The new hummingbird species, which was discovered only recently, had

Question

The new hummingbird species, which was discovered only recently,  had been categorized as critically endangered due to its habitat being limited  and the low estimated size of its population.

A. had been categorized as critically endangered due to its habitat being limited

B. had been categorized as critically endangered because it has a limited habitat

C. has been categorized as critically endangered because it has limited its habitat

D. has been categorized as critically endangered because of its limited habitat

E. will be categorized as critically endangered due to its limiting of its habitat

shameekv1989 · Answer

The new hummingbird species, which was discovered only recently,  had been categorized as critically endangered due to its habitat being limited  and the low estimated size of its population.

Incorrect usage of "had been". Past perfect should be used for an earlier event in the past. Here species was discovered first and then categorized

Same as A

"it has limited its habitat" means the species did it intentionally. Not what sentence is trying to convey

Correct Use of because to modify the verb "categorized as". "because of" must be followed by a noun as is the case in this sentence

Incorrect usage of "due to" to modify verb "categorized as"

Answer - D

daagh · Answer

The new hummingbird species, which was discovered only recently,  had been categorized as critically endangered due to its habitat being limited  and the low estimated size of its population.

A. had been categorized as critically endangered due to its habitat being limited – 1. The past perfect tense is wrong 2. ‘Habitat being’ is wrong because ‘being’ modifies the noun before. In GMAT parlance, ‘being’ is wordy. 3. Due to modifies a verb. --- Wrong

B. had been categorized as critically endangered because it has a limited habitat – 'had been' is the wrong tense 
C. has been categorized as critically endangered because it has limited its habitat – Has the species itself limited its habitat? It is absurd.

D. has been categorized as critically endangered because of its limited habitat --- The best choice. ‘Because of’ modifies a verb correctly.

E. will be categorized as critically endangered due to its limiting of its habitat --- due to modifies the verb ‘ will be categorized’. wrong

abhishekmayank · Answer

Hi  MentorTutoring

Could u confirm that use of "because of" is correct in the correct option D

"has been categorized as critically endangered because of its limited habitat"

I thought that had we structured the sentence the way given below, the use of "because of" would have been correct. Otherwise, in option D, 'due to' seems to be correct

"has been critically endangered because of its limited habitat"

Kindly clarify....

AndrewN · Answer

Hello,  abhishekmayank . Yes,  because of  is  correct  in option (D), for the very reason  daagh  lists above:  because of  is used to modify a verb, and in choice (D), we are looking at an explanation for why  the new hummingbird species   has been categorized  a certain way. Your proposed sentence would also use  because of  to modify  has been... endangered . For more on the  because of/due to  split, see  this excellent e-GMAT article . (I wish I had written it.)

Thank you for tagging me.

- Andrew

abhishekmayank · Answer

Thanks  MentorTutoring  for your consistent guidance and help

Bunuel · Answer

KAPLAN OFFICIAL EXPLANATION

STEP 1: READ THE ORIGINAL SENTENCE CAREFULLY, LOOKING FOR ERRORS 
The underlined portion begins with the verb phrase “had been categorized.” A quick vertical scan of the choices reveals a “had been/has been/will be” split, suggesting that verb tense is being tested. The current form (“had been”) is in the past perfect tense, which suggests that this event (categorizing) happened before another past event in the sentence. However, the other past event is that the hummingbird was discovered. Using “had been” here suggests that the bird was categorized as endangered before it was even discovered,
which is illogical.

Also, the underlined portion is followed by the word “and,” indicating there are two reasons for labeling the bird endangered. What comes before the “and” should be parallel in form to what comes after the “and.” However, the action “being limited” is not parallel to the noun “estimated size.” As the phrase “estimated size” is not underlined, it cannot be changed. So the correct answer should change “its habitat being limited” to a noun phrase (e.g., “its limited habitat”).

STEP 2: SCAN AND GROUP THE ANSWER CHOICES 
(A) and (B) begin with “had been,” (C) and (D) use “has been,” and (E) uses “will be.”

STEP 3: ELIMINATE CHOICES UNTIL ONLY ONE REMAINS 
Because “had been” was identified as an error, (A) and (B) can be eliminated. However, it can’t be determined for sure whether the categorization has already happened or will happen in the future, so either “has been” or “will be” is possible. Now, consider the parallelism at the end. Eliminate (C) because it implies that the hummingbird is responsible for limiting its own habitat. Also, it still uses a verb (“limited”) that is not parallel to the noun “size.” Eliminate (E) because it adds the possessive pronoun “its” before “limiting,” again implying that the hummingbird is responsible for limiting the habitat. (E) also uses a verb form (“limiting”) that is not parallel to the noun “size.”  (D) is correct , using the present perfect tense at the beginning and providing a noun (“limited habitat”) to match up with the noun “size.” Read this choice back into the sentence to verify that it is correct:

The new hummingbird species, which was discovered only recently,  has been categorized as critically endangered because of its limited habitat  and the low estimated size of its population.

The new hummingbird species, which was discovered only recently, had

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GMAT Sentence Correction (SC - EA only) Questions

The new hummingbird species, which was discovered only recently, had

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My Rewards