PWN the SAT Q&A • The Kiwi, which is the national bird of New Zealand, cannot fly, lives in a hole in the ground, is almost blind, lays only one egg each year, and (underlined- yet it has survived for 70 million years.) the correct answer: yet it survives for 70 million years. I was wondering if we could have two conjunctions back to back? (and yet) that made me suscpious on why this was correct. & thank you for that other grammar explanation so much!

Anonymous

Anonymous asked:

The Kiwi, which is the national bird of New Zealand, cannot fly, lives in a hole in the ground, is almost blind, lays only one egg each year, and (underlined- yet it has survived for 70 million years.) the correct answer: yet it survives for 70 million years. I was wondering if we could have two conjunctions back to back? (and yet) that made me suscpious on why this was correct. & thank you for that other grammar explanation so much!

Usually, you wouldn’t want adjacent conjunctions. The reason it works here is that the first one introduces the final element in a parallel list (for which we always use “and”) and the second one gives you the contrast you need between the kiwi’s seemingly maladaptive traits and its longevity. There’s a better way to accomplish the communication of this idea, though.

The last element in this list is not really part of the list, is it. We’re listing a bunch of traits. The fact that the bird has survived seems to be in spite of these traits, not just another one of the traits. So why not put the “and” before “lays one egg…” and then the “yet” (or “but”) before the last bit?

Also, I don’t like the correct answer you’re giving. There’s no way “survives” is better than “has survived” here. The kiwi has been surviving over time. You wouldn’t say “I live in that house for 5 years.” You’d say “I have lived in that house for 5 years.” This is true even if there’s an established tense beforehand: “It’s on a busy corner, it’s drafty, and it’s got termites, but I have lived in that house for 5 years.”