Question

(1) Many American men were drafted during World War II. (2) Many other men volunteered to serve. (3) In fact, so many men entered the armed services that professional baseball experienced a shortage of good players. (4) Philip K. Wrigley had an interesting solution to the problem. (5) He started a new league. (6) It was called the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League (AAGPBL). (7) To find good players, he scouted women’s softball clubs. (8) They were very popular at that time. (9) The AAGPBL was a hit. (10) In 1948, the year in which the league reached its high point of popularity, more than a million fans came to watch AAGPBL games. (11) The league produced many fine players, including Mary “Bonnie” Baker. (12) Dorothy Kamenshek was also a fine player. (13) After World War II ended, the AAGPBL declined in popularity. (14) In 1954, the league was disbanded. Which is the most effective way to combine sentences (7) and (8)? To find good players, he scouted women’s softball clubs, which were very popular at that time. To find good players, he scouted women’s softball clubs very popular at that time. To find good players, he scouted, women’s softball clubs being very popular at that time. To find good players, he scouted women’s softball clubs, and they were very popular at that time.

Answer 1

To find good players, he scouted women’s softball clubs, which were very popular at that time. 

The two original sentences are complete, so the best way to combine them is with a comma and a conjunction word. "Which" is the best choice of a conjunction word because it's allowing the author to continue describing softball clubs which are the subject of the sentence. 

Answer 2

The correct answer is A. To find good players, he scouted women’s softball clubs, which were very popular at that time.

Explanation:

Although combining two or more sentences to create a longer a complex sentence might not be easy for some students there are steps that can help you in the process this includes checking the revision preserves the original meaning and essence of the sentence combined; combining sentences in a way it is grammatically correct and combining sentences according to the relationship between the sentences.

In the case of the sentence (7) and sentence (8), sentence (8) relates to sentence (7) because it describes the term "women's softball clubs" and therefore the relationship between both sentences is a dependence relationship which can be established by using subordinating words such as that, which, when, etc. This implies, the sentence that correctly combines both of sentence is "To find good players, he scouted women’s softball clubs, which were very popular at that time" because this sentence uses the subordinating conjunction "which" to establish the relationship between both sentences have and also, this is the only sentence that is both grammatically correct and preserves almost all the elements of both sentences.