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Difficulty: HardSentence Fragments

Originally built in the fourteenth century, the Himeji Castle in Japan is widely considered the finest surviving example of prototypical Japanese castle architecture. Having survived wartime bombings and natural disasters, because its defensive design was incredibly advanced for its era.

Which choice best corrects the underlined portion of the sentence?

  1. A
    NO CHANGE
  2. B
    architecture; having survived wartime bombings and natural disasters because its defensive design was
  3. architecture, having survived wartime bombings and natural disasters, because its defensive design wasAnswer
  4. D
    architecture, having survived wartime bombings and natural disasters, its defensive design was

Answer

The correct answer is the option that uses commas to connect the modifying participial phrase and the dependent clause directly to the main clause.
The correct option correctly uses commas to integrate the nonessential participial phrase ('having survived...') and the dependent adverbial clause ('because its defensive design was...') into the main sentence. This punctuation creates a single, grammatically complete independent clause that starts with the main subject and verb.

Step-by-Step Solution

1
Identify the main independent clause and any subordinate elements in the original sentence.
The main independent clause is 'the Himeji Castle in Japan is widely considered the finest surviving example of prototypical Japanese castle architecture'. The text following it contains a modifying phrase ('Having survived...') and a dependent clause ('because...').
This establishes which parts of the sentence can stand alone and which parts must be attached to an independent clause.
2
Check the original punctuation to see if it creates a fragment.
The period separates 'architecture' from 'Having survived...'. Because the second part lacks an independent subject and a main verb, it is a sentence fragment.
This confirms that a correction is necessary to connect the fragment to the main clause.
3
Evaluate the choices to determine which punctuation correctly integrates the modifiers without creating new errors.
Using a semicolon creates a semicolon fragment because the phrase following it is not independent. Removing 'because' creates a comma splice by joining two independent clauses with only a comma. Using commas to set off the modifiers allows them to correctly relate back to the main subject, 'Himeji Castle'.
This rules out the incorrect distractors and confirms the grammatically sound option.

Key Concept

Sentence Fragments
Estimated Time:1m 0s
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Topics

Sentence Fragments

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