Which choice best maintains the sentence pattern already established in the paragraph?
Select the Correct Answer:
NO CHANGE
Coordinating stoplight timing can help alleviate rush hour traffic jams in a congested downtown area.
Stoplight timing is coordinated to alleviate rush hour traffic jams in a congested downtown area.
In a congested downtown area, stoplight timing is coordinated to alleviate rush hour traffic jams.
Correct Choice:
Stoplight timing is coordinated to alleviate rush hour traffic jams in a congested downtown area.
Choice C is the best answer because it most closely maintains the sentence pattern established by the two preceding sentences, which begin with a noun and passive verb phrase (“A subway system is expanded,” “A bike-sharing program is adopted”).
Choice A is not the best answer because it does not maintain the sentence pattern established by the two preceding sentences. Rather, it begins the sentence with an infinitive phrase.
Choice B is not the best answer because it does not maintain the sentence pattern established by the two preceding sentences. Rather, it begins the sentence with a gerund.
Choice D is not the best answer because it does not maintain the sentence pattern established by the two preceding sentences. Rather, it shifts the placement of a modifying prepositional phrase, “in a congested downtown area,” from the end of the sentence to the beginning of the sentence.