Eggplant Storage

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Despite many peoples' impulse to go straight to the refrigerator, the best way to store an eggplant is the placing of it in a vented bowl, and, with the intention to use it as soon as possible, it is kept in a cool spot away from direct sunlight.

Review: Eggplant Storage


Explanation

Creating a filter: We read the question and pause at the phrase "the placing of it," which sounds ridiculous. We try to finish the phrase with our own coherent English, forgetting the sentence for a moment. What is the best way to store an eggplant? It's "to place it in a bowl"... or maybe it's "placing it in a bowl." When the original sentence includes awkward phrasing, predict a grammatically correct, natural alternative and use that as your filter. This reduces the chances of getting trapped between answer choices which sound roughly equal. Looking for the infinitive, "to place," we go to the answer choices.

Applying the filter, we find that (B) and (D) are contenders. But choice (B) has a lack of parallelism between "placing it" and "to keep it" at the end. Choice (D) is parallel and therefore probably right.

We can confirm by looking for objective defects in (C) and (E). Choice (C) says "it was laid," so there are instances of "it" that refer variously and hence incorrectly to the eggplant and the bowl. Choice (E) uses the past tense, when we are speaking about the present tense of general advice. General truths or maxims are best expressed in the present tense. The correct answer is (D).


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