Question
The invention of the cotton gin, being one of the most significant developments of the nineteenth century, had turned cotton cloth into an affordable commodity; it was costly before that.
Answer: Option D
:
D
The word "being" is unnecessary in the openingmodifier "being one of the most significant developments . . ."Moreover, thepast perfectverb "had turned" coupled with the simple past verb "was"reverses the chronological order of the events. The tenses run counter to the logic of the sentence by incorrectly suggesting that theinvention of the cotton ginhappened beforethe cotton cloth became expensive.
(A) Thischoiceis incorrect as it repeats the original sentence.
(B) The words "having been" are unnecessary in the opening modifier.Moreover, the ending phrase "costly previously" is too concise; it fails to strike the contrast between the earlier and the later state of affairs.
(C) This choiceinterrupts the connection between the adjective "affordable" and the noun "commodity," making the sentence hard to follow.Also, the use of "however" changes the meaning: "however costly" implies that the cotton gin would have made cotton cloth affordable no matter how costly it was previously.In contrast, the original sentence only states that cotton cloth had previously been costly.
(D) CORRECT. The modifier "one of the most significant developments of the nineteenth century" eliminates the unnecessary word "being." The simple past verb "turned"coupled with the past perfect "had previously been" correctly expresses the fact thatcotton cloth "turned into an affordable commodity" after it "had previously been costly." The later past event uses the simple past tense, whereas the earlier past event uses the past perfect tense. Moreover, the conjunction "whereas" correctly expresses the neutral contrast between the earlier and the later state of affairs.The pronoun "it" refers unambiguously to the "cotton cloth."
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D
The word "being" is unnecessary in the openingmodifier "being one of the most significant developments . . ."Moreover, thepast perfectverb "had turned" coupled with the simple past verb "was"reverses the chronological order of the events. The tenses run counter to the logic of the sentence by incorrectly suggesting that theinvention of the cotton ginhappened beforethe cotton cloth became expensive.
(A) Thischoiceis incorrect as it repeats the original sentence.
(B) The words "having been" are unnecessary in the opening modifier.Moreover, the ending phrase "costly previously" is too concise; it fails to strike the contrast between the earlier and the later state of affairs.
(C) This choiceinterrupts the connection between the adjective "affordable" and the noun "commodity," making the sentence hard to follow.Also, the use of "however" changes the meaning: "however costly" implies that the cotton gin would have made cotton cloth affordable no matter how costly it was previously.In contrast, the original sentence only states that cotton cloth had previously been costly.
(D) CORRECT. The modifier "one of the most significant developments of the nineteenth century" eliminates the unnecessary word "being." The simple past verb "turned"coupled with the past perfect "had previously been" correctly expresses the fact thatcotton cloth "turned into an affordable commodity" after it "had previously been costly." The later past event uses the simple past tense, whereas the earlier past event uses the past perfect tense. Moreover, the conjunction "whereas" correctly expresses the neutral contrast between the earlier and the later state of affairs.The pronoun "it" refers unambiguously to the "cotton cloth."
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