In the major cities of industrialized countries at the end

[ms100]

In the major cities of industrialized countries at the end of the nineteenth century, important public places such as theates, restaurants, shops, and banks had instaled electric lighting,but electricity was in less than one percent of of homes, where lighting was still provided mainly by candles or gas.
a electricity was in less than one percent of homes, where lighting was still
b. electricity was in less than one percent of homes and lighting still
c. there were less than one percent of homes with electricity, where lighting was still being
d. there was less than one percent of homes that had electricity, having lighting that was still
e. less than one percetn of homes had electricity, where lighting had still been
i picked e ans is a.

[StaceyKoprince]

"where" is used specifically to refer to a place or geographic location; it also indicates a noun modifier and must follow the noun that it is modifying. In this case, "where" follows "electricity" but electricity isn't a location so it's not a valid use of "where."

[NIKESH_PAHUJA]

But Stacy could you pls explain why B is wrong ?

[stock.mojo11]

Generally I stress on picking why a particular choice is wrong. But this Q stands out. In the non underlined part, you see past perfect "had installed". So it is clear that there should be another event in simple past. Remember the vice versa need not be true.

So it comes down to A & B.

B clearly is awkward with the use of and, when you can describe the homes in a better way as in A

[StaceyKoprince]

"but electricity was in less than one percent of homes and lighting still provided mainly by candles or gas."

A and B are identical through the word "homes" so the opening part must be okay. The rest of B says:

and lighting still provided mainly by candles or gas

You've got an active verb (provided) but a passive set-up (candles or gas provide the lighting - the lighting doesn't provide the candles or gas). You'd have to say "lighting was still provided by candles or gas.

Also, the "and" indicates that the two pieces of info separated by the "and" are not connected to each other. Rather, they are each connected to some other thing:

(1) public places had installed electric lighting, but electricity was in less than one percent of homes
and
(2) public places had installed electric lighting, but lighting was still provided mainly by candles or gas

Where was lighting still provided mainly by candles or gas? It sounds like the public places had installed electric lighting but were not using it - instead, they were still using candles or gas. That doesn't make sense. :)

[agha79]

Sorry guys but what is the OA on this one. I picked B for this

[holmes.erin]

OA is A

[RonPurewal]

Sorry guys but what is the OA on this one. I picked B for this

the oa is actually reported in the original post; check again.

[jibanezd]

"where" is used specifically to refer to a place or geographic location; it also indicates a noun modifier and must follow the noun that it is modifying. In this case, "where" follows "electricity" but electricity isn't a location so it's not a valid use of "where."

How can "where", which is an adverb, modify a noun?
Thanks in advance.

[RonPurewal]

How can "where", which is an adverb, modify a noun?
Thanks in advance.

that is irrelevant to its use as a modifier -- that is an issue that pertains to the following verb.
for instance, given the following sentence...
To the left is Angell Field, where I competed in college track meets.
... when you say that "where" is an adverb, you're talking about the fact that it describes/restricts the verb "competed". in other words, the same sense in which "there" is an adverb if you say I competed there.
you're not talking about the sense in which it's a modifier of the noun "angell field" -- in that sense, note that there are all kinds of non-adjective modifiers that can modify nouns. in addition to stuff like the modifier mentioned here, you also have appositives (which are themselves nouns); you have prepositional phrases; you have actual adjectives; etc. etc.

[jibanezd]

How can "where", which is an adverb, modify a noun?
Thanks in advance.

that is irrelevant to its use as a modifier -- that is an issue that pertains to the following verb.
for instance, given the following sentence...
To the left is Angell Field, where I competed in college track meets.
... when you say that "where" is an adverb, you're talking about the fact that it describes/restricts the verb "competed". in other words, the same sense in which "there" is an adverb if you say I competed there.
you're not talking about the sense in which it's a modifier of the noun "angell field" -- in that sense, note that there are all kinds of non-adjective modifiers that can modify nouns. in addition to stuff like the modifier mentioned here, you also have appositives (which are themselves nouns); you have prepositional phrases; you have actual adjectives; etc. etc.

OK, thanks, that helped.

The thing here is that a relative adverb (when, where), as well as a relative pronoun (who, which, etc.), can form an adjective clause that modifies a noun.

Thanks!

[tim]

:)

[fionaw752]

Hi instructors,

Is D wrong because of two points:
1. "less" can not modifiy countable noun "homes"
2. "comma+ having" modifies the clause before the comma, this modifier is meaningless.

Please correct me if I am wrong.
Thank you.

[RonPurewal]

"less" is in all 5 choices here, so that's a non-issue. (this actually should be "fewer" -- BUT IT'S NOT TESTED HERE, so, most probably, the proofreaders just didn't notice).

correct on the modifier.

[aflaamM589]

Hello Ron,
Is ,having in D also problematic besides Sub Verb Agreement issue?
If yes, can you elaborate on it a bit?
Thanks