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Difficulty: MediumParallel Structure

In urban ecosystems, green roofs offer a sustainable method to mitigate the heat island effect by cooling densely populated areas. By replacing conventional dark asphalt shingles with living vegetation, city planners can successfully lower ambient air temperatures, decrease stormwater runoff, and ________ solar radiation absorption. These ecological installations not only lower energy costs for individual buildings but also enhance local biodiversity by providing habitats for native pollinators.

Which choice completes the text so that it conforms to the conventions of Standard English?

  1. minimizeAnswer
  2. B
    minimizing
  3. C
    minimizes
  4. D
    to minimize

Answer

minimize
The correct option is 'minimize'. The sentence presents a list of actions that city planners 'can' perform: 'lower ambient air temperatures,' 'decrease stormwater runoff,' and the blank. Because 'lower' and 'decrease' are base verbs (bare infinitives) following the helper verb 'can', the final element must also be a base verb ('minimize') to maintain parallel structure.

Step-by-Step Solution

1
Identify the list of items in the sentence and determine the grammatical structure of the established items.
The sentence presents a list of three actions that city planners 'can' take: 'lower ambient air temperatures,' 'decrease stormwater runoff,' and the blank. Both 'lower' and 'decrease' are base verbs (bare infinitives) following the auxiliary verb 'can'.
Parallel structure requires that items in a list or comparison share the same grammatical form.
2
Select the option that matches the established grammatical structure of base verb forms.
The base verb 'minimize' completes the list in a parallel manner ('can lower... decrease... and minimize').
This maintains the grammatical consistency of the list.

Key Concept

Parallel structure in lists requires all items to have the same grammatical form.
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Topics

Parallel Structure

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