Sentence Correction

Nuclear fusion is the force that powers the Sun, the stars, and hydrogen bombs, merging the nuclei of atoms and not splitting them apart, as in nuclear reactors.

(A) merging the nuclei of atoms and not splitting them apart, as in nuclear reactors
(B) merging the nuclei of atoms instead of splitting them apart, like nuclear reactors
(C) merging the nuclei of atoms rather than splitting them apart, as nuclear reactors do
(D) and merges the nuclei of atoms but does not split them apart, as is done in unclear reactors
(E) and merges the nuclei of atoms, unlike atomic reactors that split them apart

[spoiler]I know this one has been discussed before but I am really confused between C and E, as I find C to be incorrect because "merging modifies whole sentence before comma" and I don't think so its required as the modification seems to be awkward. Option E I, find to be appropriate[/spoiler]

hi aspirant 2011. i feel C is the best answer here. please consider the following example.

Five fledgling sea eagles left their nests in western Scotland this summer, bringing to 34 the number of ..............

now bringing is modifying the entire clause

in this construct ... the sentence from merging the .........them apart is acting like a modifier for nuclear fusion ...

hence actually its like this

1st part of sentence
nuclear fusion................and hydrogen bombs, as nuclear reactors do.... ( not we are comparing nuclear fusion with nuclear reactors.)

2nd part- the modifier.

merging the .... rather than... splitting.....( x rather than y)

hence C is correct.

E- means the fusion reaction is powering and merging the nuclei... besides its too awkward a construct.

Great response, Force!

A few other problems with E:

-Because it follows a list of items separated by commas it's actually pretty unclear what the subject of "and merges" is - at best it's a comma splice that separates subject from verb, and at worst it's hard to determine the subject. You'd really need to have "and THAT merges" to make it parallel to "force that powers" and to reintroduce the subject for clarity.

-The modifier "unlike atomic reactors" has a similar problem. What is that modifying? "Merging", like Force said, modifies the entire introductory clause so it's clear. "Unlike" should be much closer to its subject, and as I mentioned above it's not even clear what the proper subject is.

-It may not be the proper decision point, but piling on...the pronoun "them" in E is even further from its antecedent (nuclei?) and separated by one more plural noun "reactors", so there's a little lack of clarity even with the pronoun. I don't know that I'd eliminate E solely on that basis, but if I were between two choices and that was the only difference I saw, I'd be leery of the pronoun placement in E.

thanks Brian. i really appreciate all your help on E.

thanks Brian for your good explanation

I see E as a comparison error. "Unlike" sets up a comparison. The way this sentence is written, it compares atomic reactors to nuclear fusion, which is incorrect.