1. Rather than view waking in the middle of the night as a nuisance, people appear to have welcomed it as natural, useful, and even enjoyable. Which of the following changes would best improve the clarity and grammar of this sentence?
Answer: A
Changing 'view' to 'viewed' improves clarity and grammar.
Altering 'view' to 'viewed' allows the sentence to maintain a consistent past tense, enhancing clarity and grammatical correctness.
A) Change 'view' to 'viewed'
This option is correct because changing 'view' to 'viewed' aligns the verb tense with the context of the sentence, suggesting that the action of welcoming this behavior occurred in the past. This change clarifies the sentence structure and improves overall readability.
B) Change 'as natural, useful, and even enjoyable' to 'natural, useful, and enjoyable'
This option is incorrect as it does not enhance the grammatical structure or clarity of the sentence. While removing 'as' might simplify the phrase, it does not address the verb tense issue that affects the overall coherence of the sentence.
C) Change 'have welcomed' to 'had welcomed'
This option is also incorrect. Changing 'have welcomed' to 'had welcomed' would shift the sentence to a past perfect tense, which could create confusion regarding the time frame of the action. The present perfect tense is more appropriate for indicating relevance to the present.
D) Change 'appear' to 'appeared'
This option is incorrect since changing 'appear' to 'appeared' would unnecessarily shift the meaning from a current observation to a past observation, undermining the present context of the statement about people's ongoing attitudes.
Conclusion
The modification of 'view' to 'viewed' is the most effective change as it ensures the sentence's tense remains consistent, enhancing clarity and grammatical correctness. The other options either do not address the core grammatical issue or alter the meaning in a way that could confuse the reader. Thus, option A is the best choice for improving the sentence.