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Difficulty: MediumEliminating Wordiness

Early pencils were crude, consisting of graphite chunks wrapped in string. Later, Italian artisans pioneered the method of hollow-carving wooden sticks, and it was into these wooden sticks that they inserted the graphite. Today, pencils are manufactured worldwide using a blend of graphite and clay to create different levels of hardness.

Which of the following is the most effective edit to the underlined portion of the sentence?

  1. A
    NO CHANGE
  2. sticks, into which they inserted the graphite.Answer
  3. C
    sticks, they inserted the graphite directly into them.
  4. D
    sticks. Which they inserted the graphite into.

Answer

sticks, into which they inserted the graphite.
The correct option is the most concise and direct phrasing that maintains the grammatical structure of the sentence. Using 'into which they inserted' avoids repeating 'wooden sticks' and correctly links the relative clause to the preceding noun.

Step-by-Step Solution

1
Analyze the underlined portion for wordiness, redundancy, and grammatical errors.
The original phrasing 'and it was into these wooden sticks that they inserted the graphite' repeats 'wooden sticks' unnecessarily and uses an overly long structure.
Identifying redundancy and wordiness helps narrow down choices to the most concise option.
2
Evaluate the remaining options for grammatical correctness and conciseness.
The option ending in a comma splice and the option ending in a sentence fragment are grammatically incorrect. The relative pronoun option is correct and concise.
An answer choice on the ACT must be both grammatically correct and free of wordiness.

Key Concept

Eliminating Wordiness
Estimated Time:1m 0s
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Topics

Eliminating Wordiness

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