read the paragraph.\nlast night i was startled. a raccoon crawled into one of the trash cans behind my…

read the paragraph.\nlast night i was startled. a raccoon crawled into one of the trash cans behind my house. it couldnt escape, and it hissed at me when i was taking out the trash. i was so surprised that i ran back into the house! i was relieved when a park ranger was able to rescue the raccoon and return it to its natural habitat.\nwhich revision best uses a phrase to combine the first two sentences?\n○ startling me, a raccoon crawled into one of the trash cans behind my house last night.\n○ a raccoon last night startled me when it crawled into one of the trash cans behind my house.\n○ last night, when it crawled into one of the trash cans behind my house, a raccoon startled me.\n○ last night, i was startled by a raccoon that had crawled into one of the trash cans behind my house.

read the paragraph.\nlast night i was startled. a raccoon crawled into one of the trash cans behind my house. it couldnt escape, and it hissed at me when i was taking out the trash. i was so surprised that i ran back into the house! i was relieved when a park ranger was able to rescue the raccoon and return it to its natural habitat.\nwhich revision best uses a phrase to combine the first two sentences?\n○ startling me, a raccoon crawled into one of the trash cans behind my house last night.\n○ a raccoon last night startled me when it crawled into one of the trash cans behind my house.\n○ last night, when it crawled into one of the trash cans behind my house, a raccoon startled me.\n○ last night, i was startled by a raccoon that had crawled into one of the trash cans behind my house.

Answer

Brief Explanations:

A phrase is a group of words that functions as a single unit in a sentence but does not contain a subject - verb combination (a clause).

  • In the option “Startling me, a raccoon crawled into one of the trash cans behind my house last night”, “Startling me” is a participle phrase. It combines the idea of “I was startled” (from the first sentence) and “A raccoon crawled...” (from the second sentence) in a concise way.
  • The option “A raccoon last night startled me when it crawled into one of the trash cans behind my house” has the adverb “last night” in an awkward position.
  • The option “Last night, when it crawled into one of the trash cans behind my house, a raccoon startled me” uses a clause (“when it crawled...”) instead of a phrase.
  • The option “Last night, I was startled by a raccoon that had crawled into one of the trash cans behind my house” is a passive construction and does not use a phrase as effectively as the first option to combine the two original sentences.

Answer:

Startling me, a raccoon crawled into one of the trash cans behind my house last night.