9. What change needs to be made to sentence 7 (reproduced below) to make the sentence grammatically correct? American writers such as Dashiell Hammett, whose novel The Maltese Falcon was made into one of the first big-budget film noirs, and James M. Cain being particularly influential.
Answer: D
Change 'being' to 'were'
The sentence requires a change from 'being' to 'were' to correctly convey that Dashiell Hammett and James M. Cain were influential writers in the past. This grammatical adjustment aligns the verb tense with the context of the sentence.
A) Change 'such as' to 'like'
This option is incorrect because 'such as' is appropriately used in this context to introduce examples of influential writers. Changing it to 'like' would alter the formal tone and clarity of the sentence without addressing the grammatical issue.
B) Change 'whose' to 'which'
Changing 'whose' to 'which' is not a suitable correction. 'Whose' is the correct possessive form to refer to the novel written by Hammett, while 'which' would incorrectly imply a non-possessive relationship, thus distorting the intended meaning.
C) Change 'was made' to 'making'
This option does not resolve the grammatical error present in the sentence. While 'making' could change the structure of the sentence, it would create a different sentence construction that does not clarify the influence of Hammett and Cain effectively.
D) Change 'being' to 'were'
This is the correct choice as it corrects the verb tense, allowing the sentence to accurately state that both writers were influential in the past. Changing 'being' to 'were' maintains the subject-verb agreement and enhances the sentence's clarity.
Conclusion
The necessary change to 'were' from 'being' rectifies the grammatical issue and ensures that the sentence accurately reflects the past influence of Hammett and Cain. The other options either misinterpret the sentence's structure or fail to address the key grammatical error, making them unsuitable corrections.