Question #N354
While reading a historical article about the early days of the automobile, you encounter the following sentence: "The Wright Brothers, who are famously known for their first successful airplane flight, also designed and built a car that was an early example of an automobile."
Which of the following is the most effective way to revise the underlined portion of the sentence so that it conforms to the conventions of Standard English?Correct Answer is: B
Choice B is correct. The phrase "who are famously known for their first successful airplane flight" is a nonrestrictive clause, which means it adds extra information about the Wright Brothers but is not essential to the meaning of the sentence. Nonrestrictive clauses are set off with commas. Choice A is incorrect because it uses a comma splice. Choice C is incorrect because it uses an unnecessary comma after the modifying phrase. Choice D is incorrect because it doesn’t separate the modifying phrase from the rest of the sentence.