The word or phrase that should replace them to create a more effective sentence is option d: J Baylor students and scientists
What is the pronoun?
A pronoun is a word that takes the place of a noun. Pronouns are used to avoid repetition and make sentences flow more smoothly. There are many different types of pronouns.
So, the pronoun "them" in sentence 27 is one that refers to the researchers as mentioned in the part of the sentence. To create a more effective sentence, it's clearer to specify who these researchers are. So this clarification helps readers understand who is actively excavating bones and conducting soil tests at the Woolly Mammoth National Monument.
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question. Then fill in the answer on your answer document.
Zendaya has written this essay for a class assignment. Read
Zendaya’s essay and look for any revisions she needs to make.
When you finish reading, answer the questions that follow.
What Happened to the
Mammoths of Texas?
(1) Imagine taking a walk in the woods to search for
arrowheads when, all of a sudden, you stumble across an enormous
bone jutting out of the ground! (2) That’s exactly what happened one
day in 1978 when two 19-year-olds discovered a fossilized mammoth
bone in a dusty riverbed.
(3) At first the teens did not realize they had found the remains
of one of North America’s largest mammoth herds. (4) Baylor
University paleontologists eventually confirmed their discovery of
16 mammoths—10 females and 6 juveniles. (5) The scientists then
began researching how the 16 mammoths in the herd ended up in
this particular location. (6) For many years paleontologists believed
the mammoths were killed by a sudden catastrophe; however, new
discoveries helped researchers determine that the mammoths died
more slowly.
(7) Over the years as scientists studied the mammoths, they
uncovered more information that altered their initial theories.
(8) This happens often due to new discoveries or additional data
that lead to new theories. (9) One initial theory was that the
mammoth herd was trapped in a ravine and drowned in a flash
flood. (10) Because they are so large, the mammoths likely would
have struggled to climb out of the ravine in time. (11) That would
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have made it hard to survive the sudden flooding. (12) However,
as the scientists studied the fossils over several years, researchers
discovered that the growth patterns on the bones appeared stunted,
as though the animals did not have sufficient nutrition.
(13) A 2017 study by Baylor geology professor Steven Driese,
along with doctoral students Don Esker and Logan Wiest, supported
the “lack of nutrition” theory. (14) The researchers suggested
that the mammoths died during a long drought. (15) Therefore,
in addition to water, the mammoths struggled to find sufficient
vegetation, such as grasses. (16) According to the study the
mammoths died due to a lack of water, not from a flood. (17) “There
was no scientific evidence that they drowned, [that’s] just an idea
perpetuated through the decades,” Wiest says. (18) “Anatomically,
they’re much like elephants, and elephants swim very well.”
(19) Instead, Driese and his students hypothesized that the animals
were likely huddled around a water hole until it finally dried up.
(20) Wiest’s team developed their theory after they carefully
studied the mammoth bones and saw tooth marks made from
rodents and holes created by scavenger beetles. (21) Researchers
believed that the holes and tooth marks on the bones provided
evidence that the bones were not immediately buried by sediment
or by water; rather, they had been exposed to the elements for a
long time. (22) The malnourished condition of the mammoths
seems to support Wiest’s drought theory. (23) Further testing also
suggested the mammoths had died when central Texas was in a cool
period—about seven degrees cooler on average than today.
(24) This leading theory about the fate of the Waco mammoth herd
is not supported by all researchers, but it is one of the most highly
regarded suggestions about what happened to the animals.
(25) Although there are still disagreements about the exact
reason why the mammoths died, many people visit the Waco
excavation site and develop their own theories about what happened.
(26) In the 1990s a climate-controlled shelter was erected over the
paleontology site, and in 2015 the site was named “Woolly Mammoth
National Monument.” (27) Research is still ongoing, and lucky visitors
can see them actively excavating bones and conducting soil tests.
The pronoun in sentence 27 is unclear. Which word or phrase should
replace them to create a more effective sentence?
F woolly mammoths
G other tourists
H teenagers
J Baylor students and scientists