I find C needlessly wordy, perhaps to
avoid the possessive pronoun used in A and B. I’d prefer option
D) college, changes that increased both
educational quality and effectiveness.
Herb
From:
Sent: Thursday, January 18, 2007
12:35 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Grammar Question
Of the three variants of the underlined portion of the sentence below,
which is the best and why? I'm trying to help my high school junior
improve her grammar skills, but I'm stumped by the problem below. The
correct answer is given as "C." While "C" seems fine
to me, I don't understand why "B" is deficient. My daughter's
workbook notes that "B" is not parallel; however, I thought that in
seeking to determine whether parallel structure exists in a sentence, one need
not pay attention to items that modify the elements that are equal in
placement, importance and/or function. Thus, regarding choice "B,"
I don't think that it matters that "its educational" modifies
"quality," but that "effectiveness" has no modifier.
Thank you for your help.
Many changes occurred while she was president of the college, and they
increased its educational quality as well as effectiveness.
A) college, and they increased its educational quality as well as
effectiveness
B) college; these changes increased its educational quality and
effectiveness
C) college; these changes increased both the educational quality and
effectiveness of the college