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daagh
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The primary catalyst fueling the rapid spread of wind farms across the 15 Jul 2017, 05:22
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MaximD
C. has been a combination of federal tax incentives and state mandates that require utilities to increase the percentage of renewable power in its
1. 'mandates' is not a verb; it is used as plural noun and mandate is the singular noun; that is a relative pronoun here referring to the mandates and not as a subjunctive mood marker.
2. If the choice were to use the command subjunctive, then the construction--mandates that require utilities to increase--doesn't make much meaning. The correct structure then would be --state mandates that utilities require to increase --
3. Logically in a federal set up, normally a state may want to increase its own percentage of renewable power but not the entire country's
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The primary catalyst fueling the rapid spread of wind farms across the 15 Jul 2017, 05:34
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origen87
A verb+ing participle, when not preceded by a comma will modify the noun it touches and therefore here, state mandates. The participle need not refer to the incentives in the context because while a mandate is obligatory, an incentive is more like 'take it or leave it' kind.
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The primary catalyst fueling the rapid spread of wind farms across the 15 Jul 2017, 23:44
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daagh
The primary catalyst fueling the rapid spread of wind farms across the country – from offshore platforms along the coasts to the vast deserts and plains – has been a combination of federal tax incentives and state mandates requiring utilities to increase the percentage of renewable power in their overall energy production portfolio.

A. has been a combination of federal tax incentives and state mandates requiring utilities to increase the percentage of renewable power in their ---- "a combination- has been', "utilities-their" --- 'their' refers to the utilities --correct

B. have been combinations of federal tax incentives and state mandates requiring utilities to increase the percentage of renewable power in their ---- "a combination - have been "- SV number error

C. has been a combination of federal tax incentives and state mandates that require utilities to increase the percentage of renewable power in its --- 'utilities-its' --- pronoun number error

D. have been a combination of federal tax incentives and state mandates that require utilities to increase the percentage of renewable power in their --- 'a combination --- have been' - S V number error as in B.

E. has been a combination of federal tax incentives and of state mandates requiring utilities to increase the percentage of renewable power in its ---- 'utilities -- its' -pronoun number error
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Hey daagh ,

Although I chose A, I just wanted to know why is "that require" wrong? Or is it even wrong?
I mean, just out of curiosity, if we replace "its" with "their", is C as good as A?
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The primary catalyst fueling the rapid spread of wind farms across the 16 Jul 2017, 00:06
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rekhabishop
I don't think C is wrong because of the 'that require'; 'that require' smugly modifies the mandates and is as good as 'mandates requiring' as in A.
The problem as I see is in the pronoun 'its'. For that sake, if you change 'its' to 'their', then there would two correct choices leading to confusion.
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The primary catalyst fueling the rapid spread of wind farms across the 16 Jul 2017, 00:11
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daagh
rekhabishop
I don't think C is wrong because of the 'that require'; 'that require' smugly modifies the mandates and is as good as 'mandates requiring' as in A.
The problem as I see is in the pronoun 'its'. For that sake, if you change 'its' to 'their', then there would two correct choices leading to confusion.
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Thank for the quick turn-around, daagh !!
I really admire your answers. You do not take things for granted and explain every single aspect, in great detail. You start from scratch, always assuming that the reader might be a beginner.
I owe all my verbal score to you!! :)
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The primary catalyst fueling the rapid spread of wind farms across the 16 Jul 2017, 00:15
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Rekha Hi,
Your words are a great source of comfort to me. Thank you
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The primary catalyst fueling the rapid spread of wind farms across the 15 Jan 2018, 21:11
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C. has been a combination of federal tax incentives and state mandates that require utilities to increase the percentage of renewable power in its
1. 'mandates' is not a verb; it is used as plural noun and mandate is the singular noun; that is a relative pronoun here referring to the mandates and not as a subjunctive mood marker.
2. If the choice were to use the command subjunctive, then the construction--mandates that require utilities to increase--doesn't make much meaning. The correct structure then would be --state mandates that utilities require to increase --
3. Logically in a federal set up, normally a state may want to increase its own percentage of renewable power but not the entire country's
Show more

First of all daagh Thanks for sharing, great explanation.

Regarding the "it's vs their" IMHO It's refers to the country in possession of a portfolio. The state mandates are evicted by the state government to order a local government, and in this case are done to increase the production of renewable power, Federal regulation is not my field, but I imagine power is controlled by state government too.
So... I can't see how "their" can fit in the phrase, as portfolio is singular, and tax incentives and the mandates even if plural are clearly linked to "a combination" wich is singular (and can't own a share of renewable power portfolio)... even if the phrase could possibly refers to states, there should be a clearer reference for them, and there isn't any options for "states to own porftolios" in the choices.

So that leaves me with C as the only grammatically correct choice.

And finally, I found it on Veritas APP.

Cheers
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The primary catalyst fueling the rapid spread of wind farms across the 25 May 2018, 00:05
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hazelnut

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Tricky Question



The primary catalyst fueling the rapid spread of wind farms across the country – from offshore platforms along the coasts through the vast deserts and plains – has been a combination of federal tax incentives and state mandates requiring utilities to raise renewable power to increasing percentages of their overall energy production.


A. has been a combination of federal tax incentives and state mandates requiring utilities to raise renewable power to increasing percentages of their

B. have been combinations of federal tax incentives and state mandates requiring utilities to raise renewable power to increasing percentages of their

C. has been a combination of federal tax incentives and state mandates that require utilities to raise renewable power to an increasing percentage of its

D. have been a combination of federal tax incentives and state mandates that require utilities to raise renewable power to increasing percentages of their

E. has been a combination of federal tax incentives and of state mandates requiring utilities to raise renewable power to increasing percentages of their
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VERITAS PREP OFFICIAL SOLUTION:



As you first look at this problem, you should immediately identify two singular-vs.-plural Decision Points: the verb tense in "has" vs. "have" at the first word of the answer choices, and the fact that several choices end with either "its" or "their."

The first decision point, "has" vs. "have," requires you to find the subject of that initial verb. And while the problem throws several nouns at you via modifiers, the correct subject is "catalyst," which is singular. This means that "has" is required, helping you to eliminate B and D.

For the pronoun "its" vs. "their" at the end of the sentence, recognize that the antecedent is "utilities," since utilities are the only noun capable of having overall energy production. Because "utilities" is plural, you can eliminate "its" and answer choices C and E. Therefore, choice A is correct.
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The primary catalyst fueling the rapid spread of wind farms across the 08 Jun 2018, 04:50
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hazelnut

Difficulty Level: 750-800
Tricky Question



The primary catalyst fueling the rapid spread of wind farms across the country – from offshore platforms along the coasts through the vast deserts and plains – has been a combination of federal tax incentives and state mandates requiring utilities to raise renewable power to increasing percentages of their overall energy production.


A. has been a combination of federal tax incentives and state mandates requiring utilities to raise renewable power to increasing percentages of their

B. have been combinations of federal tax incentives and state mandates requiring utilities to raise renewable power to increasing percentages of their

C. has been a combination of federal tax incentives and state mandates that require utilities to raise renewable power to an increasing percentage of its

D. have been a combination of federal tax incentives and state mandates that require utilities to raise renewable power to increasing percentages of their

E. has been a combination of federal tax incentives and of state mandates requiring utilities to raise renewable power to increasing percentages of their
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Based on SV Error, we can eliminate B,C & D. Out of A & E, A is correct because Combination of X & Y is correct Idiom, not combination of X & of Y. IMO
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The primary catalyst fueling the rapid spread of wind farms across the 09 Jun 2018, 07:08
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Hello all,

I agree with all explanation but something is changed in this thread which is different from given question.
Look at "to increasing" in underlined portion. As much as I know this is totally disastrous use of infinitive.

Where am I wrong?
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The primary catalyst fueling the rapid spread of wind farms across the 13 Jun 2019, 20:24
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It's A imo as well. "Their" is referring to the wind farms (because anything else mentioned in the sentence can't have any "energy production")
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The primary catalyst fueling the rapid spread of wind farms across the 13 Jun 2019, 23:21
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gvij2017
Hello all,

I agree with all explanation but something is changed in this thread which is different from given question.
Look at "to increasing" in underlined portion. As much as I know this is totally disastrous use of infinitive.

Where am I wrong?
Show more
This reply is a little late, but just in case you or anyone else has the same question:

... to raise renewable power to increasing percentages of their....

The second to is not an infinitive marker. Increasing is an adjective (for percentages). Read it as

raise X to Y, where X and Y are both noun phrases.
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The primary catalyst fueling the rapid spread of wind farms across the 07 Apr 2020, 05:07
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(A) has been a combination of federal tax incentives and state mandates requiring utilities to raise renewable power to increasing percentages of theirCORRECT a combination - is singular so has is correct requiring modifies combination

(B) have been combinations of federal tax incentives and state mandates requiring utilities to raise renewable power to increasing percentages of theirhave is not correct as we are referring to a combination which is singular

(C) has been a combination of federal tax incentives and state mandates that require utilities to raise renewable power to an increasing percentage of itsthough use of has is correct, use of that is not because it refers only to state mandates but should refer to the combination

(D) have been a combination of federal tax incentives and state mandates that require utilities to raise renewable power to increasing percentages of theirsame problem of have and that as noted previously

(E) has been a combination of federal tax incentives and of state mandates requiring utilities to raise renewable power to increasing percentages of itsits refers to utilities which are plural and so, their should be used
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The primary catalyst fueling the rapid spread of wind farms across the 20 Sep 2023, 00:35
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BillyZ

Difficulty Level: 750-800
Tricky Question


The primary catalyst fueling the rapid spread of wind farms across the country – from offshore platforms along the coasts through the vast deserts and plains – has been a combination of federal tax incentives and state mandates requiring utilities to raise renewable power to increasing percentages of their overall energy production.

(A) has been a combination of federal tax incentives and state mandates requiring utilities to raise renewable power to increasing percentages of their

(B) have been combinations of federal tax incentives and state mandates requiring utilities to raise renewable power to increasing percentages of their

(C) has been a combination of federal tax incentives and state mandates that require utilities to raise renewable power to an increasing percentage of its

(D) have been a combination of federal tax incentives and state mandates that require utilities to raise renewable power to increasing percentages of their

(E) has been a combination of federal tax incentives and of state mandates requiring utilities to raise renewable power to increasing percentages of its
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Primary catalyst is singular so we can eliminate options starting with ‘have’ i.e. B & D
…require that.. is incorrect here so C is out
E has an unnecessary ‘and of state mandates’.
Hence A.

Hope it helps :)
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