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If a red-tailed squirrel population grows too large and leads to a strain on habitable space, a female red-tailed squirrel will sometimes allow their daughters to settle nearby, with about half accepting the invitation.

A. large and leads to a strain on habitable space, a female red-tailed squirrel will sometimes allow their daughters to settle nearby, with about half accepting

B. large, this leads to a strain on habitable space, a female red-tailed squirrel will sometimes allow her daughters to settle nearby, with about half accepting

C. large, leading to a strain on habitable space, a female red-tailed squirrel will sometimes allow their daughters to settle nearby, with about half accepting

D. large, leading to a strain on habitable space, a female red-tailed squirrel will sometimes allow her daughters to settle nearby, and about half will accept

E. large, which leads to a strain on habitable space, a female red-tailed squirrel will sometimes allow her daughters to settle nearby, and about half will accept




VERITAS PREP OFFICIAL SOLUTION:



With so much underlined, it is important that you first notice the pronoun decision point between “her” and “their” in the middle of each choice, as it is easy to assess. Since the pronoun is referring to the singular “a female red-tailed squirrel” it must be “her” not “their.” This allows you to confidently eliminate (A) and (C). Next, assess the differences at the start of each choice and hone in on the “which” clause in (E). These clauses are very strict in usage and must modify a nearby noun – since there is no noun for it modify (it cannot modify “large” or “grows”), you can also eliminate (E).

In choosing between (B) and (D), the important difference is between “large, this leads…” in (B) and “large, leading…” in (D). While both seem to work when you read the first part of the sentence, (B) contains a sentence construction error. You cannot say: “if a population grows too large, this leads to a strain, a female squirrel will do this…” The last two parts of that clause are not properly linked.

(D) gets it right by using a participial phrase to give extra information about what happens when the population grows too large: “if the population grows too large, leading to a strain on habitable space, a female squirrel will….” By using slash-and-burn to get rid of that modifier you see that the sentence is perfect: “if the population grows too large, a female squirrel will….” While the use of an independent clause is preferred at the end of (D) for clarity, the use of “with about half accepting” could also work in (B) so that decision point is not important. The correct answer is (D).
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