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1000SC Question No 213

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by samyak » Sat Apr 24, 2010 12:18 pm
213. Clark and Florence Wallace, a husband-and-wife medical team, worked steadily and efficiently through the night, but sipping their coffee the next morning, she noticed that he seemed disoriented.
(A) sipping their coffee the next morning, she noticed that he seemed disoriented
(B) sipping their coffee the next morning, he seemed to be disoriented, she noticed
(C) as they sipped their coffee the next morning, she noticed that he seemed disoriented
(D) as they were sipping their coffee the next morning, he seemed, she noticed, disoriented
(E) he seemed disoriented, she noticed, sipping their coffee the next morning

Please explain why the correct option is C. I opted for A.
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by jumpin » Sat Apr 24, 2010 12:50 pm
imo

Clark and Florence Wallace, a husband-and-wife medical team, worked steadily and efficiently through the night, but as they sipped their coffee the next morning, she noticed that he seemed disoriented.

this is how the corrected sentence reads, you can notice here it is clear that when the process of sipping was happening Florence was able to notice the disorientation, sipping was responsible for her noticing.. so <as he/they sipped.. she noticed>

Contrast this with
<sipping> which doesnt make it clear as to how she was able to notice

Thus choice A fails in clarity and dings out. hope this helps
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by Phirozz » Sat Apr 24, 2010 2:30 pm
option A uses wrong modifier.

sipping their coffee the next morning, she noticed that he seemed disoriented... here shipping modifies she
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by tpr-becky » Sat Apr 24, 2010 3:54 pm
you can't use the plural pronoun their coffee unless maybe they are sharing a cup but that isn't made clear at all - so she needs sip her coffee or they need to sip their coffee.
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by frank1 » Sat Apr 24, 2010 8:46 pm
I opted for C as well
but reading explanation # 2
i wonder what would have been case if there was a option like

as they were sipping their coffee the next morning, she noticed that he seemed disoriented.

seems still correct....
One reason i opted for C was because of tense as well....which has not been mentioned so bit confused...
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by pramendrapandeya » Fri May 16, 2014 11:09 pm
Non underline part is in past indefinite,"Clark and Florence Wallace, a husband-and-wife medical team, worked steadily and efficiently through the night"

So sipping is not correct as it denotes something which still continue so A,B, and E out

D is wordy, too many commas so C is best :)

Hope it will help :)
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