Like the beautiful old growth forests that provide the neces

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Like the beautiful old growth forests that provide the necessary habitat for the marten and fisher cat, the animals themselves are disappearing across North America because of increased logging and development.

(A) the animals themselves are disappearing across North America because of increased logging and development
(B) increased logging and development are causing the animals themselves to disappear
(C) increased logging and development are the cause of the animals themselves disappearing
(D) the animals' disappearance across North America is being caused by increased logging and development
(E) North America has a disappearance of the animals themselves because of increased logging and development

I'm confused why A is the correct answer. Can any experts help?

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by ErikaPrepScholar » Mon Nov 06, 2017 10:02 am
This question deals with a misplaced modifier.

In this sentence "Like the beautiful old growth forests that provide the necessary habitat for the marten and fisher cat" acts as a modifier - it is meant to describe a noun in the sentence. Modifiers always describe the nouns they are closest to. So what does the modifier describe in A?

A. Like the beautiful old growth forests that provide the necessary habitat for the marten and fisher cat, the animals themselves are disappearing across North America because of increased logging and development.

So the sentence says that the forests that the marten and fisher cat live in are disappearing due to logging and development, AND the marten and fisher cat themselves are SIMILARLY disappearing due to logging and development. This makes sense.

However, the other sentences have the modifier describing other things:

B. Like the beautiful old growth forests that provide the necessary habitat for the marten and fisher cat, increased logging and development are causing the animals themselves to disappear.

So here, the sentence says that the forests the marten and fisher cat live in are like increased logging and development: the both cause the marten and fisher cat to disappear. This doesn't make much sense. Eliminate.

We can eliminate the other answer choices for similar reasons.
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by Ali Tariq » Tue Nov 07, 2017 9:43 am
ardz24 wrote:Like the beautiful old growth forests that provide the necessary habitat for the marten and fisher cat, the animals themselves are disappearing across North America because of increased logging and development.

(A) the animals themselves are disappearing across North America because of increased logging and development
(B) increased logging and development are causing the animals themselves to disappear
(C) increased logging and development are the cause of the animals themselves disappearing
(D) the animals' disappearance across North America is being caused by increased logging and development
(E) North America has a disappearance of the animals themselves because of increased logging and development

I'm confused why A is the correct answer. Can any experts help?

If it's not from the official source( as is pretty evident) then we have a problem here.

Here is the one from the official source(OG 12).
Like the grassy fields and old pastures that the upland sandpiper needs for feeding and nesting when it returns in May after wintering in the Argentine Pampas, the sandpipers vanishing in the northeastern United States is a result of residential and industrial development and of changes in farming practices.

(A) the sandpipers vanishing in the northeastern United States is a result of residential and industrial development and of changes in

(B) the bird itself is vanishing in the northeastern United States as a result of residential and industrial development and of changes in

(C) that the birds themselves are vanishing in the northeastern United States is due to residential and industrial development and changes to

(D) in the northeastern United States, sandpipers' vanishing due to residential and industrial development and to changes in

(E) in the northeastern United States, the sandpipers' vanishing, a result of residential and industrial development and changing
OA B
Consulting such mimicked questions can never be recommended, dear friend.
We have to discourage the menace of plagiarism together, as says Simon Sinek 'Together is Better'.
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