Bunuel wrote:
New analyses of the fossil remains of the predatory theropod dinosaur
Spinosaurus aegyptiacus, found in the Bahariya Formation in 1912,
suggests that the Spinosaurus aegyptiacus, presumed to be shallow-water species, probably also well-adapted to living on land, as its center of mass was much closer to its hips than previously thought.
A. suggests that the
Spinosaurus aegyptiacus, presumed to be shallow-water species, probably also well-adapted to living on land, as its center of mass
B. suggest that the
Spinosaurus aegyptiacus, presumed as a species that was living in shallow water, was probably also well-adapted to living on land, so its center of mass
C. suggests that the
Spinosaurus aegyptiacus, presumed as a shallow-water species, was probably also a terrestrial animal, well-adapted to living on land, being that its center of mass
D. suggest that the
Spinosaurus aegyptiacus, presumed to be shallow-water species, probably also well-adapted to living on land, so its center of mass
E. suggest that the
Spinosaurus aegyptiacus, presumed to be a shallow-water species, was probably also well-adapted to living on land, as its center of mass
Explanation
We’ll go for PRECISE because there is a simple grammatical rule we can use.The singular verb suggests does not agree in number with its subject, analyses. Species can be either singular or plural, but since it describes the
Spinosaurus aegyptiacus, which is later referred to by the possessive pronoun its, it should clearly be singular in the given context and should thus be preceded by the article a. This sentence also creates a sentence fragment, as it does not complete
Spinosaurus aegyptiacus, the subject of the embedded sentence, with a verb. The only answer choice that corrects all these mistakes is (E).
We’ll go for ALTERNATIVE because the original sentence is long and complex, so it’s easier to examine the answer choices than to correct it ourselves.Let’s examine the differences in the answer options instead of attempting to correct the original by ourselves. (A) The singular verb suggests does not agree in number with its subject, analyses. (C) can be eliminated for the same reason. (B) presents a reversed relationship between cause and effect—it’s not being well-adapted to living on land that made the animal's center of mass lower than previously thought but the other way around: the change in center of mass was what made it well-adapted. In addition, there is an unidiomatic use of presumed, which should be followed by to be. (D) does not use the article a before species, which refers to the singular
Spinosaurus aegyptiacus. The correct answer must therefore be (E).