Question

Unlike the nests of leaf cutters and most other ants, situated underground or in pieces of wood, raider ants make a portable nest by entwining their long legs to form "curtains" of ants that hang from logs or boulders, providing protection for the queen and the colony larvae and pupae.

• A. the nests of leaf cutters and most other ants,
• B. the nests of leaf cutters and most other ants, which are
• C. leaf cutters and most other ants, whose nests are
• D. leaf cutters and most other ants inhaving nests
• E. those of leaf cutters and most other ants with nests

Answer 1

Answer: (C)

leaf cutters and most other ants, whose nests are

The sentence as given or even with the use of option A, is illogical as it compares the nests with raider ants. Since 'raider ants' is in the non-underlined parts', 'unlike' must be followed by 'leaf cutters and most other ants' - for the comparison to make sense. The sentence should logically mean: "Whereas leaf cutters and most other ants create their nest underground or in pieces of wood, raider ants make a portable nest. They create a portable nest by twisting their long legs to form a curtain of ants. These curtains hang from logs or boulders and, as a result, provide protection for the queen and the colony of larvae and pupae. Both, options A and B have the same error- comparing nests of leaf cutters to raider ants. The prepositional phrase 'in having nests' of option D seems to modify the subject 'raider ants' and thus imply that the raider ants have their nests underground. it is evident that this is not the case from the rest of the sentence. In option E it is not clear what 'those' refers to. Apart from this, the sentence again makes an illogical comparison. Therefore, option C is the correct answer as it corrects the original error of illogical comparison and does not make any new errors.