kcdecember

In section 3 of practice test 10 in second edition of the BB, there is a question (32) that reads:

32. Which of the following is the best version of sentence 7 (reproduced below)?

What was noteworthy about this was that it was then possible for people to use elevators, not just freight.

a) as it is now
d) this development was noteworthy because elevators could now be used for people as well as for freight. (correct answer)

I deliberated between these two choices and finally went with choice a because "elevators could be used for people" just sounded awkward to me. Isn't the idiomatic expression "elevators could be used by people"? Or is it just me? Someone please explain or give me an example! Thanks

StudiousMaximus

I think it's implied as "the elevators could now be used for [transporting] people..."

Regardless, A is wrong because it is ridiculously wordy at the beginning. "What was noteworthy about this was" is a far too convoluted way of saying "This was noteworthy because..." Choice D rectifies this error, so it is the correct answer.

zhuziyan

A is awkward. And my teacher told me that under most circumstances, 'because' is the best choice since it is brief. (of course only when the sentence does not have grammatical mistakes.)

fogcity

In (A) the subject is ambiguous. Perhaps in a long paragraph with several preceding detailed sentences making the "what" obvious (A) is acceptable. But since you're shown just one sentence you have "what" (a pronoun) as the subject and "was noteworthy about this" as an adjective clause. This subject and follow-up clause can apply to just about anything.

(B) is better primarily because the subject is clear -- i.e. "development". If the clarifying noun "development" were missing, (B), while less awkward than (A), would still be poor writing.

Wood5440

"...people to use elevators, not just freight." This is ambiguous. Are people and freight both using elevators, or are people using both elevators and freight?