Which term best describes the underlined words?
having a budget is a good plan.
a. gerund phrase
b. infinitive phrase
c. participial phrase

- "a nonrestrictive clause functions as a modifier to a noun (that is an object, person or concept). these clauses can be described by the following three options: it is set off by comas, it contains a subject and a verbs and it adds nonessential information to the sentence.

for example, in "here is bill gates, who confounded microsoft software company" we can identify "who confounded microsoft software company" as a nonrestrictive clause modifying the noun bill gates. this clause can be describes as a nonrestrictive clause because it is separated by a comma, it adds nonessential information to identify who bill gates is and it must contain both a subject (who) and a verb (confounded)."

the correct answer is b. in order to explain a point clearly in an essay, it is always better to include a clear example of your ideas. including an scenario in which a family is affected by consumerism will support your argument as well as supporting details, such as quotations from experts and statistics. option a could be correct, but statistics and quotations are supporting ideas rather than clear explanations. choices c and d are simply inadequate. they do not add information about the effects of consumerism, rather they are strategies for engaging the reader