism'.
ACT English prioritizes the most concise correct phrasing that avoids redundancy.
3
Check the concise options for grammatical correctness.
The option 'To achieve this realism, programming' creates a fragment. The option 'To achieve this realism, they programmed, they included' creates a comma splice. The option 'To achieve this realism, they programmed' is both concise and grammatically correct.
The correct answer must not only be concise but also grammatically sound.

Key Concept

Eliminating Wordiness
Rate this question

Topics

Eliminating Wordiness

More questions from this topic