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Saturn Paper Test Question

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by student22 » Sat Apr 03, 2010 8:20 am
Here's a question from an old paper test:

You could never find a surface solid enough to stand on Saturn because the planet is less dense than water
A. solid enough to stand on Saturn
B. on Saturn where it is solid enough to stand
C. where it is solid enough that you can stand on Saturn
D. on Saturn that is solid enough to stand
E. that is so solid that one can stand on Saturn

OA: A


The way the sentence is phrased makes it sound like you're looking for a surface in general, rather than a surface on Saturn.


I chose D, because it clearly states that the surface is on Saturn, and not some random surface, and 'that' correctly modifies a surface on Saturn. Anyway when I googled this question, on other forums there seems to be alot of debate between the OA and D. Can anybody here clarify please?
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Source: — Sentence Correction |

by akhpad » Sat Apr 03, 2010 10:42 am
Lets first analyze D option
surface on Saturn that is solid enough to stand -> seems to surface is standing rather than you.

I believe based on above fact we can eliminate D between A and D.
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by student22 » Sat Apr 03, 2010 4:15 pm
I see what you mean, but choice A is even more confusing. Also choice A seems to have a modifier error, whereas choice D is more grammatically correct.

"on Saturn" should immediately follow "surface", otherwise it's not clear.
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by Shawshank » Sun Apr 04, 2010 1:07 am
Good question.

A and D both seem good here.

Why is B wrong here.. I believe the "IT" here stands for a placeholder.
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by student22 » Sun Apr 04, 2010 8:21 am
For B, it is an unclear pronoun. 'It' could refer to both Saturn and surface.
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by reply2spg » Sun Apr 04, 2010 7:34 pm
student22 wrote:Here's a question from an old paper test:

You could never find a surface solid enough to stand on Saturn because the planet is less dense than water
A. solid enough to stand on Saturn - Correct
B. on Saturn where it is solid enough to stand - Incorrect - If 'it' refers to surface then B change the meaning. It seems like surface is standing. Else it is not clear whom 'it' is referd?
C. where it is solid enough that you can stand on Saturn - Incorrect - this sentence doesn't make any sense
D. on Saturn that is solid enough to stand - Incorrect - This changes meaning. It seems like saturn is solid enough to stand. Nope, we are looking for the solid surface
E. that is so solid that one can stand on Saturn - Incorrect - non underlined part has 'you' and underlined part has 'one' not parallel

OA: A


The way the sentence is phrased makes it sound like you're looking for a surface in general, rather than a surface on Saturn.


I chose D, because it clearly states that the surface is on Saturn, and not some random surface, and 'that' correctly modifies a surface on Saturn. Anyway when I googled this question, on other forums there seems to be alot of debate between the OA and D. Can anybody here clarify please?
Join the discussion

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