Can you explain the answer of this question below:Since products in th...
Meaning Analysis
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- Since products in the chemical industry have extremely brief shelf lives,
- manufacturers of chemicals usually produce as much as possible in a short span of time,
- and this was a trend begun by the early manufacturers of chemical products in the nineteenth century,
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- which is continuing in twenty-first century markets.
This sentence says that because products in the chemical industry have very brief shelf lives, manufacturers in the industry create a lot of products in very small time duration. The author furthers says that this trend was started by the early manufacturers of chemical products in the 19th century and has continued in twenty-first century markets.
Error Analysis
1) The expression “this was a trend begun by…” is unnecessarily wordy. Instead the same could be written in a precise form as “this trend was begun by…”. This correction will also ensure that the demonstrative pronoun “this” is followed by the pronoun that it refers to.
2) Also, the simple past tense verb “was” is incorrect in the context of the sentence since it indicates that the trend is a thing of the past. The intended meaning is that the trend is still prevalent.
3) Also, the present continuous tense “is continuing” is incorrectly used to present an event that began in the past and has continued into the present. The present perfect tense should be used in such a context.
“Which” modifier should logically modify “trend” but it is placed too far away from it to make the modification possible.
Answer Choices
A
and this was a trend begun by the early manufacturers of chemical products in the nineteenth century, which is
Incorrect:
This choice has the errors discussed in the error analysis.
B
which was a trend that began by the early manufacturers of chemical products in the nineteenth century and it is
Incorrect:
1) The relative pronoun modifier “which” is used incorrectly. Logically it should refer to the preceding clause, but since it is a noun modifier it can’t refer to a clause.
2) The independent clause “it is….” is not parallel to the dependent clause “which was…”
3) Also, this independent clause is connected to the sentence just by “and”. “And” should be preceded by a comma.
4) This choice also has the same verb tense error pertaining to “was” as option A.
5) The verb phrase “began by” should be “was begun by” since it is stated in passive voice. The difference may be observed as follows:
- Active voice - ABC began the movement.
- Passive voice - The movement was begun by ABC.
C
a trend begun by the early manufacturers of chemical products in the nineteenth century and
Correct:
The noun + noun modifier “a trend begun….” correctly modifies the preceding clause. Here, the noun is “a trend” and the noun modifiers are “begun” (verb-ed modifier) and “continuing” (verb-ing modifier).
Note that the verb-ed modifier “begun” is parallel to the verb-ing modifier “continuing”. Also, since this choice changes the verb “is continuing” into the modifier “continuing,” there is no verb tense issue here as there is in option A.
D
a trend begun by the early manufacturers of chemical products in the nineteenth century, it is
Incorrect:
1) Two independent clauses are connected using just a comma.
2) Also, the present continuous tense “is continuing” is incorrectly used as explained in the error analysis.
E
which was a trend begun by the early manufacturers of chemical products in the nineteenth century and is
Incorrect:
1) The modifier “which” is used incorrectly as explained in the POE for option B.
2) This choice also has the same verb tense errors as option A.