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Whales make clicking sounds that are strange to human ears, but when those clicks ricochet off objects around the whales, the echoes tell it that there’s a fish to the left, another whale a hundred yards ahead, or a squid in the distance.

A. ears, but when those clicks ricochet off objects around the whales, the echoes

B. ears, when those clicks ricochet off objects around the whale; the echoes

C. ears, but when those clicks ricochet off objects around the whale; the echoes

D. ears, when those clicks ricochet off objects around the whales; the echoes

E. ears, but when those clicks ricochet off objects around a whale, the echoes




VERITAS PREP OFFICIAL SOLUTION:



There are two primary decision points within this problem: between the comma and semicolon between “whale(s)” and “the” and between the words “whale” and “whales”.

Whenever you are asked to choose between the singular and plural forms of a noun, you should look for a non-underlined pronoun that refers back to that noun. In this case, the non-underlined pronoun is “it”. Since “it” is singular, you should recognize that you need the singular “whale” as well. Eliminate (A) and (D).

Semicolons require that the phrase on either side of the semicolon be a complete sentence. Although “the echoes… a squid in the distance” is a complete sentence, what comes before it is not in choices (B) and (C). You can therefore eliminate both answers, leaving you with the correct answer, (E).
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