In Chicago, the coyote population is between 2,000 and 4,000;

In Chicago, the coyote population is between 2,000 and 4,000; due to their having high survival rates in urban areas, the coyotes copiously reproduce to maintain a pair bond and thus have much longer life expectancies that increases the population in Cook County.

My Answer -> D

FACT 1-> It is right that in first premise the coyote population is used as subject. But in the second premise, we should not dial down to a singular coyote, we are talking about a pattern and that will be visible in whole species and multiple individuals. Hence B and C are out.
FACT 2-> life expectancies cannot be a singular term. It is related to all. We need to use a plural term - Hence, Option E is out.


(A) due to their having high survival rates in urban areas, the coyotes copiously reproduce to maintain a pair bond and thus have much longer life expectancies that increases

(B) due to its having high survival rates in urban areas, the coyote copiously reproduces to maintain pair bonds and thus has much longer life expectancies that increase

(C) because it has high survival rates in urban areas, the coyote copiously reproduces to maintain a pair bond and thus has much longer life expectancies that increases

(D) because they have high survival rates in urban areas, the coyotes copiously reproduce to maintain pair bonds and thus have much longer life expectancies that increase

(E) because of having high survival rates in urban areas, the coyotes copiously reproduce to maintain a pair bond and thus have much longer life expectancies that increases

I would vote for option D.

Rest all options are having subject-verb agreement error.

A/C/E - 'increases' is wrong for plural subject - 'life expectancies'
B - Due to cannot modify a clause. Also if coyote is referred to as a group it should have life expectancy and not expectancies.

(A) due to their having high survival rates in urban areas, the coyotes copiously reproduce to maintain a pair bond and thus have much longer life expectancies that increases - REJECT CYOTE = (S) needs singular pronoun .

(B) due to its having high survival rates in urban areas, the coyote copiously reproduces to maintain pair bonds and thus has much longer life expectancies that increase - REJECT = possesive pronoun is incorrect . use of having is akward here .

(C) because it has high survival rates in urban areas, the coyote copiously reproduces to maintain a pair bond and thus has much longer life expectancies that increases = CORRECT . it is correct pronoun refers to the Coyote . llism has been maintained .

(D) because they have high survival rates in urban areas, the coyotes copiously reproduce to maintain pair bonds and thus have much longer life expectancies that increase - REJECT - the coyotes is singular . usage of they is incorrect .

(E) because of having high survival rates in urban areas, the coyotes copiously reproduce to maintain a pair bond and thus have much longer life expectancies that increases- REJECT - the coyotes is singular hence HAVE is incorrect .

A humble request – Please give KUDOS if you like the explanation.

The answer is D.

In Chicago, the coyote population is between 2,000 and 4,000; due to their having high survival rates in urban areas, the coyotes copiously reproduce to maintain a pair bond and thus have much longer life expectancies that increases the population in Cook County.

Let us first dissect the sentence.
; is used to join two independent but related clauses
Due to
This phrase is used to modify the nouns. In other words, due to is used to present the reason for a noun.
Because of
This phrase is used to modify the actions. In other words, because of is used to present the reason for an action.
In this sentence we are giving the reason for an action of the range of population hence Because of is correct usage not due to.

option A and B are out.

(A) due to their having high survival rates in urban areas, the coyotes copiously reproduce to maintain a pair bond and thus have much longer life expectancies that increases
In this sentence we are giving the reason for an action of the range of population hence Because of is correct usage not due to.

(B) due to its having high survival rates in urban areas, the coyote copiously reproduces to maintain pair bonds and thus has much longer life expectancies that increase
In this sentence we are giving the reason for an action of the range of population hence Because of is correct usage not due to.

(C) because it has high survival rates in urban areas, the coyote copiously reproduces to maintain a pair bond and thus has much longer life expectancies that increases
It is used to refer to coyote which is incorrect. Here Coyote is in the plural form

(D) because they have high survival rates in urban areas, the coyotes copiously reproduce to maintain pair bonds and thus have much longer life expectancies that increase
This is the correct choice.

(E) because of having high survival rates in urban areas, the coyotes copiously reproduce to maintain a pair bond and thus have much longer life expectancies that increases
because of having high survival rates in urban areas – This is an incorrect way to refer to Coyotes

Is it D ?

Due to is used to modify nouns
and because of is used to modify verbs .

Analysis :
1.in this case because of is needed .. since it is providing reason why the coyotes copiously reproduce
2. a pair does not match with the coyotes
3. expectancies is plural . so we need that increase .. for SV agreement .

In Chicago, the coyote population is between 2,000 and 4,000; due to their having high survival rates in urban areas, the coyotes copiously reproduce to maintain a pair bond and thus have much longer life expectancies that increases the population in Cook County.

(A) due to their having high survival rates in urban areas, the coyotes copiously reproduce to maintain a pair bond and thus have much longer life expectancies that increases

- Error mentioned above in analysis . out


(B) due to its having high survival rates in urban areas, the coyote copiously reproduces to maintain pair bonds and thus has much longer life expectancies that increase

1. due to is incorrect .
2. pair bonds doesnot match in number with singular coyote .. so out

(C) because it has high survival rates in urban areas, the coyote copiously reproduces to maintain a pair bond and thus has much longer life expectancies that increases

1. we need plural verb increase for plural expectancies .. out

(D) because they have high survival rates in urban areas, the coyotes copiously reproduce to maintain pair bonds and thus have much longer life expectancies that increase

-- correct

(E) because of having high survival rates in urban areas, the coyotes copiously reproduce to maintain a pair bond and thus have much longer life expectancies that increases

1. we need plural verb increase for plural expectancies .. out .
2. a pair does not match with plural the coyotes


Hence D is correct ..

n Chicago, the coyote population is between 2,000 and 4,000; due to their having high survival rates in urban areas, the coyotes copiously reproduce to maintain a pair bond and thus have much longer life expectancies that increases the population in Cook County.

(A) due to their having high survival rates in urban areas, the coyotes copiously reproduce to maintain a pair bond and thus have much longer life expectancies that increases - Incorrect

life expectancies .. increases - subject-verb agreement is incorrect

(B) due to its having high survival rates in urban areas, the coyote copiously reproduces to maintain pair bonds and thus has much longer life expectancies that increase - Incorrect

The beginning of second independent clause with "due to" is incorrect

(C) because it has high survival rates in urban areas, the coyote copiously reproduces to maintain a pair bond and thus has much longer life expectancies that increases -Incorrect

The "high survival rates" is wrongly referring to the coyote population instead of coyotes

(D) because they have high survival rates in urban areas, the coyotes copiously reproduce to maintain pair bonds and thus have much longer life expectancies that increase - Correct
Subject-verb Agreement is correct - coyotes....reproduce and life expectancies....increase
"they" - Correctly refers to the coyotes in the group(coyote population). No pronoun error
No idiom and Modifier error


(E) because of having high survival rates in urban areas, the coyotes copiously reproduce to maintain a pair bond and thus have much longer life expectancies that increases - Incorrect
life expectancies .. increases - subject-verb agreement is incorrect

In Chicago, the coyote population is between 2,000 and 4,000; due to their having high survival rates in urban areas, the coyotes copiously reproduce to maintain a pair bond and thus have much longer life expectancies that increases the population in Cook County.

(A) due to their having high survival rates in urban areas, the coyotes copiously reproduce to maintain a pair bond and thus have much longer life expectancies that increases

Incorrect - as their is wrong, should be replaced with "it" pronoun.

(B) due to its having high survival rates in urban areas, the coyote copiously reproduce to maintain pair bonds and thus has much longer life expectancies that increase
Incorrect - increase is singular, should be increases. Reproduces will be the correct verb.

(C) because it has high survival rates in urban areas, the coyote copiously reproduces to maintain a pair bond and thus has much longer life expectancies that increases
Incorrect - "it has" is the incorrect part of the sentence.

(D) because they have high survival rates in urban areas, the coyotes copiously reproduce to maintain pair bonds and thus have much longer life expectancies that increase.
Incorrect - increase is singular, should be increases.

(E) because of having high survival rates in urban areas, the coyotes copiously reproduce to maintain a pair bond and thus have much longer life expectancies that increases
Correct

In Chicago, the coyote population is between 2,000 and 4,000; due to their having high survival rates in urban areas, the coyotes copiously reproduce to maintain a pair bond and thus have much longer life expectancies that increases the population in Cook County.


(A) due to their having high survival rates in urban areas, the coyotes copiously reproduce to maintain a pair bond and thus have much longer life expectancies that increases- Ideally, 'due to' must be followed by a noun. Further, "longer life expectancies" does not agree with the verb "increases"

(B) due to its having high survival rates in urban areas, the coyote copiously reproduces to maintain pair bonds and thus has much longer life expectancies that increase- Ideally, 'due to' must be followed by a noun.

(C) because it has high survival rates in urban areas, the coyote copiously reproduces to maintain a pair bond and thus has much longer life expectancies that increases- "Longer life expectancies" does not agree with the verb "increases"

(D) because they have high survival rates in urban areas, the coyotes copiously reproduce to maintain pair bonds and thus have much longer life expectancies that increase- Correct

(E) because of having high survival rates in urban areas, the coyotes copiously reproduce to maintain a pair bond and thus have much longer life expectancies that increases- "Longer life expectancies" does not agree with the verb "increases"

D

In Chicago, the coyote population is between 2,000 and 4,000; due to their having high survival rates in urban areas, the coyotes copiously reproduce to maintain a pair bond and thus have much longer life expectancies that increases the population in Cook County.

(A) due to their having high survival rates in urban areas, the coyotes copiously reproduce to maintain a pair bond and thus have much longer life expectancies that increases expenties that increases

(B) due to its having high survival rates in urban areas, the coyote copiously reproduces to maintain pair bonds and thus has much longer life expectancies that increase pronoun error

(C) because it has high survival rates in urban areas, the coyote copiously reproduces to maintain a pair bond and thus has much longer life expectancies that increases expenties that increases

(D) because they have high survival rates in urban areas, the coyotes copiously reproduce to maintain pair bonds and thus have much longer life expectancies that increase correct answer

(E) because of having high survival rates in urban areas, the coyotes copiously reproduce to maintain a pair bond and thus have much longer life expectancies that increases expenties that increases

In Chicago, the coyote population is between 2,000 and 4,000; due to their having high survival rates in urban areas, the coyotes copiously reproduce to maintain a pair bond and thus have much longer life expectancies that increases the population in Cook County.

(A) due to their having high survival rates in urban areas, the coyotes copiously reproduce to maintain a pair bond and thus have much longer life expectancies that increases ( "Due to" is a noun modifier, so it must follow the touch rule, and only used a situation such as X is due to Y, "increases" does not agree with "expectancies" in number) - Incorrect

(B) due to its having high survival rates in urban areas, the coyote copiously reproduces to maintain pair bonds and thus has much longer life expectancies that increase ( "Due to" is a noun modifier, so it must follow the touch rule, and only used a situation such as X is due to Y) - Incorrect

(C) because it has high survival rates in urban areas, the coyote copiously reproduces to maintain a pair bond and thus has much longer life expectancies that increases - ( expectancies and increases do not agree in number; however, because of is better in this context) Incorrect

(D) because they have high survival rates in urban areas, the coyotes copiously reproduce to maintain pair bonds and thus have much longer life expectancies that increase ( All subject-verb pairs are okay, Hence it is Correct

(E) because of having high survival rates in urban areas, the coyotes copiously reproduce to maintain a pair bond and thus have much longer life expectancies that increases ( increases does not agree with expectancies in number) Incorrect

Between B and D, in D they is used. Earlier part of sentence mentions coyote population -- how can they refer to population?
I can not see any other antecedent for they.

Please help. zhanbo

They is not referring to population. "They" is referring to "the coyotes".

In (D), "because they have high survival rates in urban areas, the coyotes copiously reproduce to maintain pair bonds and thus have much longer life expectancies that increase ..."
The antecedent for they in the coordinate clause is actually the coyotes in the main clause.

Check out https://www.biomedicaleditor.com/grammar ... guous.html:
A pronoun (e.g., you, ours, she, this, whom, which, himself) takes the place of a noun or another pronoun, often to avoid repetition. The noun, pronoun, or clause that a pronoun refers to, called an antecedent, usually appears earlier in the sentence, although it can also appear later.
A pronoun should refer to one specific antecedent. An ambiguous pronoun antecedent occurs when a pronoun has two or more possible antecedents.

Hi zhanbo, Thanks for your reply. I was under impression that antecedent needed to appear before pronoun.
Happy to learn. Thanks again for quick reply.

plural+that+plural: expentencies that increase. so A,C and E out.
due to+ noun: due to its......is wrong so B is out.
D is correct answer.
key takeaway: "because" modifies entire clause but "due to" modifies only noun.

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