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Difficulty: HardEliminating Wordiness

In 1964, physicists Arno Penzias and Robert Wilson were troubled by a persistent, low-frequency hum picked up by their Holmdel horn antenna. After ruling out interference from urban area signals, they meticulously cleaned the giant instrument, scrubbing away nests left by roosting pigeons. However, their efforts to eliminate the noise were unsuccessful, because the static was still heard by them, persistently continuing. Eventually, they realized they had stumbled upon the cosmic microwave background radiation, the remnant glow of the Big Bang.

Which of the following choices is the best replacement for the underlined portion of the sentence?

  1. A
    NO CHANGE
  2. However, they still heard the persistent static.Answer
  3. C
    However, they still heard the static, which was a sound that persisted.
  4. D
    However, because they still heard the persistent static.

Answer

However, they still heard the persistent static.
The correct option is the most concise and direct way to convey the information. It uses the active voice ('they still heard') and eliminates redundant descriptions of the static's persistent nature, while maintaining grammatical completeness.

Step-by-Step Solution

1
Identify the wordiness and redundancies in the original underlined sentence.
The phrase 'their efforts to eliminate the noise were unsuccessful' repeats the contrast established by 'however', and 'persistently continuing' repeats the meaning of 'static' and 'noise'. Additionally, 'was still heard by them' uses an wordy, passive construction.
Redundant and wordy phrasing must be eliminated to make the sentence clear and concise.
2
Evaluate the alternative choices for conciseness, tone, and grammatical correctness.
The option containing 'because' creates a dependent clause fragment. The option with 'which was a sound that persisted' contains a redundant relative clause. The option stating 'However, they still heard the persistent static.' is concise, active, and grammatically complete.
The correct choice must be grammatically complete and correct while conveying the original meaning in the most direct way possible.

Key Concept

Eliminating Wordiness
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Topics

Eliminating Wordiness

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