The total remittance transfers sent across the world from the top three industrial nations in recent years is almost $100 billion annually, according to the Government Budget Office, or roughly the equivalent of those three countries' foreign assistance budget.
(A) years is almost $100 billion annually, according to the Government Budget Office, or roughly the equivalent of those three countries' foreign assistance budgets.
(B) years is almost $100 billion annually, according to the Government Budget Office, roughly the equivalent of those three countries' foreign assistance budgets.
(C) years are almost $100 billion annually, according to the Government Budget Office, or roughly the equivalent of those three countries' foreign assistance budgets.
(D) years - almost $100 billion annually - are, according to the Government Budget Office, roughly the equivalent of those three countries' foreign assistance budgets.
(E) years, an amount that is almost $100 billion annually, are, according to the Government Budge Office, roughly the equivalent of the foreign assistance budgets of those three countries.
What is wrong with Options D and E? I'm quite confused about it, can some experts help me?
OA C
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The total remittance transfers
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Hello!
The main problem with both D and E is the incorrect use of punctuation to create non-essential clauses.
By putting the phrases "almost $100 billion annually" and "an amount that is almost $100 billion annually" between commas or hyphens, they now become non-essential clauses. A non-essential clause is any information you could easily remove from a sentence without changing its meaning. Here is a short example:
Correct: My husband, Bob, is an accomplished painter.
(Telling readers his name isn't necessary - he's still my husband and an accomplished painter without my telling you what his name is).
Incorrect: The little girl, who threw her lunch at a classmate, was given detention and had to apologize to the class.
(It's important to know which girl was punished, so that phrase shouldn't go between commas.)
Since we later tell readers the transfer amounts to roughly the equivalent of all 3 countries' budgets, readers will want to know how much that is without having to look it up on their own. Therefore, it's an essential part of the sentence and shouldn't be between commas or hyphens.
I hope that helps. I'm available if you'd like any follow up.
The main problem with both D and E is the incorrect use of punctuation to create non-essential clauses.
By putting the phrases "almost $100 billion annually" and "an amount that is almost $100 billion annually" between commas or hyphens, they now become non-essential clauses. A non-essential clause is any information you could easily remove from a sentence without changing its meaning. Here is a short example:
Correct: My husband, Bob, is an accomplished painter.
(Telling readers his name isn't necessary - he's still my husband and an accomplished painter without my telling you what his name is).
Incorrect: The little girl, who threw her lunch at a classmate, was given detention and had to apologize to the class.
(It's important to know which girl was punished, so that phrase shouldn't go between commas.)
Since we later tell readers the transfer amounts to roughly the equivalent of all 3 countries' budgets, readers will want to know how much that is without having to look it up on their own. Therefore, it's an essential part of the sentence and shouldn't be between commas or hyphens.
I hope that helps. I'm available if you'd like any follow up.
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