<p>Many decades have elapsed since religious leaders met for the second Vatican Council, in an effort to reform the Catholic church for the 20th century. No Error </p>
<p>The answer is (E) no error, but why is there a comma before "in an effort"? I put (E) anyway because the comma wasn't underlined, but I don't understand why there would be a comma there.</p>
<p>Could just be an error. If its not underlined just ignore it.</p>
<p>Prep books have tendency to make mistakes…</p>
<p>The comma is appropriate. From a technical standpoint, a comma can join an independent clause to a dependent clause. </p>
<p>How do you identify a clause? Independent clauses can stand by themselves and make sense. On the other hand, dependent clauses can’t stand by themselves. </p>
<p>Let’s break down the sentence:</p>
<p>Clause 1 (independent clause):</p>
<p>Many decades have elapsed since religious leaders met for the second Vatican Council. </p>
<p>Clause 2 (dependent clause):</p>
<p>In an effort to reform the Catholic church for the 20th century.</p>
<p>Whether the comma is needed is a matter of style. I remember seeing this sentence before. What book is this from?</p>
<p>It’s from a Kaplan practice test. It’s one of the tests they give you if you take the classroom course.
Thanks for the explanation. :)</p>