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I am in for D- tried to avoid pronoun error, which is there in other choices!
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singh_amit19
I am in for D- tried to avoid pronoun error, which is there in other choices!


Going with B here.

For D "Now living almost solely in the Rocky Mountains," should be immediately followed by elk.
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Agree with A. In a "which" is modifying the entire clause.
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Elk now live almost solely in the Rocky Mountains, which would make it seem that elk are mountain dwellers, while they once ranged over virtually all of the continental United States except for a small strip in the extreme Southwest.

A. Elk now live almost solely in the Rocky Mountains, which would make it seem that elk are mountain dwellers, while
B. The fact that elk now live almost solely in the Rocky Mountains would make it seem that they are mountain dwellers, but
C. It would seem that elk would be mountain dwellers because of their living now solely almost in the Rocky Mountains, but still
D. Now living almost solely in the Rocky Mountains, it would seem that elk were mountain dwellers, although
E. It seems that elk would be mountain dwellers from the fact that they now live solely almost in the Rocky Mountains, since


B.

A: which incorrectly refers to rocky mountains.
C: long awkward phrase. "because of their living" should signal a red flag.
D: Now living almost soley in the rocky mountains... should be followed by the Elk, but the modifier is not so this choice is incorrect.
E: I didn't like this choice because it seemed to change the meaning.
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Agree with A. In a "which" is modifying the entire clause.


I see a lot of people going for B...

B. The fact that elk now live almost solely in the Rocky Mountains would make it seem that they are mountain dwellers, but

I would go for B if you can explain who "it" and "they" are referring tooo..

Is elk - singular or plural -- thats my doubt...I see in choice A -- "are" referring to elk ...confuses me a lot.
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singh_amit19
Elk now live almost solely in the Rocky Mountains, which would make it seem that elk are mountain dwellers, while they once ranged over virtually all of the continental United States except for a small strip in the extreme Southwest.

A. Elk now live almost solely in the Rocky Mountains, which would make it seem that elk are mountain dwellers, while
B. The fact that elk now live almost solely in the Rocky Mountains would make it seem that they are mountain dwellers, but
C. It would seem that elk would be mountain dwellers because of their living now solely almost in the Rocky Mountains, but still
D. Now living almost solely in the Rocky Mountains, it would seem that elk were mountain dwellers, although
E. It seems that elk would be mountain dwellers from the fact that they now live solely almost in the Rocky Mountains, since

A: which refers to Rocky Mountains
B: are is correct tense (it would seem that they are mountain dwellers, present tense because of 'elk now live')
C: would be is wrong. still they once ranged makes no sense
D: were is the wrong tense (now living ....it would seem that elk were)
E: would be is wrong. solely almost changes the meaning
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humtum0
Agree with A. In a "which" is modifying the entire clause.

I see a lot of people going for B...

B. The fact that elk now live almost solely in the Rocky Mountains would make it seem that they are mountain dwellers, but

I would go for B if you can explain who "it" and "they" are referring tooo..

Is elk - singular or plural -- thats my doubt...I see in choice A -- "are" referring to elk ...confuses me a lot.

Hi there,

This is the sentence with the correct answer choice B:

The fact that elk now live almost solely in the Rocky Mountains would make it seem that they are mountain dwellers, but they once ranged over virtually all of the continental United States except for a small strip in the extreme Southwest.

In this sentence, “it” is not functioning as a proper pronoun. It is rather working as what is called “a placeholder”. For example:

It is very windy today.

In this sentence, “it” is just functioning as a placeholder and thus does not have a definite antecedent. This is the case with the sentence in question as well.

Now, pronoun “they” is referring to “Elk” only. In three out of two choices, “Elk” has been mentioned as plural. This is not uncommon because there are many animals whose plural form does not take “s” at the end. For example: sheep, fish, deer, etc. Also note that the animals belonging to the deer family have the same singular and plural forms. “Elk” happens to be one of them. If you do not know what an “elk” is, read the answer choices. If any of the answer choices has a singular verb to with “Elk” then we may need to see if this entity is singular or plural.
However, in this sentence, it is clear that “elk” has been used as plural entity.

Hope this helps. :)
Thanks.
Shraddha

"Would make it seem" is a kind of idiom? I had never noticed this one before in other questions and was confused when saw it, so eliminated this answer.. It is definitely different from "It is very windi today" example, to be honest) can anyone help with it please?
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"Would make it seem" is a kind of idiom? I had never noticed this one before in other questions and was confused when saw it, so eliminated this answer.. It is definitely different from "It is very windi today" example, to be honest) can anyone help with it please?

Well, According to me Would make it seem is definitely not an idiom.

Also I get confused sometimes in case of usage of pronouns such as "it" and would in-spite going through their rules number of times. However here I guess we can go by meaning wise keeping other confusions to a side.

Elk now live almost solely in the Rocky Mountains, which would make it seem that elk are mountain dwellers, while they once ranged over virtually all of the continental United States except for a small strip in the extreme Southwest.

Since they is used to refer Elk in non underlined portion it is correct.
The intended meaning is since Elk live solely in R mountains, they seem to be mountain dwellers.

A. Elk now live almost solely in the Rocky Mountains, which would make it seem that elk are mountain dwellers, while

which refers to Rocky mountains thereby causing meaning error.
This sentence seems to mean that Rocky mountains seem that elk are mountain dwellers.


B. The fact that elk now live almost solely in the Rocky Mountains would make it seem that they are mountain dwellers, but

here it refers to fact and the meaning is intended one with sequence of events and contrast in meaning is correctly indicated with but.


C. It would seem that elk would be mountain dwellers because of their living now solely almost in the Rocky Mountains, but still

Because of is used wrongly here. The sentence that elk would be mountain dwellers is itself wrong.
And here it is mentioned that elk would be mountain dwellers due to their living.
solely almost ALSO GIVES OTHERWISE MEANING.
still ruins the contrast indicated by but also makes it seem redundant.


D. Now living almost solely in the Rocky Mountains, it would seem that elk were mountain dwellers, although

who lives in Rocky mountains is not ambiguous.
were changes the meaning completely.


E. It seems that elk would be mountain dwellers from the fact that they now live
solely almost in the Rocky Mountains, since

The sentence that elk would be mountain dwellers is itself wrong. Same error as in C.
since gives reason instead of contrast in meaning.
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Hi Experts,

I got this question correct but I'm trying to understand some of the nuances here.

1) Usage of almost solely - In the correct choice, almost modifies solely and suggests that they are almost alone/on their own in rocky mountains. But in choices C and D, 'solely almost' flips the modifier relationship. Now, in latter, solely modifies almost though I'm still struggling what would that mean. Does my reasoning sound accurate?

2) Usage of seem - We have a split of seem vs seems in certain options though it may not be a decisive split. I would like to understand how is seem accurate in B? If I replace it with seems in B because the subject is "The fact" i.e singular, sentence does look awkward but I don't know the exact reasoning of choosing seem vs seems in both B and other choices?

I'll really appreciate if experts could pitch in with their thoughts on this.
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Hi Experts,

I got this question correct but I'm trying to understand some of the nuances here.

1) Usage of almost solely - In the correct choice, almost modifies solely and suggests that they are almost alone/on their own in rocky mountains. But in choices C and D, 'solely almost' flips the modifier relationship. Now, in latter, solely modifies almost though I'm still struggling what would that mean. Does my reasoning sound accurate?

2) Usage of seem - We have a split of seem vs seems in certain options though it may not be a decisive split. I would like to understand how is seem accurate in B? If I replace it with seems in B because the subject is "The fact" i.e singular, sentence does look awkward but I don't know the exact reasoning of choosing seem vs seems in both B and other choices?

I'll really appreciate if experts could pitch in with their thoughts on this.

1. Yes, "solely almost" is meaningless in options C and E.
2. "Seem" is not the verb in this option.The verb is "would make", which refers to the singular subject "the fact". "Seem" is here an infinitive object (without "to") for the verb "would make". Consider the following example:

Sunny weather makes me feel happy.
A few consecutive sunny days make me feel happy.

The infinitive "feel" does not change with the change in number of the subject, only the verb "make" changes with the subject.
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what about 'it' in option B?

"The fact that elk now live almost solely in the Rocky Mountains would make it seem that they are mountain dwellers"

To whom does 'it' refers to?
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sudhirgupta93
what about 'it' in option B?

"The fact that elk now live almost solely in the Rocky Mountains would make it seem that they are mountain dwellers"

To whom does 'it' refers to?

"It" here is acting as a placeholder, not a typical pronoun. A placeholder "it" is used to shift an awkward subject phrase or an object phrase to the end of the sentence. A placeholder "it" does not refer to a noun antecedent. Consider this example:

"It seems that it is going to rain". Here "It" holds the position of "that it is going to rain": "That it is going to rain seems" is awkward and hence the placeholder "it" is used.
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Adding up to the Expert's previous explanations

B. The fact that elk ... live ... in the ... Mountains would make [The fact] seem that they are mountain dwellers, but



After verbs such as INSIST, SUGGEST, RECOMMEND etc.
source: https://www.grammaring.com/present-subjunctive

That + Clause with plain form verb

SINGULAR
The plain form verb (simple, base form) is used in the clause after that (a subordinator) for first, second and third person singular.

source: https://www.grammar-quizzes.com/clause3.html
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sudhirgupta93
what about 'it' in option B?

"The fact that elk now live almost solely in the Rocky Mountains would make it seem that they are mountain dwellers"

To whom does 'it' refers to?

"It" here is acting as a placeholder, not a typical pronoun. A placeholder "it" is used to shift an awkward subject phrase or an object phrase to the end of the sentence. A placeholder "it" does not refer to a noun antecedent. Consider this example:

"It seems that it is going to rain". Here "It" holds the position of "that it is going to rain": "That it is going to rain seems" is awkward and hence the placeholder "it" is used.


Hi,

How can we differentiate between the usage of it as " placeholder" or"pronoun"
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sayantanc2k
sudhirgupta93
what about 'it' in option B?

"The fact that elk now live almost solely in the Rocky Mountains would make it seem that they are mountain dwellers"

To whom does 'it' refers to?

"It" here is acting as a placeholder, not a typical pronoun. A placeholder "it" is used to shift an awkward subject phrase or an object phrase to the end of the sentence. A placeholder "it" does not refer to a noun antecedent. Consider this example:

"It seems that it is going to rain". Here "It" holds the position of "that it is going to rain": "That it is going to rain seems" is awkward and hence the placeholder "it" is used.


Hi,

How can we differentiate between the usage of it as " placeholder" or"pronoun"

Broadly there are 4 uses of placeholder "it":

1. Postponing a subject:
1a. "that" clause subject: It is good that you came.
1b: infinitive subject: It is good to see you.

2. Postponing an object:
2a. "that" clause object: Make it sure that you come.
2b. infinitive object: Make it sure to come.
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mejia401
Elk now live almost solely in the Rocky Mountains, which would make it seem that elk are mountain dwellers, while they once ranged over virtually all of the continental United States except for a small strip in the extreme Southwest.

First look: Grammatical construction, logical predication - In general, anytime there is a cause and effect relationship, test-makers have a field day in switching the position of relationship so as to form other answer choices. Typically, if the relationship is constructed with appropriate verb forms, the inverted relationship stands. That said, it's important to stay disciplined and test each clause for its proper components - i.e. verb form, logic predication, etc.

A. Elk now live almost solely in the Rocky Mountains, which would make it seem that elk are mountain dwellers, while "while" signifies at the same time and "ranged once" was past tense, so I thought the sentence was illogical.

B. The fact that elk now live almost solely in the Rocky Mountains would make it seem that they are mountain dwellers, but Correct - "They" agree with the pronoun in the non-underlined section of the sentence. The sentence is inherently wordy, so I looked for a better one first.

C. It would seem that elk would be mountain dwellers because of their living now solely almost in the Rocky Mountains, but still Wrong - "But still" is redundant. "Because of their living" is awkward and nonsensical. "solely almost" is reversed and non-sensical.

D. Now living almost solely in the Rocky Mountains, it would seem that elk were mountain dwellers, although Wrong - "Now living" is an dangling modifier.

E. It seems that elk would be mountain dwellers from the fact that they now live solely almost in the Rocky Mountains, since "Solely almost" is reversed, awkward, and non-sensical. Also, I think this answer choice is wordy

Hi,

Can you help me understand how we identify the antecedent of a pronoun? For example, in option B, both "Elk" and "Rocky Mountains" are plural, so why can't "they" refer to "Rocky Mountains" ?

Thanks...
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VishalOne wrote

Quote:
Can you help me understand how we identify the antecedent of a pronoun? For example, in option B, both "Elk" and "Rocky Mountains" are plural, so why can't "they" refer to "Rocky Mountains"?

B. The fact that Elk now live almost solely in the Rocky Mountains would make it seem that they are mountain dwellers, but

Let's replace the pronoun in question with possible contenders and see which makes sense.
1. The fact that Elk now live almost solely in the Rocky Mountains would make it seem that the Rocky Mountains are mountain dwellers, but

2. The fact that Elk now live almost solely in the Rocky Mountains would make it seem that Elk are mountain dwellers, but


It is clear why the mountains cannot be the referent for 'they'
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