souvonik2k
The number of gray whales spotted migrating south off the Southern California coast was 364 in December, prompting questions
whether the annual population of the endangered species possibly doubled that of the 20,000 estimate of the previous year.
A) whether the annual population of the endangered species possibly doubled that of
B) whether the annual population of the endangered species was possibly double
C) of the annual population of the endangered species, that it possibly doubled
D) of the annual population of the endangered species possibly doubling that of
E) of the annual population of the endangered species, that it would possibly double that of
OFFICIAL EXPLANATION:
Creating a filter: Supposing that we're not sure what to make of the prompt, or can't create a filter, we can head straight to the answer choices.
Finding objective defects: The answer choices fall into two groups, one starting with "whether" and the other starting with "of." Here, "whether" is correct, as it is the proper way to introduce a phrase that is a yes or no question. "Of" would indicate that we are questioning the animal population, which is not under cross-examination here.
That leaves us with (A) and (B). One must be objectively in error. The "that" in (A) will be either required or incorrect. What is that relative pronoun standing for? Population, apparently. That would mean, "The annual population of the species doubled the population of the 20,000 estimate of the previous year." You can't have a population of 20,000 estimate, so (A) is incorrect.
The correct answer is (B).