The Audubon Society and other conservation groups, concerned over what
they have perceived to be the serious threatening of the environment as posed by the policies of the government, are preparing for a major political effort.
Meaning Analysis: A specific society and other conservative groups are concerned over the serious threats to the environment. These threats are because of the government policies. Due to this concern, the society and other groups are preparing a political effort
(probably they are setting up their own political party so that they could change the policies once they over throw the ruling party) Sentence Structure: The Audubon Society and other conservation groups
(Subject) (Compound noun - Two nouns joined by the marker "and" thus making the noun plural) ,concerned over what they have perceived to be the serious threatening of the environment as
(Modifier modifying the compound noun)posed by the policies of the government,
(Modifier modifying the noun "threatening of the environment")are preparing
(Verb)for a major political effort.
(Object of the sentence)(A)
have perceived to be the serious
threatening of the environment as -
Incorrect. (1)
To be - This makes the sentence inferior. We could simplify the sentence by stating replacing "to be" with "as". "To be" can be used in a sentence but there are very rare occasions in which the sentence quality is not inferior by this usage.
(2)
threatening of the environment - Awkward and wordy structure. Why not say "threat to the environment" or "environment threat"
(3)
Have perceived - The sentence is in the present context since it ends with a simple present tense "are preparing". Keeping this usage in mind I believe we can use present perfect tense "Have perceived" since it states that the perception existed in the past and still continues to exist.
(B)
perceived as the serious threat to the environment
as -
Incorrect. (1)
Perceived - As mentioned earlier, since the sentence is in the present context we cannot term this perception (which is the cause of the groups to carry out a political effort) as something that occurred in the past and is no longer valid. Think about it, how can the
cause be in the past and the
result in the present.
(2)
As - The threat was because of the political party. By placing the "as" out there we are making the sentence inferior and a bit complicated since there are many usages of as.
(C) perceive
being the serious threat to the environment.
IncorrectCorrect usage of being - (1) Acting as a noun - "
Being disrespectful to elders
is not acceptable"
(2) Progressive tense - "the tenants
are being evacuated from the building"
(D)
are perceiving as the serious
threatening of the environment.
Incorrect. As mentioned in (A)
(E) perceive as the serious threat to the environment -
Correct. I would like to go ahead an explain the sentence structure by placing the correct choice (E)
The Audubon Society and other conservation groups, concerned over what they
perceive as the serious threat to the environment posed by the policies of the government, are preparing for a major political effort.
The Audubon Society and other conservation groups
(Compound noun), concerned over what
(beginning of noun modifier in a COMMA PAIR ; The modifier is giving as additional information about the compound noun)they
(Pronoun referring to compound noun)perceive
(Verb)as
(As + Noun - here the noun states a function. They perceive what? "the serious threat to the environment")the serious threat
("Serious" modifying "threat")to the environment
(additional information stating telling us what is the threat on/about)
posed by the policies
(noun modifier modifying "threat") (the noun modifier can jump over the preceding noun "environment" because "to the environment" is additional information about the previous noun "threat")of the government,
(prepositional phrase modifying "policies") (end of noun modifier in a COMMA PAIR)are preparing
(Verb)for a major political effort.
(Object of the sentence)Key Takeaway from this question
(1) Read the entire sentence
including the non-underlined part of the sentence . Doing so helps us understand the entire meaning + verb tenses of the sentence
(2) Usage of "being".
Check option (C)(3) How noun modifiers can modify a slightly far away noun. Noun + additional information ending in a noun + noun modifier, here the modifier can modify the slightly far-away noun if the preceding noun does not make sense and no ambiguity is created
(4) Importance of understanding the
meaning of the sentence