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We have another Sentence Fragment error. But what is causing the problem?
(A) “immigrant” is a noun, and ETS is testing diction. Should it be “emigrant”? No. immigrant is
someone who comes INTO a country, and emigrant is someone who EXITS a country.
(B) is “in” the correct preposition? Author in the genre of... works fine.
(C) Once you have checked the underlined portions of the phrase between the two commas,
ELIMINATE it, as it is there to distract you. If you cross out a Russian-born immigrant
to the United States and a popular author in the genre of fiction the sentence reads – Ayn Rand
who founded the philosophy of Objectivism in her writings. This is not a complete sentence.
Remove the “who” – Ayn Rand founded the philosophy of Objectivism in her writings. That’s
the fix we want!
(D) Cross out the prep phrase of objectivism to test the preposition “in.” Make a sentence on your
own, like: Plato espoused his philosophy in his writings. Checks out fine!
Revised sentence:
Ayn Rand, a Russian-born immigrant to the United
A
States and a popular author in the genre of fiction,
B Sentence Fragment
who expressed the philosophy of Objectivism in
C D
her writings. No error.
E
Correct Answer: (C)
Revised sentence:
While working in Tanzania studying chimpanzees,
A became Sentence Fragment / Tense
Jane Goodall becoming one of the first primatologists
B
to observe the aggressive nature of these primates
C
with her discovery that female chimps will kill and
D
sometimes eat the young of other females to assert
their dominance. No error
E
Correct Answer: (B)
Ayn Rand, a Russian-born immigrant to the United
A
States and a popular author in the genre of fiction,
B
who expressed the philosophy of Objectivism in
C D
her writings. No error
E