Hard SAT Grammar Problem

Test Preparation SAT Subject Test Preparation
1

<p>Hard SAT Grammar Problem:</p>

<p>The price of gold has been influenced by continued and inflation and [because people have lost faith] in the dollar.
A. because people have lost faith
B. because of the loss of faith
C. by people which have lost faith
D. losing faith
E. loss of faith</p>

<p>Why is the answer not d? Based on the rules of parallel structure, "continued inflation and losing faith" would work perfectly because both continued and losing are adjectives and inflation and faith are both nouns. Therefore, D should be correct. Why isn't it?</p>

2

<p>Sorry, the sentence should read:</p>

<p>The price of gold has been influenced by continued inflation and [because people have lost faith] in the dollar.</p>

3

<p>“losing” does not function as a verb per se, but it still requires an explicit or implicit subject. In the original, there is no one there to do the losing.</p>