Which choice completes the text so that it conforms to the conventions of Standard English?

Question

The nineteenth-century engineers not only drained the marsh ____ the river that fed it, changes the delta has never recovered from.

Accepted Answer

A. but also rerouted. 'Not only…but also' must join parallel verbs: 'not only drained the marsh but also rerouted the river.'

Answer

B. but also rerouting — 'Rerouting' breaks parallel with the past-tense 'drained.'

Answer

C. but rerouted also — 'But rerouted also' displaces 'also' from the correlative pair.

Answer

D. but it also rerouted — Adding 'it' breaks the parallel verb structure after 'not only drained.'

Standard English Conventions practice question