prac exam SC Question

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prac exam SC Question

by fangtray » Sun Apr 22, 2012 4:55 am
The greatest road system built in the Americas prior to the arrival of Christopher Columbus was the Incan highway, which, over 2,500 miles long and extending from northern Ecuador through Peru to southern Chile.

a.
B. Columbus was the Incan highway, over 2,500 miles in length, and extended
c. Columbus, the Incan highway, which was over 2,500 miles in length and extended
d. Columbus, the Incan highway, being over 2,500 miles in length, was extended
E. Columbus, the Incan highway was over 2,500 miles long, extending

On the exam, i was looking at B or E
I chose B even though i felt over 2,500 miles in length seemed wordy and awkward.

I felt E was incorrect because extending means that it is still extending. but since we are talking past tense, does that mean we can assume that at the time it was built it extended, and no longer extends?
Source: — Sentence Correction |

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by patanjali.purpose » Sun Apr 22, 2012 6:46 am
fangtray wrote:The greatest road system built in the Americas prior to the arrival of Christopher Columbus was the Incan highway, which, over 2,500 miles long and extending from northern Ecuador through Peru to southern Chile.

a.
B. Columbus was the Incan highway, over 2,500 miles in length, and extended
E. Columbus, the Incan highway was over 2,500 miles long, extending
COMMA VERBING takes the time frame of the main clause (or the clause that it modifies). It means the system was built and that extended from northern...chile. It may or may not be extending now - we do not have any clarity abt that.

B is wrong bcoz we do not know EXTENDED is parallel with what?

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