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Difficulty: MediumEliminating Wordiness

A portion of the passage below is underlined.

In 1942, actress Hedy Lamarr and composer George Antheil patented a secret communication system. This system was created by them in order to prevent enemy forces from jamming radio-guided torpedoes, it later laid the groundwork for modern Wi-Fi and Bluetooth technologies.

Which choice represents the most concise and grammatically correct phrasing for the underlined segment?

  1. A
    This system was created by them in order to prevent enemy forces from jamming radio-guided torpedoes,
  2. B
    They created the system to prevent enemy forces from jamming radio-guided torpedoes,
  3. Created to prevent enemy forces from jamming radio-guided torpedoes,Answer
  4. D
    Because it was created to prevent, enemy forces, from jamming radio-guided torpedoes,

Answer

Created to prevent enemy forces from jamming radio-guided torpedoes,
The correct option uses a past participial phrase starting with the word 'Created' to modify the main subject of the following clause. This structure is concise, eliminates passive wordiness, and avoids a comma splice by correctly connecting the modifier to the independent clause.

Step-by-Step Solution

1
Analyze the underlined segment to identify grammatical errors and stylistic issues.
The original phrasing is wordy, uses passive voice ('was created by them in order to'), and creates a comma splice by attempting to join two independent clauses with a single comma.
Identifying these errors helps determine which rules the correct answer must satisfy.
2
Evaluate each choice for conciseness and grammatical correctness.
The choice starting with 'Created to prevent' uses a concise participial phrase that acts as an introductory modifier, eliminating both the wordiness and the comma splice.
The correct answer must be the most concise option that is grammatically correct and preserves the original meaning.

Key Concept

Eliminating Wordiness
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Topics

Eliminating Wordiness

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