African American Percy Julian was a scientist and entrepreneur whose work helped people around the world to see. Named in...

Sentence Structure

• African American Percy Julian was a scientist and entrepreneur
• whose work helped people around the world to see.

• Named in 1999 as one of the greatest achievements by a US chemist
• in the past hundred years,
• [?] led to the first mass-produced treatment for glaucoma.

Understanding the Meaning

The first sentence introduces us to Percy Julian:

• He was an African American scientist and entrepreneur
• His work helped people around the world to see

Now the second sentence starts with a describing phrase:

• "Named in 1999 as one of the greatest achievements by a US chemist in the past hundred years"

This is where we have the blank.

Let's look at the choices to see what we're deciding:

• Choice A: Julian synthesized the alkaloid physostigmine in 1935; it
• Choice B: in 1935 Julian synthesized the alkaloid physostigmine, which
• Choice C: Julian's 1935 synthesis of the alkaloid physostigmine
• Choice D: the alkaloid physostigmine was synthesized by Julian in 1935 and

To see what works here, let's read the rest of the sentence and understand what the complete picture is!

The blank is followed by: "led to the first mass-produced treatment for glaucoma."

So the complete sentence is telling us:

• Something was named in 1999 as one of the greatest achievements
• That something led to the first mass-produced treatment for glaucoma

Now here's the crucial question: What exactly was named as the achievement?

Let's think about this carefully:

• Was it Julian the person who was named as an achievement?
  • No - you don't name a person as an achievement
• Was it the chemical itself (the alkaloid) that was named as an achievement?
  • No - the chemical compound isn't the achievement
• What was named as the achievement was the ACCOMPLISHMENT - the act of synthesizing this compound
  • This needs to be expressed as a noun: the "synthesis"

What do we notice about the structure here?

• The phrase "Named in 1999..." is describing something
  • It needs to be immediately followed by what it's describing
• This is a describing phrase that sits at the start of the sentence
  • Whatever comes right after it must be what's being described
• What was named as an achievement? The synthesis (the accomplishment)
  • Not the person doing it
  • Not the chemical itself
  • But the act of creating it, expressed as a noun

So we need: Choice C: "Julian's 1935 synthesis of the alkaloid physostigmine"

This gives us:

• "Named in 1999 as one of the greatest achievements..., Julian's 1935 synthesis of the alkaloid physostigmine led to the first mass-produced treatment for glaucoma."
• The describing phrase correctly describes "the synthesis" - which is what was actually named as an achievement

GRAMMAR CONCEPT APPLIED

Describing Phrases at the Start of Sentences Must Be Followed by What They Describe

When a sentence begins with a describing phrase (called a participial phrase or introductory modifier in grammar terms), that phrase must be immediately followed by whatever it's describing:

Pattern:

• Describing phrase at start, the thing being described does something.

Example 1:

• Wrong: "Elected in 2020, the voters celebrated the new mayor."
• "Elected in 2020" describes the mayor, not the voters

• Right: "Elected in 2020, the new mayor celebrated with voters."
• "Elected in 2020" correctly describes "the new mayor"

Example 2:

• Wrong: "Running late for work, the car wouldn't start."
• The car wasn't running late - the person was

• Right: "Running late for work, Maria found her car wouldn't start."
• "Running late for work" correctly describes "Maria"

In this question:

• The phrase "Named in 1999 as one of the greatest achievements" needs to be followed by what was named
• What was named? The synthesis (the accomplishment) - not Julian the person, not the alkaloid itself
• Therefore: "Named in 1999..., Julian's 1935 synthesis led to..."