Reticulated pythons number among a thousand or so species of the world

Hii Vineet.
IMO "they" IS referring to snakes, not CAN.

B is clearly correct, so we can simply stop reading right there.

Or a 2-second glance would reveal the clear error in each of the other options!

Similar Question to practise will be -

since-the-1930s-aircraft-manufacturers-have-tried-to-build-71360.html

Isnt the sentence a run on error, .... snakes, snakes.... a comma connecting two independent clause?
isnt it that way B can be looked for some error scope?


e-gmat , sovvik, magoosh experts.. please reply.
Thanks

Even I think that B has two independent clauses joined by comma only.
chetan2u
souvik101990

No there is only one main clause:
Reticulated pythons number among a thousand or so species of the world's poisonous snakes. ( subject : pythons, verb: number)

The next portion "snakes that live in a highly scattered and unorganized community consisting mostly of females and infants." is not an independent clause. It is called an absolute phrase modifier. An absolute phrase modifier consists of the structure noun + a noun modifier and modifies the preceding clause as a whole. Example (from Manhattan SC guide):

Scientists have found high levels of iridium in certain geological formations around the world, results that suggest the cataclysmic impact of a meteor millions of years ago.

Absolute phrase is the underlined portion above, which consists of a noun ("results") and a relative clause modifier of "results" ("that suggest the cataclysmic impact.....")

Similarly in the above example of absolute phrase:

Noun = Snakes
Modifier = that live in a highly scattered and unorganized ....

(please also note that this part is not an independent clause since there is no main verb for the subject "snakes" - the verb "live" is within the relative clause "that live in...." and its subject is the relative pronoun "that". The main subject "snake" stands alone without any verb - this is a characteristic of an absolute phrase.)

Reticulated pythons number among a thousand or so species of the world's poisonous snakes, snakes living in a highly scattered and unorganized community where they consist mostly of females and infants.

(A) snakes living in a highly scattered and unorganized community where they consist mostly of---- where is used for places , for community "IN WHICH"
(B) snakes that live in a highly scattered and unorganized community consisting mostly of
(C) which means they live in a highly scattered and unorganized community, mostly of====== which refer to snakes , meaning less sentence
(D) which means that their community is highly scattered, unorganized, and it is consisting mostly of===== same as C
(E) living in a community that is highly scattered, unorganized, and it consists mostly of----- IT is redundant and is not in \\ structure.


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Hi,

Please explain why Option E is Incorrect and how is option b correct.

Thanks.

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