Sentence Correction

The cottontail rabbit population in Orange County, California, has increased unchecked in recent years as a result of the removal of the native fox population and the clearing of surrounding woodlands.

(A) years as a result of the removal of
(B) years as a result of removing
(C) years, resulting from the removing of
(D) years, which is a result of removing
(E) years, which is a result of the removal of

OE A

My doubt is between A and B.
In B removing is a Gerund and in A "the removal of" is a noun form.
Both are right but +ing form is favored over "the noun of" form so why A???
Please explain and correct me if I am wrong...

akash singhal wrote:My doubt is between A and B.
In B removing is a Gerund and in A "the removal of" is a noun form.
Both are right but +ing form is favored over "the noun of" form so why A???
Please explain and correct me if I am wrong...

A conjunction such as and must serve to connect PARALLEL FORMS.

A gerund is a VERBing that serves as a NOUN.
Like other types of nouns, a gerund can be modified by a prepositional phrase.
Like other verb forms, a gerund can take a direct object.
VERBing + PREPOSITIONAL PHRASE and VERBing + DIRECT OBJECT are not parallel forms.

B: removing the native fox population and the clearing of surrounding woodlands
Here, the phrases in red are not parallel forms.
removing the native fox population = VERBing + DIRECT OBJECT.
the clearing of surrounding woods = VERBing + PREPOSITIONAL PHRASE.
These constructions are not parallel.
Eliminate B.

A: the removal of the native fox population and the clearing of surrounding woods
Here, the phrases in red are parallel forms.
Each is a prepositional phrase serving to modify the preceding noun.
the removal of the native fox population = NOUN + PREPOSITIONAL MODIFIER.
the clearing of surrounding woodlands = NOUN + PREPOSITIONAL MODIFIER.
These constructions are parallel.