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Difficulty: MediumEliminating Wordiness

During a winter trip to New York City in 1903, Mary Anderson noticed that the streetcar driver had to open the front window pane constantly to wipe away the falling sleet. Upon returning to Alabama, she designed a manually operated swinging arm with a rubber blade [1]that was designed by her to clear away rain and snow from windshields in order to solve the visibility problem. Anderson was granted a patent for her device in 1903, but car manufacturers initially saw little commercial value in it.

Which choice most effectively and concisely replaces the underlined portion labeled [1]?

  1. A
    NO CHANGE
  2. to clear rain and snow from windshieldsAnswer
  3. C
    . Because it cleared rain and snow from windshields
  4. D
    , this device cleared rain and snow from windshields

Answer

to clear rain and snow from windshields
The correct option is the most concise and direct phrasing that preserves the original meaning and is grammatically correct. Using the active infinitive phrase 'to clear' avoids the wordiness and passive construction of the original phrasing.

Step-by-Step Solution

1
Identify the redundant and wordy parts of the underlined portion.
The phrase 'that was designed by her' is redundant because the sentence already starts with 'she designed.' The phrase 'in order to solve the visibility problem' is wordy and adds unnecessary detail.
Redundancy and wordiness must be eliminated to match the conciseness standards of the ACT.
2
Evaluate the grammatical correctness of the remaining options.
The option starting with '. Because' creates a sentence fragment. The option starting with ', this device' creates a comma splice. The option starting with 'to clear' is grammatically correct and concise.
The correct choice must be both grammatically correct and concise.

Key Concept

Eliminating Wordiness
Estimated Time:45s
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Topics

Eliminating Wordiness

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