Astronomers have uncovered evidence

aditya8062 wrote:
my doubt :i want to ask about the initial construction of option E :
Astronomers have uncovered evidence of a star as bright as the full moon.
is it logical to say that we can uncover the evidence of a star ? honestly i am not able to eliminate option E using this consideration because i feel that it is a valid construction .

Hi @aditya8062,

Logically, we can use ‘evidence of’, but it must fit the context.

For example, here are some typical ways in which ‘evidence of’ and ‘evidence that’ are used:

• Experts examining the power plant found no evidence of leaks.
• The economy has shown evidence of a slowdown in the recent past.
• The government has insisted that there is no evidence that the recent employment cuts were targeted at specific industries.
• Geologists have discovered evidence that some of the glaciers in the Arctic have survived previous eras of global warming.

Examining how these sentences are constructed, we can see that ‘evidence of’ is typically followed by a noun, whereas ‘evidence that’ is followed by a clause. So the usage of these terms depends on the intended meaning of the sentence. If we mean that we have found evidence of a noun, we use ‘evidence of’. If we mean that we have found evidence of a particular action, we use ‘evidence that’ followed by a clause.

Let’s use this understanding to do the meaning analysis for this sentence and understand which of the two phrases we need to use in this context.

Meaning Analysis

• Astronomers have uncovered evidence that a star
 that was as bright as the full moon

So, the sentence starts off by telling us that astronomers have discovered evidence about something. This evidence is about a star that was as bright as the full moon.

o exploding into view 340,000 years ago,
 emitting dazzling radiation that could have disrupted Earth's protective ozone layer and sunburned our Stone Age ancestors.

This part tells us what the evidence shows about the star. It shows that this bright star exploded into view a certain amount of time ago. It also shows that the star emitted a high amount of radiation. This radiation could have affected both Earth’s ozone layer and people who lived during the Stone Age.

So, the intended meaning here is clearly that the astronomers have found evidence of some actions. They haven’t just found proof that this star existed. They’ve found proof that the star (1) exploded into view and (2) emitted radiation.

Now let’s look at option E in the light of this meaning analysis.

Process of Elimination: Option E

Based on the intended meaning of this sentence, we clearly need to use ‘evidence that’ in this context. Option E says that “Astronomers have discovered evidence of a star”. The use of “evidence of” in this context doesn’t convey the intended meaning precisely. So, while you’re right that “evidence of” is a valid logical construction, as we’ve seen in the examples above, “evidence that” is correct in this context since it conveys the intended meaning clearly. There is also some meaning ambiguity in option E since it isn’t clear what exploded, but I won’t go into that since Mitch has already explained it above.

I hope this analysis helps!

Regards,
Meghna