Read the following early draft of an essay and then choose the best answer to the question or the best completion of the statement.
Passage:
(1) Technically, the world's largest desert is not, as many people believe, the Sahara Desert. (2) In fact, the entire continent of Antarctica qualifies as a desert because it receives less than 10 inches of rain per year. (3) This combination of cold and lack of rain explains why the continent has no permanent residents. (4) However, one group of Americans is quite busy in Antarctica; and that is, researchers from NASA, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.
(5) Why would researchers concerned with outer space want to visit Antarctica? (6) First, Antarctica is a great place to find meteorites, or rocks that fall from space to Earth. (7) Scientists find more meteorites in Antarctica than any other place in the world. (8) Not only are meteorites easy to spot on the continent's white ice, but the ice protects them from decay.
(9) NASA also sends teams to Antarctica to learn more about the planet Mars. (10) Antarctica and Mars have a lot in common. (11) Both places are extremely cold and dry. (12) NASA tested robots in Antarctica that have later landed on Mars.
(13) Finally, experiments conducted on Antarctica have helped NASA learn more about astronaut nutrition. (14) Conditions in the winter in Antarctica mimic conditions in space in that there is no natural sunlight. (15) Scientists study what happens to the human body under these conditions in order to learn how to help astronauts in space stay healthy.
Question:
Which is the best way to revise and combine sentences 10 and 11 (reproduced below)?
Antarctica and Mars have a lot in common. Both places are extremely cold and dry.
A. Antarctica and Mars have a lot in common both places being extremely cold and dry.
B. Antarctica and Mars have a lot in common and both are extremely cold and dry places.
C. Antarctica and Mars have a lot in common, as both places are extremely cold and dry.
D. Antarctica and Mars have a lot in common, but both places are extremely cold and dry.
