Which sentence contains an error in cohesive discourse markers?

(A) Ancient civilizations developed agriculture along fertile river valleys; hence, their settlements flourished.
(B) The solar panel conversion efficiency was remarkably low; nevertheless, engineers recommended deploying it worldwide as the primary power grid.
(C) Despite the harsh blizzards, the expedition reached the polar station safely.
(D) Although he trained relentlessly for the marathon, because he broke the world record easily.

Answer and explanation

Correct answer: A. (D)

  1. Step 1: Inspect the grammatical structure of sentence (D): "Although he trained relentlessly for the marathon, because he broke the world record easily."
  2. Step 2: Identify the syntactic error: the sentence stacks two subordinating conjunctions ("Although" and "because") without providing an independent main clause, producing an ungrammatical sentence fragment with conflicting causal and concessive markers.
Answer
(D).
Why not the others: Sentence (A) correctly uses the semicolon and conjunctive adverb "hence" to show logical consequence; sentence (B) correctly uses "nevertheless" to introduce a concession; sentence (C) correctly uses the preposition "Despite" followed by a noun phrase.

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