Question 6

To teach the customer a lesson, Crum allegedly sliced a new batch of potatoes as thinly as he possibly could, fried the slices until they were hard and crunchy, and then doused them with salt.

The best revision of the underlined portion is "and then doused," which maintains the parallel structure of the sentence by using a consistent verb form.

A) and then he doused

This option introduces an unnecessary pronoun "he," which disrupts the parallel construction established in the list of actions. The original structure lists actions without additional subjects, making this option less effective.

B) and then doused

This option effectively maintains the parallel structure of the sentence by using the same verb form as the preceding actions. It succinctly connects the action of dousing the potatoes with the previous verbs, creating a smooth and grammatically consistent flow.

C) doused them

While this option removes the conjunction and maintains the core action, it alters the structure of the sentence. The removal of "and then" changes the sequence of actions and makes it less clear that this is part of a series of steps taken by Crum.

D) and finally dousing

This option introduces the adverb "finally," which adds unnecessary complexity and disrupts the parallelism of the previous verbs. It also shifts the action into a gerund form, which is inconsistent with the previous actions listed.

Conclusion

The revision "and then doused" is the most appropriate choice as it preserves the parallel structure and clarity of the sentence. Other options either disrupt this flow or change the intended meaning, making them less suitable for the context. Thus, option B is definitively the best choice.