It stood twelve feet tall, weighed nine thousand pounds, and wielded seven-inch claws, and Megatherium americanum, a giant ground sloth, may have been the largest hunting mammal ever to walk the Earth.
Meaning Analysis
- It
- stood twelve feet tall,
- weighed nine thousand pounds, and
- wielded seven-inch claws, and
The sentence starts by presenting some information about a creature. The information pertains to the physical appearance of this creature. Presence of and tells us that this sentence will provide some additional information. Let’s read further to know more.
- Megatherium americanum, a giant ground sloth, may have been the largest hunting mammal ever to walk the Earth.
This portion tells us that Megatherium amecanum (MA), a huge sloth, was probably the largest mammal predator that ever existed on planet Earth.
From the context of the sentence we can understand that the creature whose qualities have been mentioned right in the beginning of the sentence is none other than MA as these qualities supplement the fact that MA was a giant sloth and a hunting mammal.
To sum up, the sentence presents some information about a huge sloth named MA. It talks about some rather extraordinary physical features of the animal and concludes that it could have been the largest hunting mammal to have ever existed.
Error Analysis
Meaning Error
Placement of the connector and does not make it clear that the information given in the [NS2] portion before and is of the same creature that is being talked about in the portion after and. However, the context of the sentence makes it clear that the qualities mentioned in the beginning of the sentence are of MA itself. Hence, the way this sentence has been written – using and – doesn’t convey the intended meaning properly.
POE
Choice A
Incorrect
This choice has the error pointed out in the error analysis.
Choice B
Incorrect
1. Modifier Error
The two comma + verb-ing modifiers weighing… and wielding… illogically modify the preceding clause. These modifiers present neither the how aspect nor the result of the preceding clause It stood 12 feet tall.
2. Structure Error
The two independent clauses It stood…. and MA was a… are joined just by a comma. This usage is incorrect because two independent clauses are connected by comma + and.
Choice C
Incorrect
1. Modifier Error
Use of having stood… is incorrect. The modifier having + verb-ed is used to present an action that was done before some other action. For example:
Having finished her breakfast, Tia went to play with her friends.
The above mentioned sentence means that Tia first finished her breakfast. Then she did some other action – action of going out to play with her friends. However, in the current choice, there is no other action that took place after the action of standing. Since the sentence needs a modifier to modify only MA and not any action it did, the correct modifier to use in this choice would be standing… like weighing… and wielding….
2. SV Must Exist Error
There is no verb for the subject The giant ground sloth MA.
Choice D
Correct
This indeed is the correct answer choice. The opening verb-ing modifiers standing…, weighing…, and wielding… correctly modify the subject of the following main clause MA. Removal of and correctly connects the modifiers with the entity they are meant to modify.
Choice E
Incorrect
1. Meaning Error
Like Choice A, this choice has the meaning error due to the usage of and.
2. Parallelism Error
The two opening verb-ing modifiers standing… and weighing… that are meant to modify the subject of the following main clause are not connected by the connector and. Absence of this connector violates the parallelism between the two modifiers as there cannot be a parallel list without a connector.
