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Difficulty: HardIllogical and Incomplete Comparisons

The amino acid profiles of quinoa, an ancient pseudocereal cultivated in the Andes for thousands of years, are significantly more balanced than wheat, which has a lower concentration of the essential amino acid lysine.

Which choice best maintains a logical and grammatically correct comparison in the sentence?

  1. A
    wheat, which has
  2. those of wheat, which hasAnswer
  3. C
    those of wheat; which has
  4. D
    wheat, it has

Answer

those of wheat, which has
The correct answer uses the plural pronoun 'those' to refer back to 'profiles'. This makes the comparison logical and parallel, comparing the amino acid profiles of quinoa to those (the profiles) of wheat. The relative pronoun 'which' correctly initiates a dependent clause modifying 'wheat', with the singular verb 'has' agreeing with 'wheat'.

Step-by-Step Solution

1
Identify the comparison being made in the sentence.
The sentence compares the 'amino acid profiles' of quinoa to 'wheat'.
Comparing a plural attribute ('profiles') to a singular object ('wheat') is illogical; we must compare profiles to profiles.
2
Use a pronoun to represent the compared element in a parallel structure.
Since 'profiles' is plural, the plural pronoun 'those' must be used ('those of wheat').
This ensures grammatical parallelism and logical comparison.
3
Check punctuation and clause connection.
The relative clause 'which has...' must be connected to the main clause with a comma, not a semicolon or by initiating a new independent clause without proper conjunctions.
A semicolon before 'which' creates a fragment, and omitting 'which' to write 'it has' creates a comma splice.

Key Concept

Illogical and Incomplete Comparisons
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Topics

Illogical and Incomplete Comparisons

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