Question

read the following sentence.

extracurricular sports provide students with the opportunity to exercise their bodies, develop teamwork skills, and _______

which word or phrase correctly completes the sentence?

a. to improve time management
b. time management
c. improve their time management
d. improving time management

Explanation:

Analyze the sentence structure

The sentence contains a list of benefits connected by the coordinating conjunction "and":
"Extracurricular sports provide students with the opportunity to [Item 1], [Item 2], and [Item 3]."

Identify the parallel elements

The list follows the infinitive marker "to":

1. "exercise their bodies" (base verb + noun phrase)
2. "develop teamwork skills" (base verb + noun phrase)

To maintain grammatical parallelism, the third item must also begin with a base verb followed by a noun phrase.

Evaluate the answer choices

• A. to improve time management: This repeats the infinitive marker "to", which is unnecessary because "to" already governs the entire list.
• B. time management: This is a noun phrase without a verb, breaking the verb-object pattern.
• C. improve their time management: This starts with a base verb ("improve") followed by a noun phrase ("their time management"), matching the pattern of the first two items.
• D. improving time management: This uses a gerund ("improving"), which is not parallel to the base verbs "exercise" and "develop".

Select the correct option

Option C is the only choice that maintains parallel structure.

Answer:

• (A) to improve time management
• (B) time management
• (C) improve their time management (Correct answer)
• (D) improving time management