Sentence Correction

A report by the American Academy for the Advancement of Science has concluded that much of the currently uncontrolled dioxins to which North Americans are exposed comes from the incineration of wastes.
(A) much of the currently uncontrolled dioxins to which North Americans are exposed comes
(B) much of the currently uncontrolled dioxins that North Americans are exposed to come
(C) much of the dioxins that are currently uncontrolled and that North Americans are exposed to comes
(D) many of the dioxins that are currently uncontrolled and North Americans are exposed to come
(E) many of the currently uncontrolled dioxins to which North Americans are exposed come

ANS E

One basic question here. Aren't we talking about the amount of dioxins here? So how can it be countable?

das.ashmita wrote:One basic question here. Aren't we talking about the amount of dioxins here? So how can it be countable?

you don't need to understand the difference between "many" and "much" here - if that confuses you that way.

in the original one - "comes" is improper with plural subject "uncontrolled dioxins". Which refer to the " uncontrolled dioxins ", and hence its the subject.

C and D - both the action are not similar in of similar ideas to be in parallel - eliminate.

the construction of B is wrong.

North Americans are exposed to X.
X that north Americans are exposed to.... - is not correct construction. you cant have a preposition without its object. Moreover, here it gives an impression that "come" is the part of infinitive for "to". Eliminate B.

left with E. for more on "preposition + relative pronoun" construction refer this - https://www.beatthegmat.com/use-of-by-wh ... tml#495846

now regarding the use of many and much - since "dioxins" are countable, "many" should be used.

Hope this helps !!

Actually if the original poster interpreted dioxins as uncountable, then comes would not be an issue in A. For example: Much of water has flown under the bridge (not a perfect sentence, but hopefully depicts the point).

One clue demonstrating that dioxins is countable is that uncountable nouns do not have plurals (there might be a one-off exception to this). For example, there is no such thing as sands, waters etc.

However, since we have dioxins here (and threre is obviously a valid word called dioxin), it is a good clue that dioxins is countable. Hence, much would not work with dioxins (as you would know, much is not used with countables)