<p>I was checking over my errors on the SAT Online Course and I dont really understand this question.</p>
<p>By the end of the eighteenth century, watchmaking technology had greatly improved, and they were standard equipment for military personnel.</p>
<p>(A) and they were standard equipment for military personnel
(B) so it was standard equipment for military personnel to have watches
(C) with watches included in the standard equipment for military personnel
(D) and watches had become standard equipment for military personnel
(E) and for military personnel it was standard equipment</p>
<p>Can anybody explain the answer to me? None of them seem to be right =/
Thanks for the help</p>
<p>Yup, I was leaning toward either C or D, but I believe it is D.</p>
<p>It is D...here is my explanation: </p>
<p>A is wrong because the clause "they were standard equipment for military personnel" is ambiguous--who or what is "they"? Is "they" watchmaking technology? But how can watchmaking technology be standard equipment for military personal ("watchmaking technolgy were standard equipment for military personal" doesn't make sense, and the subject-verb agreement is be incorrect (it would have to be "was" instead of "were"))? Therefore, the original sentence does not make sense, so A is incorrect. </p>
<p>B is incorrect because this clause doesn't make sense, even by itself--watches can be standard equipment for military personnel, but IT (? why it?) cannot be standard equipment for military personnel to have watches. I'm not sure what the official explanation would be, but this clause just doesn't make sense. For this answer to make sense, the correction would either have to be, "so it was/became standard for military personnel to have watches" (which is somewhat awkward, but anyway), OR "so watches became standard equipment for military personnel". These aren't the given corrections, however, so B is incorrect. </p>
<p>C is incorrect. It is the next best answer choice, but this clause is awkward when inserted into the sentence. Again, better, more correct wording would be "and watches became standard equipment for military personnel". Which leads us to...</p>
<p>D!! This is the right answer. See how similar it is to my previous corrections? This is the only answer that flows correctly in the sentence and is clear. </p>
<p>E is incorrect. The subject of this clause is "it", but we have no clue what "it" is. Again, is "it" watchmaking technology? If so, (again, I know that I am repeating myself), how can watchmaking technology be standard equipment for military personnel? This one is incorrect in much the same way that the first one is incorrect.</p>
<p>D: b/c "and" is a stronger conjunction compared to "with". Also this choice is more succinct, because the clause (ans D) flows with the independent clause : "watchmaking technology had greatly improved"
you can think of the question like so:
Watchmaking technology had greatly improved, (By the end of the eighteenth century), and they were standard equipment for military personnel.</p>
<p>this will help you understand the flow of the sentence.</p>