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Difficulty: MediumShifts in Construction

During the construction of the Brooklyn Bridge, workers faced dangerous conditions high above the East River. Many of these laborers braved strong winds daily, and low wages were accepted by them to support their families. Ultimately, their dedication helped complete one of the greatest engineering feats of the nineteenth century.

Which choice best maintains a consistent grammatical construction in this sentence?

  1. A
    NO CHANGE
  2. B
    accepting low wages
  3. accepted low wagesAnswer
  4. D
    low wages had been accepted

Answer

The correct choice is 'accepted low wages'.
The correct choice maintains the active voice and simple past tense established in the first part of the sentence. By using the verb 'accepted', it parallels 'braved' and keeps the grammatical subject as the laborers, ensuring consistency in construction.

Step-by-Step Solution

1
Analyze the grammatical structure of the first clause.
The first clause ('Many of these laborers braved...') is in the active voice and uses the simple past tense.
Establishing the initial grammatical pattern is necessary to ensure the second clause maintains construction consistency.
2
Evaluate the underlined portion to check for any grammatical shifts.
The original phrasing ('low wages were accepted by them') shifts to the passive voice and changes the grammatical subject from 'laborers' to 'wages'.
Identifying shifts in voice or subject helps target the construction error.
3
Compare the choices to select the one that maintains parallel active voice and past tense.
The choice 'accepted low wages' uses the active past-tense verb 'accepted' to parallel 'braved', maintaining 'laborers' as the subject.
This maintains consistency in voice and subject, correcting the shift in construction.

Key Concept

Shifts in Construction
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Topics

Shifts in Construction

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