Examkin

Question

Difficulty: HardAdjective and Adverb Usage

The following passage is an excerpt from a technical report on renewable energy systems:

Designed to minimize thermal loss, the new solar panel array performed more efficient than its predecessor, generating power even on overcast days.

Which choice best replaces the underlined portion of the sentence to ensure it is grammatically correct and appropriate for the context?

  1. A
    NO CHANGE
  2. array performed more efficiently than itsAnswer
  3. C
    array performed more efficiently than it's
  4. D
    engineers noted the array performed more efficiently than its

Answer

The correct choice is the option that replaces the underlined text with 'array performed more efficiently than its', which correctly uses the adverbial form 'efficiently' to modify the verb 'performed', retains the correct possessive pronoun 'its', and avoids a dangling modifier by keeping the noun 'array' as the subject of the clause.
The correct choice is the option that replaces the underlined text with 'array performed more efficiently than its' because it uses the adverb 'efficiently' to modify the action verb 'performed'. It also correctly uses the possessive pronoun 'its' to refer to the predecessor, and it maintains 'array' as the subject of the main clause, which correctly aligns with the introductory modifier 'Designed to minimize thermal loss'.

Step-by-Step Solution

1
Analyze the role of the modifier following the verb 'performed'.
The word modifies 'performed', which is an action verb.
An adverb is required to modify a verb, meaning the adjective 'efficient' must be changed to the adverb 'efficiently'.
2
Evaluate the homophone choice between 'its' and 'it's'.
The sentence requires a possessive pronoun to modify 'predecessor'.
'its' is the possessive pronoun, whereas 'it's' is a contraction for 'it is', making 'its' the grammatically correct choice.
3
Check the relationship between the introductory phrase and the subject of the main clause.
The introductory phrase 'Designed to minimize thermal loss' must modify 'the new solar panel array'.
Placing 'engineers' as the subject of the main clause creates a dangling modifier because engineers cannot be designed to minimize thermal loss.

Key Concept

Adjective and Adverb Usage
Estimated Time:1m 0s
Rate this question

Topics

Adjective and Adverb Usage

More questions from this topic