Bunuel wrote:
Every healthy cell of the human body
contains 46 chromosomes of DNA in their nuclei.
A. contains 46 chromosomes of DNA in their nuclei
B. contains 46 chromosomes of DNA in its nucleus
C. is known to contain 46 chromosomes of DNA in its nucleus
D. contains 46 DNA chromosomes in their nuclei
E. contain 46 chromosomes of DNA in its nucleus
Official Explanation
(A) This answer choice is
grammatically incorrect. The plural pronoun their does not agree with the singular noun
cell, to which it refers.
What helps us identify this mistake is the following
Stop Sign:Any pronoun in the underlined part of the sentence or after the underlined part(B) This answer choice corrects the original
Pronouns mistake by uses the singular pronoun
its, which matches the singular noun
cell, instead of their.
(C) Although this answer choice corrects the original
Pronoun error, it is still stylistically flawed. It uses the four-word phrase is known to contain instead of the single word contains, creating
redundancy.(D) This answer choice repeats the original
Pronoun mistake. The plural pronoun their does not agree with the singular noun cell, to which it refers.
(E) Although this answer choice corrects the
original Pronoun error, it is still
grammatically incorrect. The subject of the sentence is in the form of
X of Y: Every healthy cell of the human body. In such cases, the verb should agree with X (
every healthy cell), which is singular. However, the verb contain is plural.
What helps us identify this question as a Subject Verb Agreement question as well as identify this mistake is the following
Stop Sign:The subject is in the form of X of YAnswer: B