meteors , sands and peebles

[mcmebk]

Meteor showers and individual streaks of light that flash across the sky every night are generated when tiny flecks of celestial detritus, often no larger than grains of sand or of pebbles, burn up speeding through the atmosphere.

A. grains of sand or of pebbles, burn up speeding

B. grains of sand or pebbles, burn up while speeding

C. grains of sand or pebbles, which burn up while speeding

D. a grain of sand or pebble, which burns up as it speeds

E. a grain of sand or a pebble, burns up when it speeds

"flecks of ... detritus" is plural, so the COMPARISON, in order to be properly parallel, should involve another plural noun. (this should be especially clear here, since there's a singular/plural split in the other half of the comparison.)

you should compare "flecks of ... detritus" with the plural "grains of...", not with the singular "a grain of..."

this eliminates (d) and (e).

--

the part following "are generated WHEN" should be a CLAUSE, with a principal subject and verb.

in (c) and (d), there is no such verb. (the intended verb is swallowed up within a "which" modifier, leaving no main verb for the clause.)

so (c) is gone.

--

in (a), "of pebbles" doesn't make sense (by parallelism, this would imply "grains of pebbles", which is nonsensical).
also, "burn up speeding" is unclear and awkward.

--

last man standing is (b)

Hi Ron

Is "Verb1+Verb2-ing" generally wrong or it is just "burn up speeding" not making sense?

i.e; is it possible to say

He walks holding a book in left hand.

Thank you Ron.

[khushbumerchant]

I read the entire thread and I got the point as why the correct answer is option B.
However, I have a query (refer the highlighted part):

Correct sentence: Meteor showers and individual streaks of light that flash across the sky every night are generated when tiny flecks of celestial detritus, often no larger than grains of sand or pebbles, burn up speeding through the atmosphere.

My query: In correct sentence choice, of is placed after grains and before sand. I felt that of before pebbles, is required here. Coz otherwise it sounds like "grains of sand and grains of peebles".
Is my thought process correct here? Need some expert opinion.

[mcmebk]

Meteor showers and individual streaks of light that flash across the sky every night are generated when tiny flecks of celestial detritus, often no larger than grains of sand or of pebbles, burn up speeding through the atmosphere.

A. grains of sand or of pebbles, burn up speeding

B. grains of sand or pebbles, burn up while speeding

C. grains of sand or pebbles, which burn up while speeding

D. a grain of sand or pebble, which burns up as it speeds

E. a grain of sand or a pebble, burns up when it speeds

"flecks of ... detritus" is plural, so the COMPARISON, in order to be properly parallel, should involve another plural noun. (this should be especially clear here, since there's a singular/plural split in the other half of the comparison.)

you should compare "flecks of ... detritus" with the plural "grains of...", not with the singular "a grain of..."

this eliminates (d) and (e).

--

the part following "are generated WHEN" should be a CLAUSE, with a principal subject and verb.

in (c) and (d), there is no such verb. (the intended verb is swallowed up within a "which" modifier, leaving no main verb for the clause.)

so (c) is gone.

--

in (a), "of pebbles" doesn't make sense (by parallelism, this would imply "grains of pebbles", which is nonsensical).
also, "burn up speeding" is unclear and awkward.

--

last man standing is (b)

Hi Ron

I am a little uncertain about the structure: grains of sands and pebbles....

He is moving trucks of apples and pearls;
He is moving trucks of apples and of pearls.

It seems to be that they both imply "trucks of pearls with/without of", right?

Thanks.

[RonPurewal]

It seems to be that they both imply "trucks of pearls with/without of", right?

Thanks.

That example is different, because the context is different.

Remember, you can't make "formulas" for these kinds of things. You have to think about what the sentence should convey, before you can think about its mechanics.

e.g.,
The street was littered with bags of trash and wrecked cars
--> Clearly, this is (a) bags of trash and (b) wrecked cars. Not because it's a "formula", but ... because, well, in the real world of planet earth, wrecked cars don't come in bags.

The airline meals come with little packets of salt and pepper
--> Just as clearly, this is little packets of (a) salt and (b) pepper.