Q. Correct the underlined part of the sentence. Choose for the best answer from among given answer choices.

Hurricanes at first begin traveling from east to west, because that direction is the way the prevailing winds in the tropics blow, but they then veer off toward higher latitudes, in many cases changing direction toward the east before dissipating over the colder, more northerly waters or over land.

  1. Hurricanes at first begin traveling from east to west, because that direction is the way the prevailing winds in the tropics blow, but
  2. At first, hurricanes travel from east to west, because that is the direction of the prevailing winds in the tropics, but
  3. While hurricanes travel from east to west at first, the direction of the prevailing winds blowing in the tropics, and
  4. Because hurricanes at first travel from east to west, since it is the direction of the prevailing winds in the tropics,
  5. Hurricanes, beginning by traveling from east to west, because this is the direction of the prevailing winds in the tropics,

Answer: OPTION B
Explanation: Generic Way

Rhetorical construction; Grammatical construction
Hurricanes at first begin traveling is redundant. The sentence could start with At first, hurricanes travel or with Hurricanes begin traveling; there is no need to have both at first and begin. A concise version of the sentence would also avoid that direction is the way the prevailing winds in the tropics blow. The meaning of way here is already conveyed by direction.

  1. At first and begin are redundant. Also, that direction is the way the prevailing winds blow is unnecessarily wordy.
  2. Correct. This version of the sentence is grammatically correct and lacks redundancy.
  3. This sentence begins with a dependent clause (that is, a clause that cannot stand on its own), anticipating a main clause (also known as an independent clause) to complete the sentence; a main clause does follow, but it is connected to the initial dependent clause by the coordinating conjunction and, which would be appropriate here only if the initial clause was of the same grammatical type (that is, was also a main clause).
  4. The causal conjunction Because suggests that the direction in which hurricanes initially travel causes them later to veer off to the north, but this make little logical sense.
  5. This sentence opens with a main subject, Hurricanes, but this subject has no verb. The sentence’s main verb, veer, has as a subject they.