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Difficulty: EasySelecting Concluding Sentences and Transitions

The following paragraph describes the invention of the QWERTY keyboard layout:

In 1868, printer and inventor Christopher Latham Sholes patented the first commercially successful typewriter. Sholes’s early models, however, had a frustrating flaw: if a typist struck adjacent keys in rapid succession, the metal typebars would easily collide and jam. To solve this problem, Sholes designed the QWERTY keyboard layout, placing frequently used letter pairs far apart on the keyboard. This design forced typists to work slightly slower, which successfully prevented the mechanical bars from sticking together. __________

Which of the following concluding sentences would best wrap up the paragraph by emphasizing the long-lasting impact of Sholes's invention?

  1. A
    Keyboard layout options have changed over the years, the QWERTY system is still the most common.
  2. B
    Sholes later sold the rights to his typewriter invention to the Remington Arms Company for $12,000, which allowed him to retire comfortably.
  3. Today, long after the disappearance of mechanical typebars, the QWERTY layout remains the standard keyboard design for computers and smartphones worldwide.Answer
  4. D
    Even though modern keyboards do not jam, manufacturers still used the QWERTY layout today.

Answer

The option stating that the QWERTY layout remains the standard keyboard design for computers and smartphones worldwide is the correct answer.
The correct choice effectively summarizes the development of the layout and highlights its lasting modern impact, all while remaining grammatically correct.

Step-by-Step Solution

1
Analyze the prompt's request.
The correct sentence must summarize the passage and specifically highlight the long-lasting impact of Sholes's layout.
This establishes the criteria for evaluating the choices.
2
Evaluate the choices for relevance and focus.
The option about Sholes selling his typewriter rights introduces unrelated financial details, failing to wrap up the main theme.
Irrelevant biographical details weaken the paragraph's conclusion.
3
Check the remaining choices for grammatical correctness.
The option mentioning that layout options have changed contains a comma splice, and the option claiming manufacturers still used the layout contains a tense shift. The option noting that QWERTY remains the standard keyboard design is both relevant and grammatically sound.
Concluding sentences must be free of grammatical errors to be effective.

Key Concept

Selecting a concluding sentence that summarizes the main thesis while maintaining correct grammar and avoiding unrelated details.
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Topics

Selecting Concluding Sentences and Transitions

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