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Difficulty: MediumIllogical and Incomplete Comparisons

The root systems of desert cacti, which are shallow but widespread to maximize water absorption, are much more extensive than a tropical rainforest plant.

Which choice best completes the sentence to ensure the comparison is logical and grammatically correct?

  1. A
    NO CHANGE
  2. those of tropical rainforest plantsAnswer
  3. C
    those of tropical rainforest plants, they are deep and narrow
  4. D
    tropical rainforest plants, which rely on deep taproots

Answer

The correct choice is 'those of tropical rainforest plants' because it uses the plural pronoun 'those' to refer back to 'root systems,' establishing a logical and grammatically parallel comparison.
The correct choice compares 'the root systems of desert cacti' to 'those of tropical rainforest plants' using the plural pronoun 'those' to refer to 'root systems.' This establishes a clear, parallel, and logical noun-to-noun comparison.

Step-by-Step Solution

1
Identify the two elements being compared in the sentence.
The sentence compares 'the root systems of desert cacti' to the underlined portion.
Comparing a physical feature ('root systems') to a whole organism ('a tropical rainforest plant') is illogical; the sentence must compare root systems to root systems.
2
Determine the correct pronoun to represent the comparison target without repeating the noun.
Since 'root systems' is plural, the plural pronoun 'those' must be used.
This ensures grammatical agreement and parallel structure in the comparison.
3
Evaluate the choices to find the one that establishes a logical comparison without introducing other grammatical errors.
The choice 'those of tropical rainforest plants' correctly uses 'those' to refer to root systems and avoids run-on or comma splice errors.
Other options either maintain the illogical comparison or introduce independent clauses incorrectly joined by a comma.

Key Concept

Illogical and Incomplete Comparisons
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Topics

Illogical and Incomplete Comparisons

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