Hi, can anyone help me figure out why A instead of B is the right answer?
Thanks in advance.
Original Sentence: The shark’s tenacity to live is [unrivaled, he can remain] alive even after half a day out of water.
(A) unrivaled; he can remain
(B) unrivaled, remaining
© /not correct/
(D) /not correct/
(E) /not correct/
The original is a comma splice.
B fails because “remaining” should attach to the closest preceding noun phrase or pronoun. That would be the word “tenacity,” not “shark.” Since “tenacity” cannot “remain alive,” we have a mismatch.
A resolves all problems by (1) separating independent clauses with a semicolon, and (2) not introducing any misplaced modifiers.