Find the part of the sentence that contains an error:
Rarely had the court encountered a petition (1)/ so devoid of legal merit, nor so conspicuously intended (2)/ to attract media attention rather than judicial remedy. (3)/ No error (4)
Show answer & explanation
Correct answer: B
Explanation
The correct answer is Option 2 i.e. (2).
Error concept: Related to the use of incorrect correlative conjunctions.
What is wrong: The word "nor" is incorrectly used in this sentence.
Grammatical concept: When using the adverb "so" to provide a description, the correct coordinating conjunction to join two similar descriptions is "or" rather than "nor." "Nor" is typically used as a correlative partner to "neither" or to continue a negative construction starting with a negative adverb.
Incorrectness of the concept in context: While the sentence begins with the negative adverb "Rarely," the phrase "so devoid of legal merit" is a positive description of the petition's state. To add a second "so" description, "or" should be used to provide an alternative or additional quality.
Correction: Replace "nor" with "or" to correctly connect the two descriptors following "so."
Correct phrase: so devoid of legal merit, or so conspicuously intended.
Final sentence: Rarely had the court encountered a petition so devoid of legal merit, or so conspicuously intended to attract media attention rather than judicial remedy.
Hence, the chosen option is correct.