BTGmoderatorDC wrote:Compared with southern New England's more developed beaches, Maine seems like they have not dramatically changed in the past few centuries.
A) Maine seems like they have not dramatically changed in the past few centuries.
B) Maine's seem not to have
C) Maine beaches seems like it has not
D) the beaches of Maine have not
E) Maine seems as if it has
The sentence includes a comparison, so make sure the items compared are similar enough to sustain a comparison.
The original sentence compares New England's more developed beaches to Maine, rather than to Maine's beaches.
In addition, the sentence uses the plural pronoun "they" to refer to Maine, which is a singular noun.
Eliminate choice A and look for obvious repeaters.
Choice C uses the singular pronoun "it" to refer to Maine beaches, which is a plural noun. Eliminate choice C.
Choice E compares the beaches of New England to Maine, rather than to the beaches of Maine. Eliminate choice E.
Now, evaluate the remaining answer choices, looking for new errors.
Choice D correctly compares "southern New England's more developed beaches" to "the beaches of Maine".
However, while choice D is grammatically correct, choice B is the better answer because it preserves the sense that Maine's beaches have left only an impression on the sentence's author.
In other words, choice D is more assertive than the original sentence is ("the beaches of Maine
have not").
Choice B is less assertive because, like the original sentence, it employs the verb "seems".
The correct answer is choice
B.