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Question

Difficulty: MediumParallel Structure

An editor is revising a research proposal guidelines document. In what order should the following segments be arranged to construct a grammatically correct sentence that maintains parallel structure?

  1. 1To qualify for the advanced research grant, applicants must demonstrate a history of
  2. 2publishing original work,
  3. 3securing external funding, and
  4. 4collaborating with international teams.

Answer

To qualify for the advanced research grant, applicants must demonstrate a history of publishing original work, securing external funding, and collaborating with international teams.
The correct order constructs a coherent sentence where the preposition 'of' is followed by three parallel gerund phrases ('publishing original work', 'securing external funding', and 'collaborating with international teams'). This maintains consistent grammatical form throughout the list.

Step-by-Step Solution

1
Identify the main introductory clause that establishes the grammatical context.
The clause 'To qualify for the advanced research grant, applicants must demonstrate a history of' must come first because it ends with the preposition 'of', which sets up a list of object noun phrases.
This establishes the structural foundation of the sentence.
2
Align the parallel items that act as objects of the preposition 'of'.
The objects must all be in the same grammatical form (gerund-participial phrases: 'publishing...', 'securing...', 'collaborating...').
Parallelism requires all items in a list to share the same grammatical structure.
3
Determine the sequence of the parallel items based on punctuation and conjunctions.
'publishing original work,' has a trailing comma and no conjunction, indicating it is the first item. 'securing external funding, and' ends with the coordinating conjunction, placing it second. 'collaborating with international teams.' has the terminal period, placing it last.
Punctuation and coordinating conjunctions dictate the logical and grammatical flow of a series.

Key Concept

Parallel Structure
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Topics

Parallel Structure

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