The Energy Source on Voyager 2 is Not a Nuclear Reactor, in Which Atoms are Actively Broken Apart.

Question: The energy source on Voyager 2 is not a nuclear reactor, in which atoms are actively broken apart; rather a kind of nuclear battery that uses natural radioactive decay to produce power.

(A) apart; rather
(B) apart, but rather
(C) apart, but rather that of
(D) apart, but that of
(E) apart: it is that of

“The energy source on Voyager 2 is not a nuclear reactor, in which atoms are actively broken apart.”- is a GMAT sentence correction question. This particular GMAT sentence correction topic has been taken from the book ‘The Official Guide of GMAT Verbal Review, 2nd Edition, 2009’. This question checks Construction, Clauses, and pronouns. GMAT Sentence Correction questions comprise 11-16 questions to be completed within 65 minutes. Each Sentence Correction question contains a sentence with an underlined portion that includes 0-2 errors.

Answer: B
Explanation: The following concepts are used here:

1. Clauses
2. Construction
3. Pronoun

Option A: Incorrect

This option is incorrect because we know what semicolons are used to separate full and independent clauses. But in this case, the semicolon makes no sense and is used illogically: "rather a kind of nuclear battery..." is not a full, independent clause and we can use the semicolon to separate it from the rest of the sentence. So, Option A is correct.

Option B: Correct

This option is correct because the construction "The energy source is not a nuclear reactor..., but rather a kind of nuclear battery." makes sense and is logical. Also, the elements used in this option are parallel. The sentence is not awkward or redundant. So, Option B is correct.

Option C: Incorrect

This option is incorrect because of "That", which is used as a singular pronoun here. The singular referents for “That” in the sentence are "the energy source" or "a nuclear reactor." But when we place these phrases in the sentence, it just looks weird, redundant, and illogical. So, Option C is incorrect.

Option D: Incorrect

This option is incorrect because it has the problem as in the case of Option C. Just because you have removed the word "rather" does not change the fact that the pronoun is complete nonsense. We can not use “that” to refer to “the energy source” or “a nuclear reactor” in this question. So, Option D is incorrect.

Option E: Incorrect

This option is incorrect because the semicolon used here looks absolutely unnecessary. We want a sentence that clearly describes the comparison in one thought and not in different parts, that do not even make sense when separated. Also, there is no need for the pronoun phrase that of in Choice E. Option E is incorrect.

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