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Question

Difficulty: MediumSentence Fragments

In the late nineteenth century, early acoustic recording devices captured sound by engraving vibrations onto wax cylinders. Since these fragile cylinders deteriorated rapidly after only a few playbacks. Early audio engineers struggled to find a way to preserve the recordings.

Which of the following is the best revision of the underlined portion?

  1. A
    NO CHANGE
  2. These fragile cylinders deteriorated rapidly after only a few playbacks. EarlyAnswer
  3. C
    These fragile cylinders deteriorated rapidly after only a few playbacks; since early
  4. D
    These fragile cylinders deteriorated rapidly after only a few playbacks, early

Answer

The revision that replaces the subordinating conjunction to form a complete sentence ending with a period: 'These fragile cylinders deteriorated rapidly after only a few playbacks. Early'
The correct option removes the subordinating conjunction 'since' to convert the first clause into a complete independent sentence ('These fragile cylinders deteriorated rapidly after only a few playbacks'). Punctuating this independent clause with a period correctly separates it from the subsequent independent sentence ('Early audio engineers struggled to find a way to preserve the recordings').

Step-by-Step Solution

1
Analyze the grammatical structure of the underlined portion in the context of the passage.
The original text begins with the subordinating conjunction 'Since' and is punctuated with a period, making 'Since these fragile cylinders deteriorated rapidly after only a few playbacks' a dependent clause standing alone as a fragment.
A dependent clause cannot stand alone as a complete sentence because it does not express a complete thought.
2
Identify the option that corrects the fragment without creating punctuation or structure errors.
Removing 'Since' turns the clause into an independent sentence ('These fragile cylinders deteriorated rapidly after only a few playbacks') that can stand alone before the next complete sentence.
An independent clause contains a subject and a verb and expresses a complete thought, which can be punctuated with a terminal period.
3
Check the remaining options for grammatical errors.
The option containing a semicolon followed by 'since' creates a fragment after the semicolon, and the option containing only a comma between two independent clauses creates a comma splice.
Semicolons must separate two independent clauses, and independent clauses cannot be joined by a comma alone without a coordinating conjunction.

Key Concept

Sentence Fragments
Estimated Time:1m 0s
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Topics

Sentence Fragments

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