The American Congress passed the Neutrality Acts during the mid-to-lat

Man, verbs are my weakness but I give it a try

A. due to World War I, which took such a toll on the country that the government desperately wanted to avoid dragging
We can exclude the two choices starting with due. If we substitute "due" with "caused by" we get:
"The American Congress passed the Neutrality Acts during the mid-to-late 1930s caused by World War I" and it is not correct because the Neutrality Acts were not caused by the World War I, but they were consequences of WWI, so because is the correct start. Honestly, I do not remember the theory about what exactly because and due can and cannot modify, but I'm pretty sure to be right ruling out these 2 options.

B. due to World War I that has taken such a toll on the country that the government would desperately want to avoid being dragged
Look up.

C. because World War I, which was taking such a toll on the country that the government desperately would want to avoid being dragged
Wrong, it talks about a treaty passed during the mid '30, so WWI was ended by years. "was taking" expresses contemporaneity, so it is surely wrong.

D. because of World War I had taken such a toll on the country that the government desperately wanted to avoid dragging
the construction "had taken" almost dragged me in a mistake. Yeah, there is a sequence of events, but IMO WWI is not correlated to the passaging of the Neutrality Acts; moreover, "wanted to avoid dragging" makes no sense: it should be "to avoid to be dragged"(but it is wordy) or "to avoid being dragged"

E. because World War I took such a toll on the country that the government desperately wanted to avoid being dragged
I'm not 100% sure on the point made in choice D about the uncorrelation of the two events, but I would choose this.

E is the correct answer.

The correct Option Must use Past tense to convey the toll country suffered from World war 1 (that already happened in past).

So ,Options B and C are eliminated.

Option D incorrectly uses term because of World war 1 had taken,instead it should have been because of World war 1 that had taken...

The correct usage must be- avoid being dragged not avoid dragging (present continues),so the option A is elimit and optionbE is correct.

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Since this an event which happened in the past, we wont be using the present continuous tense.
Eliminate A, C and D.

Remaining are B and E
B. due to World War I that has taken such a toll on the country that the government would desperately want to avoid being dragged
Now a rule was passed because of some reason, not due to the war.(removed this by this logic)

E. because World War I took such a toll on the country that the government desperately wanted to avoid being dragged
Correct Answer

Official Explanation:

The government wanted to avoid dragging who/what? (A) is eliminated.
(B) and C) are eliminated for not using past tense – has, would want.
(D) The construct of “because of” followed by “had taken” is grammatically incorrect.

This leaves us with (E) as the only possible answer.

The American Congress passed the Neutrality Acts during the mid-to-late 1930s due to World War I, which took such a toll on the country that the government desperately wanted to avoid dragging into another war.

A. due to World War I, which took such a toll on the country that the government desperately wanted to avoid dragging
Reasoning is for a verb(passed) but not for a noun. So, we Need because instead of due to

B. due to World War I that has taken such a toll on the country that the government would desperately want to avoid being dragged
Reasoning is for a verb(passed) but not for a noun. So, we Need because instead of due to

C. because World War I, which was taking such a toll on the country that the government desperately would want to avoid being dragged
Because takes clause but not just noun.

D. because of World War I had taken such a toll on the country that the government desperately wanted to avoid dragging
Because of takes noun but not clause.

E. because World War I took such a toll on the country that the government desperately wanted to avoid being dragged
Because has clause in this option. So this one is correct.

The American Congress passed the Neutrality Acts during the mid-to-late 1930s due to World War I, which took such a toll on the country that the government desperately wanted to avoid dragging into another war.

A. due to World War I, which took such a toll on the country that the government desperately wanted to avoid dragging--> wrong: The AC passed the NA due to WW-I; right: The passage of the NA by AC is due to WW-I

B. due to World War I that has taken such a toll on the country that the government would desperately want to avoid being dragged--> same as A

C. because World War I, which was taking such a toll on the country that the government desperately would want to avoid being dragged --> main verb is missing after because

D. because of World War I had taken such a toll on the country that the government desperately wanted to avoid dragging --> "because of" only takes noun after it, "because of + subject + verb" is wrong

E. because World War I took such a toll on the country that the government desperately wanted to avoid being dragged --> correct

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