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Sentence Correction 7 / 50

Choose the option that best corrects the grammatical or logical error in the underlined fragment.

The eminent economist argued that true fiscal responsibility entails not only a meticulous accounting of public expenditures but also to critically evaluate the long-term societal impact of these financial decisions.

A. (No change)
B. but also critically evaluating the long-term societal impact of these financial decisions
C. but also a critical evaluation of the long-term societal impact of these financial decisions
D. but also that it critically evaluates the long-term societal impact of these financial decisions

1. Identification of Error: Parallelism error in the "not only... but also" construction.
2. Grammatical Rule: When using correlative conjunctions like "not only... but also," the elements that follow each part of the conjunction must be grammatically parallel. That is, if a noun phrase follows "not only," then a noun phrase must follow "but also."
3. Option Elimination:
A. Incorrect — "a meticulous accounting" is a noun phrase, while "to critically evaluate" is an infinitive phrase. These are not parallel.
B. Incorrect — "a meticulous accounting" is a noun phrase (gerund acting as a noun with an article), whereas "critically evaluating" is a gerund phrase without an article, creating an imprecise parallelism.
C. Correct — "a meticulous accounting" (noun phrase) is perfectly parallel with "a critical evaluation" (noun phrase). Both structures clearly articulate the two distinct, yet parallel, components of fiscal responsibility.
D. Incorrect — "a meticulous accounting" (noun phrase) is not parallel with "that it critically evaluates" (a subordinate clause). This also alters the intended structure where "entails" takes two direct noun phrase objects.

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