Question

More than fifty years after the Second World War, a number of African American soldiers were awarded ― some of them posthumously ― with the Congressional Medal of Honor, which was the nation’s highest military award, and which was long overdue in recognition of their outstanding bravery.
A. with the Congressional Medal of Honor, which was the nation’s highest military award, and which was long overdue in
(B) with the Congressional Medal of Honor, the nation’s highest military award for long-overdue(C) the Congressional Medal of Honor, which was the nation’s highest military award, long-overdue in(D) the Congressional Medal of Honor, the nation’s highest military award for long-overdue(E) the Congressional Medal of Honor, the nation’s highest military award, in long-overdue

Answer 1

Answer:

(E) is the right answer, thats what i think

Explanation:

This structure is very elegant and concise. By contrast, the "which" clause in (C) is a little longer. There's also a problem with verb tense. I realize the tense is the same as in the prompt, but the past tense makes it sound as if that medal WAS the nation's highest military award, but isn't anymore. Is this true? Was a new highest honor recently introduced to supersede this medal? Hmmm, this calls for outside knowledge, but it just seems unlikely that whatever the highest military honor was recently (in the 1990s) would be swapped out for something else. Not only is (C) longer and clunkier, but it also raises awkward questions about verb tense & implication that (E) sleekly avoids.

Both endings are acceptable ("long-overdue in recognition" vs. "in long-overdue recognition"), because we could reasonably say that either the medal or the recognition was overdue. The above discussion indicates why (E) is a superior answer, and the best answer here.