Official Explanation:
Project SC Butler: Sentence Correction (SC2)
For SC butler Questions Click HereChoice A: Correct.
Choice B: No. The singular pronoun
that does not agree with the plural noun
sightings. Pronoun agreement.
Choice C: No. The singular verb
has…increased does not agree with the plural noun
sightings. Subject-Verb agreement.
Choice D: No. The singular verb
has…increased does not agree with the plural noun
sightings. Subject-Verb agreement.
Choice E: No.
Sightings…increased markedly is not parallel to
there was a decline in the number of songbirds. Parallel construction.
THE PROMPTQuote:
Since the wildfires in southeastern Georgia, sightings of black bears, savannah cats, and bobcats in the urban areas near Savannah have markedly increased, while the number of songbirds tallied by volunteer surveyors has declined.
• Remove some of the fluff.
→
Since the wildfires, sightings of black bears, savannah cats, and bobcats have markedly increased, while the number of songbirds tallied by surveyors has declined.• Issue - THE number of / A number of
I have no idea why the writer of this question did not test the issue. I would have done so.
In any event, there are important differences between "
the number of Xs" and "
a number of Xs" that you must know.
1)
The number of
-- is always followed by a plural noun
-- is always singular, even with that plural noun, because the phrase refers to an exact or specific quantity
Correct:
The number of books banned by the authoritarian right in the U.S. is increasing.2)
A number of
-- is always followed by a plural noun
-- is always plural because the expression means "several"
Correct:
A number of factors underlie global warming, but the burning of fossil fuels is the biggest culprit.I have inserted all of the answer choices into the prompt so that it is easier to see errors.
The text from each answer choice is italicized.
THE OPTIONSQuote:
A) Since the wildfires in southeastern Georgia, sightings of black bears, savannah cats, and bobcats in the urban areas near Savannah have markedly increased, while the number of songbirds tallied by volunteer surveyors has declined.
• I do not see any errors
• Subject/verb agreement is correct
→ The plural noun
sightings agrees with the plural verb
have…increased. → The singular noun
the number agrees with the singular verb
has declined. KEEP
Quote:
B) Since the wildfires in southeastern Georgia, sightings of black bears, savannah cats, and bobcats in the urban areas near Savannah have markedly increased, while that of songbirds that are tallied by volunteer surveyors has declined.
• Pronoun error
→ the singular pronoun
that cannot be used to refer to plural
sightings.
→ the correct pronoun would be
those → this pronoun usage is sometimes referred to as a "copy."
In this case,
those would "make a copy" of the word
sightings, which originally refers to bears and bobcats but in its "copy" form means "sightings
of songbirds."
ELIMINATE B
Quote:
C) Since the wildfires in southeastern Georgia, sightings of black bears, savannah cats, and bobcats in the urban areas near Savannah has markedly increased, while the number of songbirds that are tallied by volunteer surveyors has declined.
• Subject/verb agreement
The plural subject sightings does not agree with the singular verb
has ... increasedELIMINATE C
Quote:
D) Since the wildfires in southeastern Georgia, sightings of black bears, savannah cats, and bobcats in the urban areas near Savannah has markedly increased, while songbirds tallied by volunteer surveyors have declined in number.
• Subject/verb agreement
The plural subject sightings does not agree with the singular verb
has ... increasedELIMINATE D
Quote:
E) Since the wildfires in southeastern Georgia, sightings of black bears, savannah cats, and bobcats in the urban areas near Savannah increased markedly, while there was a decline in the number of songbirds tallied by volunteer surveyors.
• Not parallel
Sightings have decreased is not parallel to
there was a decline in the number of songbirds.
We must compare "apples to apples"—similar things.
It's also best to express these comparisons in parallel phrasing to advertise to the reader that a comparison is underway.
If you are not sure about parallelism, just compare option E to option A.
Which one is clearer?
In which option is it clearer that the sentence compares the prevalence of different kinds of animals?
In option E, is there any good reason to use "there was"?
Option A is the better answer.
Eliminate E.
The best answer is A.Official Explanation:
This sentence is correct as written.
Because the underlined portion of the sentence contains the verbs
have…increased and
has declined, check that they agree with their respective subjects.
The plural noun
sightings agrees with the plural verb
have…increased. The singular noun
the number agrees with the singular verb
has declined.
There appears to be no error in the original sentence, so keep choice A.
Because there is no error in the original sentence, there are no obvious repeaters to look for, so evaluate the remaining answer choices individually, looking for reasons to eliminate each.
Choice B contains the same underlined verbs
have…increased and
has declined but it introduces an error with the use of the singular pronoun
that [of songbirds] to refer to the plural noun
sightings.
This is a pronoun agreement error, so eliminate choice B.
Choice C incorrectly uses the singular verb
has…increased to refer to the plural noun
sightings.
This is a subject-verb agreement error, so eliminate choice C.
Choice D also incorrectly uses the singular verb
has…increased to refer to the plural noun
sightings, which is a subject-verb agreement error.
Eliminate choice D.
In choice E,
sightings…increased markedly is not parallel to
there was a decline in the number of songbirds.
This is a parallel construction error, so eliminate choice E.
The correct answer is choice A.
COMMENTSSushil117 , welcome to SC Butler.
These answers are excellent.
Well done, everyone.
close
19 Apr 2022, 23:50
25%
(medium)
30%
(01:51)
wrong 
