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. Columbus was the Incan highway, which, over 2,500 miles long and extending
B. Columbus was the Incan highway, over 2,500 miles in length, and extended
C. Columbus, the Incan highway, which was over 2,500 miles in length and extended
D. Columbus, the Incan highway, being over 2,500 miles in length, was extended
E. Columbus, the Incan highway was over 2,500 miles long, extending
Are B and D grammatically incorrect? and why?
In A, the
which-clause (
which...Chile) lacks a verb.
Eliminate A.
In C,
the Incan highway (subject) lacks a verb.
Eliminate C.
With regard to B and D:
extended and
extending convey different meanings.
Case 1: a highway
extended implies that SOMEONE STRETCHED the highway beyond its initial length.
Case 2: a highway
extending implies that the HIGHWAY ITSELF was long enough to STRETCH across the indicated distance.
The intended meaning here is Case 2.
Eliminate B and D.
The correct answer is
E.
Analysis of the OA:
The greatest road system built in the Americas prior to the arrival of Christopher Columbus, the Incan highway was over 2,500 miles long, extending from northern Ecuador through Peru to Southern Chile.
Here, the subject of the sentence is
the Incan highway.
The greatest road system is as an APPOSITIVE serving to DEFINE
the Incan highway.
The COMMA + VERBing modifier (
extending from Northern Ecuador through Peru) serves an as adverb modifying the preceding clause, providing context for HOW
the Incan highway WAS over 2,500 miles long.
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