Question

In advanced text production, the use of cleft sentences (it-clefts and wh-clefts) allows the writer to manipulate information structure for emphasis. Considering the morphosyntactic properties of it-clefts, select the alternative that correctly analyzes the focus in the sentence "It was the strong wind that caused the power outage".

Accepted Answer

B) The cleft structure places the noun phrase "the strong wind" in the focus position, explicitly contrasting it with other possible causes (contrastive focus) while presupposing that something caused the outage.

Answer

A) The use of the dummy subject "It" indicates that the sentence is impersonal and lacks a specific agent, shifting the focus entirely to the result "power outage".

Answer

C) The structure emphasizes the verb "caused" by fronting the agent, making the sentence equivalent to a passive voice construction where the agent is unknown.

Answer

D) The sentence is grammatically incorrect because it-clefts cannot be used with inanimate subjects like "wind"; a wh-cleft would be the only appropriate choice here.

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