College Composition / Unit 11 CMP 0269 worked example, 60 to 90 seconds
Choosing the Best Combination
The idea
When several combined versions of two sentences are offered, the best one is grammatical, keeps the meaning, shows the right relationship and avoids needless words.
In practice
Take "The museum raised its admission price. Attendance fell." Test the options in order. First, "The museum raised its price, and attendance fell" is grammatical but only implies cause. Second, "After the museum raised its price, attendance fell" states sequence and suggests cause. Third, "The museum raised its price, which made attendance fall" uses which loosely to refer to a whole clause. Fourth, "Because the museum raised its price, attendance fell" states cause directly. If the passage presents the price as the reason, the fourth is best; if it only reports events in order, the second is safer.
Where people slip
Do not pick the version that asserts more than the passage supports. Stating a cause the writer only implied changes the claim, however smooth the sentence sounds.
Your place on the trail
Every lesson rests on earlier ones and opens later ones. Tap any to jump.
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