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(1) Many parents consider video games 30.
violent and a waste of time and energy. (2) A
recent version of the acclaimed video game Grand
Theft Auto evoked disparaging reviews from child
advocates, they are people who believe that violent
games result in aggressive behavior in children and
teens. (3) The only affirmative ones expressed relief
that the Entertainment Software Rating Board
(ESRB) rated the video game Mature. (4) Wouldn’t
they be forever scarred to play a video game that
contained violence, strong language, and sexual
content? (5) And Manhunt 2, the action/adventure
game sequel to Rockstar Games 2003’s Manhunt.
(6) Imagine equating the violence one sees on the
big screen with real life.
(7) I see nothing wrong with video games,
whether violent or of the Guitar Hero variety.
(8) After all, aren’t Looney Tunes cartoons just as
violent? (9) For example, remember the Bugs
Bunny episode where Bugs pulls out a gun and
shoots an innocent man for coughing? (10) Cartoons
would never have become so popular if the gags
did not include violence and innuendo. (11) No
doubt, video game players recognize the violent
actions of modern day video game characters,
they are reminiscent of those of classic cartoon
characters, such as Wile E. Coyote, created by
the late Chuck Jones. (12) Jones will see traces
of his characters in the antics of the Grand Theft
Auto players. (13) Wile E. Coyote blows himself
up with Acme Dynamite, and would feel right at
home in the world of Grand Theft Auto.
(14) Violence has been prevalent in
entertainment since the first cartoons, and we
should not assume that children and teenagers are
unable to differentiate violence for entertainment’s
sake, from real-life violence.
What is the main idea of the essay? There is
nothing wrong with video games; they are no more
violent than Looney Tunes cartoons.
We are now ready to answer the questions.
Which of the following is the best version of the
underlined portion of sentence 2 (reproduced
below)?A recent version of the acclaimed video game
Grand Theft Auto evoked disparaging reviews
from child advocates, they are people who
believe that violent games result in aggressive
behavior in children and teens.(A) (As it is now)
(B) child advocates; they were people who
believed
(C) child advocates in believing
(D) child advocates. These believed
(E) child advocates, those who believeDid you notice the run-on created in the given
sentence? Spot the visual (“...advocates, they...”)
A recent version of the acclaimed video game
Grand theft Auto evoked disparaging reviews
from child advocates is an independent clause
that stands on its own, and they are people who
believe that violent games result in aggressive
behavior in children and teens is also a complete
sentence. We need to add a conjunction after the
comma, replace the comma with a semi-colon or
period, or turn the second phrase into a dependent
clause. Eliminate (A).(B) inserts a semi-colon, but ETS has switched
to past tense, indicating that child advocates are
no longer part of the present. This changes the
intended meaning of the sentence. Careful of
those switches in tenses! Eliminate (B).
(C) gives us an awkward “ing” (believing) and is
not idiomatically correct. Eliminate (C).
(D) ETS fixes the run-on by inserting a period
after “advocates,” but creates another problem
with the ambiguous pronoun “these.” Who
the heck is these? It also switches tenses.
Eliminate (D).
(E) Let’s just look at the clause those who believe
that violent games result in aggressive behavior in
children and teens. Is that clause
dependent or independent? It is dependent,
which means it cannot stand on its own and
should be connected to the previous phrase with
only a comma. (E) is correct.