Sentence Correction

Organized in 1966 by the Fish and Wildlife Service, the Breeding Bird Survey uses annual roadside counts along established routes for monitoring of population changes of as many as, or of more than 250 bird species, including 180 songbirds.

(A) for monitoring of population changes of as many as, or of
(B) to monitor population changes of as many, or
(C) to monitor changes in the populations of
(D) that monitors population changes of
(E) that monitors changes in populations of as many as, or

Source : OG
The OA is obviously C.But don't you think it changes the meaning of the original sentence.
saying more than 250 is not the same as saying 250 or more.

prachich1987 wrote:Organized in 1966 by the Fish and Wildlife Service, the Breeding Bird Survey uses annual roadside counts along established routes for monitoring of population changes of as many as, or of more than 250 bird species, including 180 songbirds.

(A) for monitoring of population changes of as many as, or of
(B) to monitor population changes of as many, or
(C) to monitor changes in the populations of
(D) that monitors population changes of
(E) that monitors changes in populations of as many as, or

Source : OG
The OA is obviously C.But don't you think it changes the meaning of the original sentence.
saying more than 250 is not the same as saying 250 or more.

Yeah C is indeed the answer, I also agree that it changes the meaning....

This sentence reminds me of a similar situation.

MGMAT SC guide sentence "She is the most dedicated gardner on the block, every day watering the more than 50 plants in her yard"
over here the meaning certainly changed and the answer was marked wrong

Hi there,

The way I think of it, I look for the main grammatical error, then any secondary errors, then compare the answer choices stylistically.

You could argue that "of as many as, or of more than" is implied in "the populations of more than 250 birds" since "of more than" implies 250 OR more than 250. I would say that's a redundancy style error.

VivianKerr wrote:Hi there,

The way I think of it, I look for the main grammatical error, then any secondary errors, then compare the answer choices stylistically.

You could argue that "of as many as, or of more than" is implied in "the populations of more than 250 birds" since "of more than" implies 250 OR more than 250. I would say that's a redundancy style error.

Are we choosing C over A just because of this error. Does nt it have to do anything with the grammatical use of population changes
(A) for monitoring of population changes of as many as, or of

(C) to monitor changes in the populations of

1)Is "to monitor" preferred " over "for monitoring " ?

2)Is "For monitoring " Incorrect ?

3)Is population changes of 250 bird species Correct ?

"For monitoring population changes" - you don't need "monitoring of"

I think what you have to keep in mind foremost is not necessary if a certain choice changes the meaning. It is more of an issue whether the sentence makes logical sense. You can get a hang of this when you initially read the sentence. Here "or monitoring of population changes of as many as, or of more than 250 bird species," does not really make any sense. The only way for this clause to make sense is "to monitor changes in the populations of."

I agree this does change the meaning of the sentence slightly. However, it is the logical choice

is "population changes of " the same as "Changes in the populations of " ? (I got the phrases from options A and C)
Please note the plural populations? Is plural populations more appropriate when we are considering Bird Species as in C

mundasingh123 wrote:is "population changes of " the same as "Changes in the populations of " ? (I got the phrases from options A and C)
Please note the plural populations? Is plural populations more appropriate when we are considering Bird Species as in C

I think plural populations is needed here because we are not considering the population of a single specie.
We are considering populations of at least 250 species

prachich1987 wrote:

mundasingh123 wrote:is "population changes of " the same as "Changes in the populations of " ? (I got the phrases from options A and C)
Please note the plural populations? Is plural populations more appropriate when we are considering Bird Species as in C

I think plural populations is needed here because we are discussing not considering the population of a single specie.
We are considering populations of at least 250 species

then popluation changes of 250 species is wrong ?

mundasingh123 wrote:

prachich1987 wrote:

mundasingh123 wrote:is "population changes of " the same as "Changes in the populations of " ? (I got the phrases from options A and C)
Please note the plural populations? Is plural populations more appropriate when we are considering Bird Species as in C

I think plural populations is needed here because we are discussing not considering the population of a single specie.
We are considering populations of at least 250 species

then popluation changes of 250 species is wrong ?

IMO , 1) changes in populations.... is correct
2) population changes of.... should also be correct.
But when we have to make choice between 1 & 2, I would prefer 1) over 2)

prachich1987 wrote:Organized in 1966 by the Fish and Wildlife Service, the Breeding Bird Survey uses annual roadside counts along established routes for monitoring of population changes of as many as, or of more than 250 bird species, including 180 songbirds.

(A) for monitoring of population changes of as many as, or of
(B) to monitor population changes of as many, or
(C) to monitor changes in the populations of
(D) that monitors population changes of
(E) that monitors changes in populations of as many as, or

Source : OG
The OA is obviously C.But don't you think it changes the meaning of the original sentence.
saying more than 250 is not the same as saying 250 or more.

I feel you man, two different comparisons!