An extremely rare species of owl, the long-whiskered owlet, was spotte

Nice passage. I like owls
Is (A) then the right answer? It seems to be the best choice among all of them.

Hey guys,

Need some help here.

I am confused between choice A and E.

When "spotted" in itself suggests that its in past tense, why do we need "Was spotted"?

I don't know sounds silly,but it would be great if someone can clarify.

Thanks

An extremely rare species of owl, the long-whiskered owlet, was spotted in the wild for the first time in 2007 by researchers monitoring a private conservation area in Peru's northern forest.

A. the long-whiskered owlet, was spotted in the wild for the first time in 2007 by researchers monitoring a private conservation area in Peru's northern forest
B. spotted in the wild for the first time in 2007, researchers monitored a private conservation area in Peru's northern forest, where they found the long-whiskered owlet
C. called the long-whiskered owlet, was originally spotted in the wild for the first time in 2007 by researchers monitoring in Peru's northern forest a private conservation area
D. the long-whiskered owlet having been spotted in the wild for the first time in 2007, by monitoring researchers at a private conservation area in the forest in northern Peru
E. the long-whiskered owlet, spotted in the wild in Peru's northern forest for the first time in 2007 by researchers monitoring a private conservation area


The answer is A , please find the comments :

Structure of the argument :

An extremely rare species of owl, the long-whiskered owlet, was spotted in the wild for the first time in 2007 by researchers monitoring a private conservation area in Peru's northern forest.

Sub - Verb Agreement : was is used correct here for the subject An extremely rare species.
Modifiers : highlighted sentence fragments are modifiers modfying correctly owl and researchers respectively.

A. Correct
B. no verb is present
C. Modifier error : monitering what ? is far from modyfying phrase
D. no verb is present ;having is not verb
E. spotted is verb -ed modifier here not verb , therefore sentence lacks the verb.

An extremely rare species of owl, the long-whiskered owlet, was spotted in the wild for the first time in 2007 by researchers monitoring a private conservation area in Peru's northern forest.
The original sentence seems correct due to right S-V pair and right modifier.

B. spotted in the wild for the first time in 2007, researchers monitored a private conservation area in Peru's northern forest, where they found the long-whiskered owlet. The sentence is separated by independent sentence through improper punctuation.

C. called the long-whiskered owlet, was originally spotted in the wild for the first time in 2007 by researchers monitoring in Peru's northern forest a private conservation area
'called' doesn't need to be saperated by ','.

D. the long-whiskered owlet having been spotted in the wild for the first time in 2007, by monitoring researchers at a private conservation area in the forest in northern Peru No verb for An extremely rare species of owl

E. the long-whiskered owlet, spotted in the wild in Peru's northern forest for the first time in 2007 by researchers monitoring a private conservation area. No verb for An extremely rare species of owl

Besides A, every other choice alters the meaning of the sentence.
Slash out the modifiers and just keep the main sentence.

A. the long-whiskered owlet, was spotted in the wild for the first time in 2007 by researchers monitoring a private conservation area in Peru's northern forest

An extremely rare species of owl, the long-whiskered owlet, was spotted in the wild for the first time in 2007 by researchers monitoring a private conservation area in Peru's northern forest.

A. the long-whiskered owlet, was spotted in the wild for the first time in 2007 by researchers monitoring a private conservation area in Peru's northern forest
B. spotted in the wild for the first time in 2007, researchers monitored a private conservation area in Peru's northern forest, where they found the long-whiskered owlet
C. called the long-whiskered owlet, was originally spotted in the wild for the first time in 2007 by researchers monitoring in Peru's northern forest a private conservation area
D. the long-whiskered owlet having been spotted in the wild for the first time in 2007, by monitoring researchers at a private conservation area in the forest in northern Peru
E. the long-whiskered owlet, spotted in the wild in Peru's northern forest for the first time in 2007 by researchers monitoring a private conservation area


IMO A

An extremely rare species of owl, the long-whiskered owlet, was spotted in the wild for the first time in 2007 by researchers monitoring a private conservation area in Peru's northern forest.

1) Subject: An extremely rare species of owl and corresponding Verb: was spotted --- No SV pair error
2) Modifier 'the long-whisked owlet' correctly modifies the subject (placed correctly and worded correctly) --- No modifier error
3) Ing Modifier 'monitoring a private conservation area in Peru's northern forest' correctly modifies researchers (placed correctly and worded correctly) --- No modifier error

The original sentence is error free. Answer: A.

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