Dear Friends,
Here is a detailed explanation to this question-
selene wrote:
The golden crab of the Gulf of Mexico has not been fished commercially in great numbers, primarily on account of living at great depths - 2500 to 3000 feet down.
(A) on account of living
(B) on account of their living
(C) because it lives
(D) because of living
(E) because they live
Concepts tested here: Pronouns + Idioms + Awkwardness/Redundancy• "due to" is used to modify nouns, and "because of" is used to modify verbs and clauses.
A:1/ This answer choice uses the needlessly wordy phrase "on account of", leading to awkwardness and redundancy.
B:1/ This answer choice incorrectly refers to the singular noun "The golden crab" with the plural pronoun "their".
2/ Option B uses the needlessly wordy phrase "on account of", leading to awkwardness and redundancy.
C: Correct.1/ This answer choice correctly refers to the singular noun "The golden crab" with the singular pronoun "it".
2/ Option C avoids the idiomatic error seen in Option D, as it uses "because" rather than "because of".
3/ Option C is free of any awkwardness or redundancy.
D:1/ This answer choice incorrectly uses the idiomatic construction "because of" to refer to a gerund (noun) phrase - "living at great depths"; remember, "due to" is used to modify nouns, and "because of" is used to modify verbs and clauses.
E:1/ This answer choice incorrectly refers to the singular noun "The golden crab" with the plural pronoun "they".
Hence, C is the best answer choice.All the best!
Experts' Global Team
As per my understanding 'Because of' is a preposition, and either a noun or a gerund can follow the same. Between Options "C & D", How i can eleminate the D, and Choose C as a correct answer?