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Difficulty: MediumSubordination and Coordination

The following passage is an excerpt from an essay about the history of biomimicry and everyday inventions.

In 1948, Swiss engineer George de Mestral went for a walk in the woods with his dog and noticed cockleburs clinging to his clothes. He examined the burs under a microscope and saw hundreds of tiny hooks, they attached to the fabric loops of his trousers. This observation eventually inspired him to invent Velcro, a revolutionary fastening system.

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

  1. A
    hooks, they attached to the fabric loops of his trousers.
  2. B
    hooks; which attached to the fabric loops of his trousers.
  3. hooks that attached to the fabric loops of his trousers.Answer
  4. D
    hooks. Because they attached to the fabric loops of his trousers.

Answer

The correct option is the one that uses a relative clause beginning with 'that' to describe the hooks, creating a single grammatically correct sentence.
The correct choice successfully subordinates the second clause by using the relative pronoun 'that' to introduce a dependent relative clause. This clause properly modifies the noun 'hooks' and integrates smoothly into the single sentence without creating run-ons or fragments.

Step-by-Step Solution

1
Analyze the relationship between the two clauses in the sentence.
The first clause ('He examined...') and the second clause ('they attached...') are both independent clauses, but they are joined with only a comma in the original text, which is an incorrect comma splice.
Identifying clause boundaries helps determine how to correctly coordinate or subordinate them.
2
Evaluate the choices to find a grammatically correct way to join or subordinate the clauses.
Using the relative pronoun 'that' converts the second clause into a dependent relative clause ('that attached...'), which correctly modifies the noun 'hooks' and integrates it without punctuation errors.
Relative pronouns subordinate a clause, allowing it to modify a noun in the main clause without creating a fragment or a comma splice.

Key Concept

Subordination and Coordination
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Topics

Subordination and Coordination

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