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Question

Difficulty: HardParallel Structure

The wildlife biologist explained that the migration patterns of arctic terns are not only longer than any other bird species but also more complex.

Which choice is the most grammatically correct option for the underlined portion of the sentence?

  1. A
    any other bird species
  2. B
    any other bird species had migrated
  3. those of any other bird speciesAnswer
  4. D
    any other bird species, they travel thousands of miles

Answer

those of any other bird species
The correct option correctly uses the plural pronoun 'those' to represent 'migration patterns,' completing a parallel and logical comparison between the migration patterns of arctic terns and the migration patterns of other bird species.

Step-by-Step Solution

1
Identify the elements being compared in the sentence.
The sentence compares the 'migration patterns of arctic terns' to another element after the comparative phrase 'longer than.'
To ensure a logical comparison, the two compared items must represent the same type of concept.
2
Check the grammatical parallelism of the comparison.
The original phrase compares 'migration patterns' (a plural noun phrase) to 'any other bird species' (a noun phrase representing the birds themselves). This is an illogical comparison because a pattern cannot be compared directly to an animal.
Parallel structure requires comparing plural noun phrases using a pronoun like 'those of' or by repeating the noun.
3
Evaluate the options for correct pronoun reference and tense consistency.
Only the option using the plural pronoun 'those' to refer to 'migration patterns' resolves the illogical comparison while keeping the present tense.
This establishes a parallel and logical comparison: the migration patterns of one species are compared to the migration patterns (those) of other species.

Key Concept

Parallel Structure and Logical Comparison
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Topics

Parallel Structure

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