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Difficulty: HardSentence Fragments

When the eruption of Mount Vesuvius carbonized hundreds of papyrus scrolls in Herculaneum, it preserved them for centuries. Although the scrolls, which are too fragile to unroll, remain unreadable by traditional means. Scientists are now using high-energy X-rays to scan the layers and reconstruct the text digitally.

Which of the following choices best corrects the underlined portion?

  1. A
    NO CHANGE
  2. B
    Although the scrolls, which are too fragile to unroll, remain unreadable by traditional means; scientists
  3. C
    The scrolls, which are too fragile to unroll, remain unreadable by traditional means, scientists
  4. The scrolls, which are too fragile to unroll, remain unreadable by traditional means. ScientistsAnswer

Answer

The scrolls, which are too fragile to unroll, remain unreadable by traditional means. Scientists
The correct answer removes the subordinating conjunction 'Although', which allows the clause 'The scrolls... remain unreadable by traditional means' to stand alone as a grammatically complete independent sentence. It then properly uses a period to separate this sentence from the subsequent independent sentence.

Step-by-Step Solution

1
Analyze the grammatical structure of the underlined portion in the context of the surrounding sentences.
The clause starting with 'Although' and ending with 'means' contains a subject ('scrolls') and a verb ('remain'), but the subordinating conjunction 'Although' makes it a dependent clause. Punctuating it with a period creates a sentence fragment.
To identify if the original sentence contains a fragment or boundary error.
2
Evaluate choices that keep the subordinating conjunction 'Although'.
The option containing 'NO CHANGE' maintains the fragment. The option using a semicolon before 'scientists' is incorrect because semicolons must only separate two independent clauses.
To eliminate grammatically incorrect options that fail to resolve the dependency of the first clause.
3
Evaluate choices that remove 'Although' and make the first clause independent.
The option ending with ', scientists' results in a comma splice because it joins two independent clauses with only a comma. The option ending with '. Scientists' correctly separates the two independent clauses into two distinct sentences.
To select the option that resolves the fragment without introducing new punctuation errors like comma splices.

Key Concept

Identifying sentence fragments caused by subordinating conjunctions and correcting punctuation boundaries between independent and dependent clauses.
Estimated Time:1m 15s
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Topics

Sentence Fragments

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