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Difficulty: Very hardEliminating Wordiness

At Chichén Itzá, the Mayan pyramid known as El Castillo produces a striking acoustic effect: a handclap at the base of the stairs triggers a chirping echo that mimics the sacred quetzal bird. This unique chirping sound is believed by researchers to have been an intentional creation that the ancient architects planned on purpose by designing steps of varying depths.

Which choice most effectively and concisely expresses the underlined portion?

  1. A
    NO CHANGE
  2. Researchers believe the architects intentionally created this sound by designing steps of varying depths.Answer
  3. C
    Researchers believe the architects intentionally created this sound, they designed steps of varying depths.
  4. D
    Because researchers believe the architects intentionally created this sound by designing steps of varying depths.

Answer

Researchers believe the architects intentionally created this sound by designing steps of varying depths.
The correct option is the most concise and direct way to express the idea. It changes the passive construction 'is believed by researchers' to the active 'Researchers believe' and removes the redundant repetitions of 'planned,' 'intentional,' and 'on purpose,' using only the word 'intentionally' to convey the design's deliberate nature.

Step-by-Step Solution

1
Identify wordiness and redundancy in the underlined text.
The phrase 'is believed by researchers' is passive, and 'intentional,' 'planned,' and 'on purpose' are redundant synonyms.
ACT English prioritizes concise and active phrasing.
2
Evaluate the choices for grammatical correctness.
One option introduces a comma splice by joining two independent clauses with a comma, and another introduces a fragment by starting with 'Because' without a main clause.
Eliminating wordiness cannot come at the expense of proper sentence structure.
3
Select the correct option that is both concise and grammatically sound.
The active-voice phrasing stating that 'Researchers believe the architects intentionally created...' is correct.
It removes all passive and redundant phrasing while maintaining complete, correct grammar.

Key Concept

Eliminating Wordiness
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Topics

Eliminating Wordiness

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