Marconi’s conception of the radio

[agarwalmanoj2000]

C. Marconi conceived of the radio as a tool for private conversation that could substitute for the telephone; instead, it has become

In correct choice C, how can "it" refer to radio. "It" is subject of second sentence and can refer to subject of first sentence, but Marconi is the subject of first sentence and not radio.

Please advise.

[RonPurewal]

C. Marconi conceived of the radio as a tool for private conversation that could substitute for the telephone; instead, it has become

In correct choice C, how can "it" refer to radio. "It" is subject of second sentence and can refer to subject of first sentence, but Marconi is the subject of first sentence and not radio.

Please advise.

you shouldn't be this picky about pronouns. if the pronoun stands for a NOUN, and if it matches that noun in terms of singular/plural, then it's almost always ok.

i.e., there is no requirement that a pronoun be grammatically parallel to its antecedent.
keep it simple:
* is there a noun?
* do the noun and pronoun agree in terms of singular/plural?
if the answers to these questions are "yes" and "yes", then the pronoun is just fine.

[aps_asks]

Why is choice b) an inferior choice Vis a vis the correct answer choice c)

[tim]

"Marconi conceived of the radio as a substitute for the telephone, a tool for private conversation, but which is..."

this is not parallel. get rid of the part set off by commas and you see that he "conceived of the radio as a substitute for the telephone but which is...". looking to the right of the "but" we see "which is...", and this has no parallel structure to the left of the "but"..

[aps_asks]

Thanks Tim !

[tim]

no problem!

[nitestr]

Hi Instructors,

I saw earlier explanation by Ron comparing the parallel parts of the questions and answers

Ron: --this means that "which..." is the second part of a parallel structure. the first part of this parallel structure is "a tool for private conversation".
BOTH parts of this parallel structure modify "telephone"

Tim: --conceived of the radio as a substitute for the telephone but which is...". looking to the right of the "but" we see "which is...", and this has no parallel structure to the left of the "but"..

My question : While comparing parallel parts in the sentence is the way we choose the parts are flexible as Ron and Tim chose above?

Thanks for the help.

ns

[ericyuan0811]

hi instructors

besides other errors in (D)
can we eliminate (D) based on the following reason:

D. Marconi conceived of the radio to be a tool for private conversation, a substitute for the telephone, which has become

a conversation is not equal to a substitute.

is my understanding correct?

thank you!

[RonPurewal]

If you only have one parallel marker ("but", "and", etc.), then...
... the construction to the right of that marker is automatically determined;
... the construction to the left -- the one that doesn't follow a parallel marker -- can be found anywhere, as long as the parallelism makes sense in context.

E.g., the following 4 sentences are all correct:

This animal lives in grass and in trees.
(trees || grass)

This animal lives in grass and trees.
(in trees || in grass)

For the new year, John promised to get in shape by running and lifting weights.
(lifting weights || running)

For the new year, John promised to get in shape by running and to save money.
(to save money || to get in shape)

With this type of parallelism, you have to reason from right to left. That may seem weird at first (because English reads from left to right), but, if you think about it, it makes sense: you don't know there is a parallel structure until you see the parallel marker + right-hand construction. So that's the natural order of reasoning here.

[RonPurewal]

If you have 2 parallel markers, your job is easier: you can just look at what follows them.

This animal lives both in grass and in trees. (correct)
"Both" is followed by "in grass"; "and" is followed by "in trees".

*This animal lives both in grass and trees. (incorrect)
"Both" is followed by "in grass"; "and" is followed by just "trees".

[RonPurewal]

hi instructors

besides other errors in (D)
can we eliminate (D) based on the following reason:

D. Marconi conceived of the radio to be a tool for private conversation, a substitute for the telephone, which has become

a conversation is not equal to a substitute.

is my understanding correct?

thank you!

No; that modifier can also be assigned to "a tool for private conversation", which makes sense.
(By this logic, you would also eliminate the correct answer!)

[calm.jing]

hi instructors

besides other errors in (D)
can we eliminate (D) based on the following reason:

D. Marconi conceived of the radio to be a tool for private conversation, a substitute for the telephone, which has become

a conversation is not equal to a substitute.

is my understanding correct?

thank you!

No; that modifier can also be assigned to "a tool for private conversation", which makes sense.
(By this logic, you would also eliminate the correct answer!)

that choice says "BUT which..."
this means that "which..." is the second part of a parallel structure. the first part of this parallel structure is "a tool for private conversation".
BOTH parts of this parallel structure modify "telephone". (this is how parallel structures work: both/all parts of them MUST have the same grammatical function.)

Hi Ron,

I know that in (b) "a tool" modifies "telephone" and in (d) "a substitute" modifies "a tool for private conversation". It seems quite intuitive.

(b) Marconi conceived of the radio as a substitute for the telephone, a tool for private conversation, but which is
(d)Marconi conceived of the radio to be a tool for private conversation, a substitute for the telephone, which has become

But I don't understand why those seemingly identical structures (they are both appositives, right?) actually modify different part of the sentence? Please clarify. :)

Thanks in advance!

[RonPurewal]

In (b), you've actually got an ambiguity. "A tool for private conversation" could be intended to describe "a substitute for the telephone", or just "the telephone".

At the end of the day, though, this isn't really an ambiguity, because both interpretations ultimately lead to the same meaning. (If the telephone is a tool for private conversation, then any substitute for it must also be a tool for private conversation. Likewise, if "a substitute for the telephone" is a tool that enables private conversation, then the telephone itself must also be such a tool.)

Luckily, there's no need to think about any of this, because (b) contains this "which..." that's clearly not parallel to anything.

If you see what appears to be a subtle distinction, ignore it -- and go find the easy distinction it's distracting you from.
(:

[calm.jing]

Thank you Ron! It helps. :)

And yeah, this problem can be solved without paying attention to this issue. I am studying the use of appositives and am probably a little "particular" on the issue. Sorry for that.

[RonPurewal]

Just don't let minor things distract you from major things.

This is actually one of the main reasons why SC is tested on this exam "” because there are a small number of major themes, swimming in an ocean of much less important things. A big part of the motivation behind putting SC on the test is seeing whether you can ignore enough things, for the purpose of paying attention to things that are more important.