Paleontologists at the Montbrook fossil dig typically find the isolated bones and teeth of prehistoric mammals buried at regular intervals; the location of these fossils is evidence
favoring the hypothesis of a prehistoric river fed by a nearby glacier that scattered the mammals’ remains after the decay of their soft tissue.
(A) favoring the hypothesis of a prehistoric river fed by a nearby glacier that
(B) that favors the hypothesis of a prehistoric river that was fed by a nearby glacier and that
(C) favoring the hypothesis that a prehistoric river fed by a nearby glacier
(D) in favor of the hypothesis that a prehistoric river was fed by a nearby glacier and that
(E) of favor for the hypothesis of a nearby glacier that fed a prehistoric river and
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It is crucial to understand the meaning of the sentence in order to pick up the right choice. If we pay attention, second sentence starts with a semicolon. It means that second sentence is an independent clause. So, lets move on to answer choices.
A - without concentrating on grammatical points, lets try to understand the meaning. It implies that ''glacier'' scattered mammals' remaines. It is not the intended meaning. A is out.
B - the use of ''and'' implies that there are 2 different actions such as ''river that was fed by .. and that scattered'' . It is also intended meaing of the sentence. This answer choice is not correct.
C - it implies that '' evidence favouring the hypothesis that a prehistoric river ... scattered ...''. Meaning:
- river scattered the remains - logical
- hypothesis that ... (independent clause)
Hold on C.
D - If we read the sentence without the first part (a prehistoric river was fed by a nearby glacier), it gives us the following meaning. ''hypothesis that scattered remains'' - It is illogical. D is out.
E - Firstly, '' of favor for'' doesnt sound natural , but Gmat doesnt care whether it sounds natural or not. Lets pay attention to the meaning of the sentence. There is ''and'', which means there should be parallelism. '' scattered'' can be parallel with ''fed'', but meaning is distorted. ''glacier that fed.. and scattered ''. Intended meaning is that Not the glacier , but river scattered remaines. E is out.
C is our winner.
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Later than never. Hope it helps.