BTGmoderatorDC wrote:It takes a deft balance between savings discipline, investment knowledge, risk taking, luck, and time to raise a million dollars through investments.
(A) It takes a deft balance between
(B) Deft balancing is needed between
(C) Deftly balanced, it takes
(D) It takes a deft balance of
(E) A deft balance is what one needs among
The sentence includes a list of things that must be balanced in order to raise a million dollars through investments.
Ordinarily, a sentence that includes a list should be checked for parallel construction errors. Here, there are no parallel construction errors.
However, the original sentence includes an idiom error.
The word "between" indicates a position in the middle of two things (two points in space, two points in time, two marks on a test, etc.)
The list includes more than two items, so "between" is used incorrectly.
Eliminate choice A and look for obvious repeaters.
Choice B also uses "between", so eliminate choice B.
Now, check the remaining answers for new errors.
Choice C uses a comma to separate the phrase "deftly balanced" from the rest of the sentence. It's no longer clear that raising a million dollars requires a balance of the listed items.
Eliminate choice C.
Choice E introduces an idiom error. It's fine to refer to a number of things as balanced, but not "balanced among".
Rather than seeking to properly balance the listed items, choice E suggests that one must balance oneself when among the listed items.
The correct answer is choice
D.
