The Nobel prize in chemistry was awarded to three scientists for their discovery that plastic can be made electrically conductive - an advance that has led to improvements in film, television screens, and windows.

a.same as above
b.that plastic can be made electrically conductive - this advance leading
c.that plastic can be made to be electrically conductive, and this advance led
d.of plastic's ability to be made electrically conductive, with this advance leading
e.of plastic being able to be made electrically conductive - an advance that has led

Hi guys, would appreciate some help here:

a. we use "THAT" in this case because it links the DEPENDENT Clause "The Nobel prize .... their discovery" with INDEPENDENT clause "plastic can be made .."? Is my concept correct?

b. What is wrong with ----- this advance leading to?

d. It is wrong because of passive voice being used?

Thank you.
KH

backwards, actually.
the independent clause is the main part of the sentence, which is 'the nobel prize ... was awarded'.
the other clause is subordinated by the use of the word 'that' (which makes it into an adjective clause modifying the word 'discovery'). (see http://www.chompchomp.com/terms/adjectiveclause.htm)


you can't start with 'this advance' unless you're writing a new independent clause (as you would if you were following a coordinating conjunction such as 'and', 'but', etc.) if you're going to use a modifier like this, it should start with 'AN advance' (as does choice A).


- i wouldn't say 'wrong', but the passive voice does render this answer choice awfully wordy and awkward. in fact, the whole thing ('plastic's ability to be made...') just looks and sounds terrible, although you might not realize that if english isn't your first language.
- 'with' is used incorrectly to link the 2 clauses.

What is the OA?

Ron, please explain how "-" should be used?

correct answer should be a.

the dash is basically a high-class substitute for a comma, used to introduce modifiers. it is generally used in one of 2 situations:
1, when the modifier is unexpected or ironic:
of all the contestants on the quiz show, marvin - the man with three professional degrees and a fellowship at harvard - was the first to be eliminated.
you could use commas here, but the dashes are better, because they emphasize the irony of the fact that the really smart dude with all the diplomas got knocked off the show first.

2, when commas would render the sentence difficult or ambiguous:
my three best friends - tom, dick, and harry - and their girlfriends came to the party.
try writing this sentence with commas, and you'll find that it's unclear whether t, d, and h are my three best friends or not.

in this case, though, it appears that the dash is gratuitous, and that it could just as well have been a comma (but notice that it's still restricted to its usual task of introducing a modifier).

Whats wrong with C ????

the construction of choice (c) (...and this advance led to...) seems to present two more or less independent events in sequence. in other words, the nobel prize was awarded, and, at some later point, the advance led to blah blah blah.
that doesn't make much sense - presumably, the nobel was awarded at least partially because the discovery in question had already led to profound consequences. also, it doesn't make good rhetorical sense, either; the purpose of the sentence is clearly to relate the nobel prize to the importance of the discovery, not to present two random events as if they were in sequence.