Can experts comment on this one?

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Can experts comment on this one?

by Winner2013 » Thu Oct 24, 2013 6:28 am
With cloning technology, scientists are approaching what has long been the ultimate goal of modern husbandry: achieving a consistency of quality and production in farm animals as once thought to be limited to manufactured goods.

(A) achieving a consistency of quality and production in farm animals as once thought to be
(B) achieving farm animals with a consistency of quality and production as were once thought of as
(C) achieving in farm animals a consistency of quality and production that was once thought to be
(D) achievement of farm animals whose consistency of quality and production are the same as what were once thought to he
(E) achievement of farm animals at a consistency of quality and production once thought of as

Pj

OA to follow
Last edited by Winner2013 on Thu Oct 24, 2013 4:09 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Source: — Sentence Correction |

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by Abhishek009 » Thu Oct 24, 2013 6:54 am
C
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by Winner2013 » Thu Oct 24, 2013 8:57 am
yeah its C Abhishek. Can you help me understand why isnt it A?

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by ceilidh.erickson » Mon Oct 28, 2013 8:21 am
When you're asking for expert advice, please be sure to state what your question/concern is. We can't really offer advice if we don't know why you're confused about the problem! Please also always list the source and the OA, so we can know if it is a reputable question or not.

There are two issues in this question: MEANING and MODIFIERS.

From a meaning perspective, what is the thing that modern husbandry is trying to achieve? We can't achieve objects like "farm animals," we can only achieve abstract goals like "consistency." Eliminate B, D, and E.

In A and C, there is no significant difference between saying "achieving a consistency in farm animals" vs. "achieving in farm animals a consistency." The placement of the prepositional phrase does not change the meaning. The primary difference is between "as once thought to be" vs. "that was once thought to be."

The consistency was thought to be limited to manufactured goods, so we want to make sure that we're MODIFYING consistency. An "as" would be providing a comparison, but would not be modifying "consistency." We need the relative pronoun "that" to set up the subordinate clause to modify "consistency."
Ceilidh Erickson
EdM in Mind, Brain, and Education
Harvard Graduate School of Education

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