Examkin

Question

Difficulty: MediumEliminating Wordiness

The following passage contains an underlined portion.

Many historic lighthouses along the Atlantic coast are undergoing extensive restoration to repair the damage caused by decades of exposure to salt spray and high winds. At the Cape Hatteras Lighthouse, it was decided by engineers that they would stabilize the sandy foundation, this process will prevent the structure from listing.

Which of the following represents the best replacement for the underlined portion?

  1. A
    NO CHANGE
  2. engineers decided to stabilize the sandy foundation; thisAnswer
  3. C
    engineers, who decided to stabilize the sandy foundation, this
  4. D
    engineers decided to stabilize the sandy foundation, this

Answer

The correct option is the one that uses active voice and a semicolon: 'engineers decided to stabilize the sandy foundation; this'
The correct option is active and concise, changing the passive 'it was decided by engineers' to the active 'engineers decided.' It also correctly uses a semicolon to separate two independent clauses.

Step-by-Step Solution

1
Identify wordiness and passive constructions in the underlined segment.
The phrase 'it was decided by engineers that they would' is identified as wordy and passive compared to the active voice 'engineers decided'.
ACT English rewards concise and direct phrasing.
2
Analyze the grammatical structure and punctuation connecting the two clauses.
The two clauses are independent: 'engineers decided to stabilize the sandy foundation' and 'this process will prevent...'. A comma alone cannot join them, but a semicolon can.
Joining two independent clauses with only a comma creates a comma splice.

Key Concept

Eliminating wordiness and passive constructions in favor of concise, active phrasing while maintaining correct punctuation between independent clauses.
Rate this question

Topics

Eliminating Wordiness

More questions from this topic