Question

which sentence is correct? the gardener coated his skin with aloe; after hours of working in the yard, his skin had turned as red as a lobster. the gardener coated his skin with aloe; after hours of working in the yard, he had turned as red as a lobster.

Explanation:

We need to check the logical consistency of the sentences. Aloe is used to soothe sunburned skin, but the first sentence says the gardener's skin turned red (implying sunburn) after using aloe, which is illogical. Wait, no—wait, actually, the first sentence's subject for the second clause is "his skin", and the second sentence's subject is "he". Since it's the skin that turns red, not the person (the gardener as a whole) turning red like a lobster, the first sentence has a more logical subject - predicate relationship for the redness. Wait, no, let's re - examine. Wait, aloe is applied to soothe, but if after working in the yard his skin turned red, maybe he got sunburned despite the aloe? But the main issue is the subject of the second clause. In the first sentence, "his skin" is the subject of "had turned as red as a lobster", which makes sense because skin can be red. In the second sentence, "he" (the gardener) is the subject of "had turned as red as a lobster", which is illogical because a person can't turn into a lobster - colored entity in the same way as skin can be red. So the first sentence is correct.

Answer:

The gardener coated his skin with aloe; after hours of working in the yard, his skin had turned as red as a lobster.