Sentence Correction

Visby is the largest city on the Swedish island of Gotland; arguably the best-preserved medieval town in Scandinavia, and has become a World Heritage Site..

A. arguably the best-preserved medieval town in Scandinavia, and has become a World Heritage Site.
B. it is arguably the best-preserved medieval town in Scandinavia, and, as a result of this, has become a World
Heritage Site.
C. arguably the best-preserved medieval town in Scandinavia, it has become a World Heritage Site.
D. it has become a World Heritage Site, and arguably the best-preserved medieval town in Scandinavia.
E. is arguably the best-preserved medieval town in Scandinavia, a World Heritage Site.

[spoiler]OA later.
Hint : It is C or D.
Please give your answer with explanation.[/spoiler]

With that semi-column you really only have two options: B or D.

D is precise and my choice over B.

Pick D.

No ambiguity of pronoun "it". In C, we are not sure of what "it" refers to!

B is akward/wordy.

dont we need a verb in ^d^ before ,arguably, and arguably the best-preserved medieval town in Scandinavia. modifying WHAT?.

"it has become a World Heritage Site, and arguably the best-preserved medieval town in Scandinavia."

And is the connecting word connecting the two clauses, and "it" is the pronoun referring to Visby that is the main subject.

paes wrote:Visby is the largest city on the Swedish island of Gotland; arguably the best-preserved medieval town in Scandinavia, and has become a World Heritage Site..

A. arguably the best-preserved medieval town in Scandinavia, and has become a World Heritage Site.
B. it is arguably the best-preserved medieval town in Scandinavia, and, as a result of this, has become a World
Heritage Site.
C. arguably the best-preserved medieval town in Scandinavia, it has become a World Heritage Site.
D. it has become a World Heritage Site, and arguably the best-preserved medieval town in Scandinavia.
E. is arguably the best-preserved medieval town in Scandinavia, a World Heritage Site.

[spoiler]OA later.
Hint : It is C or D.
Please give your answer with explanation.[/spoiler]

A--> Should be a Independent Clause..Need subject.
B--> Changes the meaning. There is no relation between the two thing ....becoming world heritage and being the best-preserved medieval town
C--> arguably the best-preserved medieval town in Scandinavia..seems a modifier (a part of independent clause after the semicolon) modifying "It".....but what this modifier or "It" points to??? Can not comprehend that .....parallel construction is also not there.

D-->Seems the answer.
Visby is................; it has........... Here, logically, we can say that "it" points to Visby.

and yes....."and arguably the best-preserved medieval town in Scandinavia" is a absolute phrase...... pointing to Visby.

E--> Same issue as is with A

Everybody is selecting D.
Even I selected D

But the OA is C.

It is saying that
D : does not refer back to the subject in the second part of the sentence -> ..and arguably
which I don't agree.

Can some expert help on this.

It appears to be another one of those bad questions. The two choices appear to be saying the the same thing, except that C has the modifier in front, but with "it" leading the sub-clause, to me that makes "it" ambiguous.

Visby is the largest city on the Swedish island of Gotland; arguably the best-preserved medieval town in Scandinavia, and has become a World Heritage Site..

A. arguably the best-preserved medieval town in Scandinavia, and has become a World Heritage Site. (lack subject - can't stand on its own)
B. it is arguably the best-preserved medieval town in Scandinavia, and, as a result of this, has become a World (changes meaning...though llel)
Heritage Site.
C. arguably the best-preserved medieval town in Scandinavia, it has become a World Heritage Site. (it refers to 'Visby' - both playing the same role in their respective clasues...therefore no ambiguity. 'It' can't refer to Island of Gotland; It has...site = independent clause) - correct
D. it has become a World Heritage Site, and arguably the best-preserved medieval town in Scandinavia. (both elements not llel - this sentence means => it has become a World Heritage Site, and arguably it has become the best-preserved medieval town in Scandinavia; minor error - comma before 'and' shows thr could be a different subject than 'it' for medieval town=> comma not required)
E. is arguably the best-preserved medieval town in Scandinavia, a World Heritage Site. (no subject; world modifies Scandinavia)

Time: 2 mins though

Bad question or not I don't know but here is my reasoning

D - is just not parallel so easy to omit. Also, in this sentence - It does not have a clear referent. Is it referring to the ISLAND or VISBY NOT CLEAR HERE.

C. arguably the best-preserved medieval town in Scandinavia, it has become a World Heritage Site.

The IT referent is clear. Think about it guys - It not clearly refers to the city VISBY and not the ISLAND. As it has already been mentioned that Visby is the largest city in the ISLAND.

Bad question or not I don't know but here is my reasoning

D - is just not parallel so easy to omit. Also, in this sentence - It does not have a clear referent. Is it referring to the ISLAND or VISBY NOT CLEAR HERE.

C. arguably the best-preserved medieval town in Scandinavia, it has become a World Heritage Site.

The IT referent is clear. Think about it guys - It not clearly refers to the city VISBY and not the ISLAND. As it has already been mentioned that Visby is the largest city in the ISLAND.

Hi,

The answer is C. One thing to keep in mind here is that whenever you see a semicolon, both the phrases on wither side of the semicolon must be independent clauses(i.e. each must have a subject and a verb and must act as standalone sentences).

A. arguably the best-preserved medieval town in Scandinavia, and has become a World Heritage Site. =>No subject

B. it is arguably the best-preserved medieval town in Scandinavia, and, as a result of this, has become a World Heritage Site. => Changes the meaning. The sentence does not state that the reason for it being called a heritage town is because of its preservation. These are 2 correlated phenomenon, not causal

C. arguably the best-preserved medieval town in Scandinavia, it has become a World Heritage Site. =>This option is the most clear. Subject = "it", verb = "become", modifier for it = "arguably..Scandanavia". Here, "it" refers to Visby ->it is the main subject of the entire sentence.

D. it has become a World Heritage Site, and arguably the best-preserved medieval town in Scandinavia. => Changes meaning. A has X and Y. it has become..., and (has) arguably here has cannot apply to the 2nd phrase..Visby does not have the best-preserved town in Scandanavia, it IS. Additionally the comma is unnecessary.

E. is arguably the best-preserved medieval town in Scandinavia, a World Heritage Site. => No subject

Sankeerthana wrote:

D. it has become a World Heritage Site, and arguably the best-preserved medieval town in Scandinavia. => Changes meaning. A has X and Y. it has become..., and (has) arguably here has cannot apply to the 2nd phrase..Visby does not have the best-preserved town in Scandanavia, it IS. Additionally the comma is unnecessary.

E. is arguably the best-preserved medieval town in Scandinavia, a World Heritage Site. => No subject

Hi Sankeerthana, Could you pls explain why 'arguably' will not apply to second phrase in option D? thanks.