Question

hoped wed find a fulgurite, one as translucent white as the southeastern new mexico sands around us. a fulgurite—whose name stems from the latin word fulgur, which means “thunderbolt”—is a hollow silica glass tube formed when lightning strikes sand. a fulgurite is created in one explosive second by fusion and pressure as sand heated by a lightning blast melts, and becomes glass. commonly called “petrified lightning,” a fulgurite places the shape of a miniature lightning bolt into the earth, often branching deep into the ground. anna told me that i had possibly seen a small fragment of a fulgurite before, without realizing i had, on a beach. she explained though that even experts are rarely able to locate a fully intact fulgurite.
31.
a. no change
b. and nearly transparent to the eye almost as the white sands of these dunes.
c. as these sands.
d. delete the underlined portion and end the sentence with a period.
32.
f. no change
g. sand heated (by a lightning blast) melts
h. sand, heated by a lightning blast melts,
j. sand heated by a lightning blast melts
33.
which choice best builds on the preceding sentence by emphasizing the dramatic nature of the mark a fulgurite leaves on the earth?
a. no change
b. sketches
c. burns
d. sends
34.
f. no change
g. explained, though, that even experts
h. explained though that, even experts,
j. explained, though that even experts

Explanation:

Question 31

This is a sentence improvement question. The original sentence is "as the southeastern New Mexico sands around us. A fulgurite—whose name stems from the Latin word fulgur, which means “thunderbolt”—is a hollow silica glass tube formed when lightning strikes sand." We need to choose the best option to replace the underlined part. Option A is "NO CHANGE", but let's analyze the other options. Option B says "and nearly transparent to the eye almost as the white sands of these dunes." This doesn't make sense grammatically or contextually. Option C is "as these sands." This is too vague. Option D is "DELETE the underlined portion and end the sentence with a period." But the underlined part is part of a sentence that introduces the location where they hope to find a fulgurite, so deleting it would make the sentence incomplete. Wait, maybe I misread. Wait, the original underlined part is "as the southeastern New Mexico sands around us." Let's check the options again. Wait, maybe the question is about which option best fits. Wait, maybe the correct answer is A? No, wait, maybe I made a mistake. Wait, let's re - examine. The sentence is "hoped we’d find a fulgurite, one as translucent white as the southeastern New Mexico sands around us. A fulgurite—whose name stems from the Latin word fulgur, which means “thunderbolt”—is a hollow silica glass tube formed when lightning strikes sand." Wait, maybe the underlined part is "as the southeastern New Mexico sands around us" and we need to choose the best option. Option A is "NO CHANGE", option B is "and nearly transparent to the eye almost as the white sands of these dunes", option C is "as these sands", option D is "DELETE...". Let's check the context. The first part is about hoping to find a fulgurite that is as translucent white as the sands around them (southeastern New Mexico sands). Option A is the original, which is correct in context. So the answer for 31 is A. NO CHANGE.

This is a question about sentence structure, specifically about the correct way to phrase the part "as sand heated by a lightning blast melts, and becomes glass." We need to choose the best option. Option F is "NO CHANGE", option G is "sand heated (by a lightning blast) melts", option H is "sand, heated by a lightning blast melts,", option J is "sand heated by a lightning blast melts". Let's analyze. The original sentence has "as sand heated by a lightning blast melts, and becomes glass." The "and" here is incorrect because "melts" and "becomes" are part of the same predicate. So we need to remove the comma and the "and". Let's check the options. Option G has parentheses, which are unnecessary. Option H has a comma after "sand" which is incorrect. Option J is "sand heated by a lightning blast melts" which is correct. Wait, no, the original structure: "as sand heated by a lightning blast melts, and becomes glass" – the comma before "and" is wrong. So the correct structure should be "as sand heated by a lightning blast melts and becomes glass" but among the options, option J is "sand heated by a lightning blast melts" – wait, maybe the original sentence is "as sand heated by a lightning blast melts, and becomes glass" and we need to fix the comma and the "and". Wait, the options: F is NO CHANGE, G is sand heated (by a lightning blast) melts, H is sand, heated by a lightning blast melts,, J is sand heated by a lightning blast melts. Wait, maybe the correct answer is J? Wait, no, let's see. The sentence is "A fulgurite is created in one explosive second by fusion and pressure as sand heated by a lightning blast melts, and becomes glass." The "and becomes" is part of the same action as "melts", so the comma before "and" is incorrect. So we can remove the comma and the "and" by choosing an option that has "melts" without the comma and "and". Wait, option J is "sand heated by a lightning blast melts" – but then what about "and becomes glass"? Wait, maybe the original sentence has a mistake, and the correct option is J, which makes the sentence "as sand heated by a lightning blast melts" and then "and becomes glass" is part of it? No, maybe I'm overcomplicating. Let's check the options again. Option F: "NO CHANGE" – has a comma and "and", which is incorrect. Option G: uses parentheses, which are not needed. Option H: has a comma after "sand", which is wrong. Option J: "sand heated by a lightning blast melts" – this is a correct phrase, and then "and becomes glass" can follow. So the correct answer is J.

This question is about choosing the best verb to replace "places" in the sentence "places the shape of a miniature lightning bolt into the earth, often branching deep into the ground." The options are A: NO CHANGE, B: sketches, C: burns, D: sends. Let's analyze the context. A fulgurite is formed when lightning strikes sand, creating a shape. The word "places" doesn't fit. "Sketches" means to draw, which is not what lightning does. "Burns" – lightning doesn't burn a shape into the earth in the way described. "Sends" doesn't make sense. Wait, maybe "sketches" is not right. Wait, maybe the correct answer is B? No, wait, the sentence is "A fulgurite... places the shape of a miniature lightning bolt into the earth, often branching deep into the ground." Wait, no, the subject is "a fulgurite"? No, wait, the previous sentence is "Commonly called “petrified lightning,” a fulgurite places the shape of a miniature lightning bolt into the earth, often branching deep into the ground." Wait, a fulgurite is the result of lightning striking sand. So the action of the fulgurite – but a fulgurite is an object, not an agent. Wait, maybe the verb should be "sketches" – to create a shape like a sketch. So option B: sketches. Let's check the options. Option A: NO CHANGE – "places" is not the right verb. Option B: sketches – this makes sense as the fulgurite has the shape of a miniature lightning bolt, so it "sketches" (creates a shape like) the lightning bolt into the earth. Option C: burns – lightning doesn't burn a shape, it melts sand to form the fulgurite. Option D: sends – doesn't make sense. So the correct answer is B.

Answer:

A. NO CHANGE

Question 32