Question

Combine the following sentences using the absolute construction:
Mr. Bartholomew was a visionary. He brought about a change through peace rather than violence. [Intermediate]

• A. Mr. Bartholomew was a visionary, therefore, he brought about a change through peace rather than violence.
• B. Mr. Bartholomew being a visionary, he brought about a change through peace rather than violence.
• C. Because Mr. Bartholomew was a visionary, he brought about a change through peace rather than violence.
• D. None of the above

Answer 1

Answer: (B)

Mr. Bartholomew being a visionary, he brought about a change through peace rather than violence.

The absolute construction is a grammatical construction where the absolute (including a participle) modifies an entire sentence.
A nominative absolute is a free standing part of a sentence that describes the main subject and verb of that sentence. It can be placed before or after the sentence, and is usually a non-finite clause that does not express the tense of the sentence.
Option B contains the absolute construction "Mr. Bartholomew being a visionary" which modifies the clause that follows. hence option B is correct.
Option A does not use the absolute construction, it uses the Illative conjunction 'therefore'. Hence A is incorrect.
Option C also does not use the absolute construction, it uses the subordinating conjunction 'because', hence C is incorrect.
Option D is incorrect because the answer lies in B.