pranavc wrote:1. With no natural predators and expanses of green suburban neighborhoods that allow no hunting, wildlife officials estimate the New Jersey deer population to have grown to exceed 175,000.
(A) With no natural predators and expanses of green suburban neighborhoods that allow no hunting, wildlife officials estimate the New Jersey deer population to have
(B) With no natural predators and with expanses of green suburban neighborhoods that do not allow hunting, wildlife officials' estimate of the deer population in New Jersey has
(C) With no natural predators and with expanses of green suburban neighborhoods where there is no hunting, the deer population in New Jersey, wildlife officials estimate, has
(D) Without natural predators and no hunting allowed in expanses of green suburban neighborhoods, New Jersey has a deer population that wildlife officials estimate to have
(E) Without natural predators and with expanses of green suburban neighborhoods where there is no hunting, wildlife officials in New Jersey estimate a deer population that has
Here's my reasoning for C:
It all boils down to the adverbial modifier " Without natural predators... ," as somebody rightly pointed out.
(A)
With no natural predators and expanses of green suburban neighborhoods that allow no hunting,
wildlife officials estimate the New Jersey deer population to
have
Wild life officials wouldn't have any predators. have is also a problem. Eliminate!
(B)
With no natural predators and with expanses of green suburban neighborhoods that do not allow hunting,
wildlife officials' estimate of the deer population in New Jersey has
The estimates don't have predators either. Eliminate!
(C) )
With no natural predators and with expanses of green suburban neighborhoods where there is no hunting,
the deer population in New Jersey, wildlife officials estimate, has
Deer population rightly being referred to. the phrase "wildlife officials estimate" can be removed to check consistency. hmm Keep!
(D) )
Without natural predators and no hunting allowed in expanses of green suburban neighborhoods, )
New Jersey has a deer population that wildlife officials estimate to
have
New Jersey wouldn't have any predators either. Also it must be noted the proximity rule doesn't apply here, as this is an adverbial modifier. It is required,however, to rightly refer to the subject in question. Here New Jersey is not the right subject. More importantly have is wrong. To check which subject the have is pointing to if there is a confusion, ask what has/have grown? The deer population, hence has, not have.Eliminate!
(E)
Without natural predators and with expanses of green suburban neighborhoods where there is no hunting,
wildlife officials in New Jersey estimate a deer population that has
Wild life officials wouldn't have any predators. Also here they are estimating "a" deer population. Doesn't sound right. Eliminate!
