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Question

Difficulty: EasyEliminating Wordiness

Each autumn, millions of monarch butterflies undertake a massive journey from North America to the forests of central Mexico. Due to the fact that they are possessed of a need to escape the cold winter temperatures, they travel up to three thousand miles to reach their nesting sites.

Which choice is the most concise and grammatically correct replacement for the underlined portion of the sentence?

  1. A
    NO CHANGE
  2. To escape the cold winter temperatures,Answer
  3. C
    They escape the cold winter temperatures,
  4. D
    To escape the cold temperatures, that winter brings,

Answer

To escape the cold winter temperatures,
The correct answer provides the most concise and direct way of expressing the purpose of the butterflies' journey. It replaces a long, wordy dependent clause with a simple introductory infinitive phrase, avoiding passive constructions and retaining the original meaning.

Step-by-Step Solution

1
Analyze the underlined portion for conciseness and clarity.
The original phrase is wordy and uses passive constructions like 'possessed of a need to' and 'due to the fact that'.
ACT English prioritizes the most concise option that preserves meaning and maintains proper grammar.
2
Evaluate the grammar and conciseness of the other options.
The option starting with 'They escape' creates a comma splice. The option with 'that winter brings' is wordier than necessary and contains an incorrect comma before a restrictive clause. The option 'To escape the cold winter temperatures,' is both grammatically correct and the most concise.
This process eliminates grammatically incorrect or overly wordy distractors to find the best choice.

Key Concept

Eliminating Wordiness
Estimated Time:40s
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Topics

Eliminating Wordiness

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