Question

read the paragraph.
last night i was startled. a raccoon crawled into one of the trash cans behind my house. it couldnt escape, and it hissed at me when i was taking out the trash. i was so surprised that i ran back into the house! i was relieved when a park ranger was able to rescue the raccoon and return it to its natural habitat.
which revision best uses a phrase to combine the first two sentences?

• startling me, a raccoon crawled into one of the trash cans behind my house last night.
• a raccoon last night startled me when it crawled into one of the trash cans behind my house.
• last night, when it crawled into one of the trash cans behind my house, a raccoon startled me.
• last night, i was startled by a raccoon that had crawled into one of the trash cans behind my house.

Explanation:

To solve this, we analyze each option:

• Option 1: "Startling me" is a phrase, but the original time "last night" is placed at the end, which is less clear. Also, the structure slightly changes the focus.
• Option 2: This combines the ideas but uses a clause ("when it crawled...") rather than a phrase to combine the first two sentences. It also rephrases the event in a way that the original emphasis on "I was startled" is shifted.
• Option 3: This uses a clause ("when it crawled...") to combine, not a phrase. Also, the subject - verb order is changed, and the original agent of startling (the raccoon's action) is less clearly connected to the startling event as in the original.
• Option 4: "that had crawled into one of the trash cans behind my house" is a phrase (a relative clause phrase) that combines the information about the raccoon's action with the fact that I was startled. It maintains the original subject ("I") and the time ("Last night") correctly, and the combination is done using a phrase to connect the two ideas of being startled and the raccoon's action.

Answer:

D. Last night, I was startled by a raccoon that had crawled into one of the trash cans behind my house.