8. Which one of the following sentences fails to follow parallel construction?


A. I would be surprised if Jacob's essay does not demonstrate critical thought, careful analysis, and exhaustive research.
B. It was a fine but extremely boring lecture.
[C. I want nothing more than excellent quality, attention to detail, and a person who knows what they want in life.]
D. Not only was Landers funny, she was charming, witty, and wise.

Right.

In which of these sentences are quotation marks used incorrectly?

A. "Neither a lender nor a borrower be," he said
B. Raising her hand in warning, she said, "Be gone, you wicked spirit."
C. "I could not believe she said, 'I never worry,'" Kate muttered.
D. "What can you possibly mean by that"! she stormed.

To identify the sentence that fails to follow parallel construction, we need to examine each sentence and see if the elements within the list or series are parallel in structure.

Parallel construction means that items in a series should have the same grammatical structure, such as using the same verb tense, using the same type of phrasing, or maintaining consistent prepositional phrases.

Let's analyze each sentence:
A. "I would be surprised if Jacob's essay does not demonstrate critical thought, careful analysis, and exhaustive research." - This sentence follows parallel construction by using nouns (critical thought, careful analysis, and exhaustive research).
B. "It was a fine but extremely boring lecture." - This sentence is not a list or series, so it doesn't apply to the question.
C. "I want nothing more than excellent quality, attention to detail, and a person who knows what they want in life." - This sentence fails to follow parallel construction because it combines two noun phrases (excellent quality, attention to detail) with a complete clause (a person who knows what they want in life).
D. "Not only was Landers funny, she was charming, witty, and wise." - This sentence follows parallel construction by using adjectives (charming, witty, and wise).

Therefore, the sentence that fails to follow parallel construction is C. "I want nothing more than excellent quality, attention to detail, and a person who knows what they want in life."