Mary Stuart was born in Scotland, but never did possess great fluency in the language of the country over which she had later been called to rule; her knowledge of it was acquired chiefly, if not wholly, after she returned from France.
A) Mary Stuart was born in Scotland, but never did possess great fluency in the language of the country over which she had later been called to rule; her knowledge of it was acquired chiefly, if not wholly, after she returned from France.
B) Mary Stuart s knowledge of the language of the country over which she was later called to rule had been acquired chiefly, if not wholly, after her return from France to her birthplace in Scotland, and she never possessed great fluency in it.
C) Though born in Scotland, Mary Stuart never possessed great fluency in the language of the country over which she was later called to rule; her knowledge of it was acquired chiefly, if not wholly, after her return from France.
D) Although born in Scotland and never possessing great fluency in the language of the country over which she was later called to rule, Mary Stuart s knowledge of it was acquired chiefly, if not wholly, after her return from France.
E) Born in Scotland, Mary Stuart never did possess great fluency in the language of the country over which she was later called to rule, and her knowledge of it was acquired chiefly, if not wholly, after she returned from France.
I'm confused between C & E. Can any experts explain?
Mary Stuart was born in Scotland, but never did possess grea
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This one is pretty subtle.
The main reason here is that we need to establish the relationship between "born in Scotland" and Mary Stuart not being fluent. In the original sentence we see a contrast: "Mary Stuart was born in Scotland, but never did possess great fluency" - it's surprising that she didn't gain fluency DESPITE being born in Scotland.
In C, we have: "Though born in Scotland, Mary Stuart never possessed great fluency" - same contrast. However, in E, we have: "Born in Scotland, Mary Stuart never did possess great fluency" - there's no contrast here, so E doesn't have the same meaning as the original sentence.
The main reason here is that we need to establish the relationship between "born in Scotland" and Mary Stuart not being fluent. In the original sentence we see a contrast: "Mary Stuart was born in Scotland, but never did possess great fluency" - it's surprising that she didn't gain fluency DESPITE being born in Scotland.
In C, we have: "Though born in Scotland, Mary Stuart never possessed great fluency" - same contrast. However, in E, we have: "Born in Scotland, Mary Stuart never did possess great fluency" - there's no contrast here, so E doesn't have the same meaning as the original sentence.
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