pretty tricky prep question

This topic has expert replies
Senior | Next Rank: 100 Posts
Posts: 53
Joined: Thu Apr 12, 2007 12:32 am
Thanked: 1 times

pretty tricky prep question

by jc114 » Fri May 04, 2007 7:32 am
The greatest road system built in the Americas prior to the arrival of Christopher Columbus was the Incan highway, which, over 2,500 miles long and extending from northern Ecuador through Peru to Southern Chile.
A..
B. Columbus was the Incan highway, over 2500 miles in length, and extended
C. Columbus, the Incan highway, which was over 2500 miles in length and extended
D. Columbus, the Incan highway, being over 2500 miles in length, was extended
E. Columbus, the Incan highway was over 2500 miles long, extending

i thought the answer was C, but its actually E!!

Community Manager
Posts: 363
Joined: Sun Dec 10, 2006 12:24 pm
Location: St. Louis
Thanked: 7 times
Followed by:3 members

by isisalaska » Fri May 04, 2007 10:11 am
agree tricky
Isis Alaska

Senior | Next Rank: 100 Posts
Posts: 59
Joined: Sat Feb 10, 2007 10:03 pm
Thanked: 1 times

by guynoor » Fri May 04, 2007 12:53 pm
I think its pretty straightforward. In Answer choice C "which was" and "extended" should ring an alarm bell.

Master | Next Rank: 500 Posts
Posts: 141
Joined: Thu May 03, 2007 1:15 pm

by drhomler » Mon May 14, 2007 8:28 am
I have a question about this one: I would have definitely narrowed it down to C and E but why do you say "which was" and extended shuold ring alarm bells. I thought the answer was ultimately E because it is more concise. are there other reasons that I am missing here? I'm a native English speaker and SC seems to be my greatest challenge. In many ways it is embarassing.

Community Manager
Posts: 363
Joined: Sun Dec 10, 2006 12:24 pm
Location: St. Louis
Thanked: 7 times
Followed by:3 members

by isisalaska » Mon May 14, 2007 9:53 am
guynoor

About "ring alarm bells" I would be VERY CAUTIOUS
Isis Alaska

Legendary Member
Posts: 559
Joined: Tue Mar 27, 2007 1:29 am
Thanked: 5 times
Followed by:2 members

by Cybermusings » Mon May 21, 2007 5:09 am
E is the only one which fits the bill...A is wrong...B violates parallelism...."being over" is faulty in choice D...C makes the statement sound incomplete

Moderator
Posts: 772
Joined: Wed Aug 30, 2017 6:29 pm
Followed by:6 members

by BTGmoderatorRO » Sun Sep 24, 2017 12:23 pm
Option A Columbus was the Incan highway, which, over 2,500 miles long and extending
This option looks correct but it is wrong simply because of the use of 'and' .The statement is a continuous statement explaining how long is the high way.

Option B. Columbus was the Incan highway, over 2500 miles in length, and extended
This is incorrect because of '2500 miles in length' since we have 'miles' after the number there is no need to add 'in length' .

Option C. Columbus, the Incan highway, which was over 2500 miles in length and extended.
This option suffers the same fate as option B. 2500 miles in length' abruptly wrong.

Option D. Columbus, the Incan highway, being over 2500 miles in length, was extended.
being over' that's non sequitur and it makes the statement look wrong.Unsatisfactory!!!

Option E. Finally if others have been wrong,this would definitely be the answer.THIS IS THE CORRECT ANSWER!!!
'Columbus, the Incan highway was over 2500 miles long, extending'
This option clearly depicts the mind of the narrator and it was well constructed to observe the English Language rules.
'the Incan high way was' to say it past tense 'prior to the arrival of Christopher Columbus'
'over 2500 miles long' definitely this is showing the length...adding lenght to this makes it a tautology.

',extending' this is a present participle verb to explain and to qualify the 'Incan highway' so a comma(,) is definitely suitable to continue to describe the ancient highway.