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Difficulty: MediumSentence Fragments

Mangrove forests thrive in coastal saline environments, where most trees would quickly wither and die. Because these unique plants have evolved specialized root systems, which filter out up to ninety percent of the salt in seawater. This filtration process allows them to survive in waterlogged, high-salt soils that would be toxic to other flora.

Which of the following choices best replaces the underlined portion of the passage?

  1. A
    NO CHANGE
  2. These unique plants have evolved specialized root systems that filter outAnswer
  3. C
    These unique plants have evolved specialized root systems; which filter out
  4. D
    These unique plants have evolved specialized root systems, they filter out

Answer

These unique plants have evolved specialized root systems that filter out
The correct option removes the subordinating conjunction 'Because' and replaces the relative clause structure, creating a grammatically complete independent clause with a subject ('plants') and a predicate ('have evolved'). This successfully resolves the sentence fragment.

Step-by-Step Solution

1
Analyze the underlined portion to identify if it is a complete sentence.
The original text starts with 'Because' and contains a relative clause beginning with 'which,' which makes the entire statement a dependent clause lacking a main independent clause. This is a sentence fragment error.
Recognizing a sentence fragment is the first step in fixing grammatical structure errors on the ACT English section.
2
Evaluate the choices to see which one creates a complete, grammatically correct independent sentence.
Removing 'Because' and replacing 'which' with 'that' forms a complete sentence with a clear subject ('These unique plants') and a main verb ('have evolved').
A complete sentence requires at least one independent clause with a subject and a verb.
3
Verify that other options do not introduce new grammatical errors such as comma splices or punctuation fragments.
The option containing a semicolon creates a punctuation fragment since 'which filter out...' is dependent. The option using 'they' creates a comma splice by linking two independent clauses with only a comma.
Ensures that the selected answer is both grammatically sound and fits the punctuation rules of the test.

Key Concept

Identifying and correcting sentence fragments by ensuring the sentence contains an independent clause with a subject and a verb.
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Topics

Sentence Fragments

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