Question

While all states face similar industrial waste problems, the predominating industries and the regulatory environment of the states obviously determines the types and amounts of waste produced, as well as the cost of disposal.

• A. All states face similar industrial waste problems, the predominating industries and the regulatory environment of the states obviously determines
• B. Each state faces a similar industrial waste problem, their predominant industries and regulatory environment obviously determine
• C. All states face a similar industrial waste problem; their predominating industries and regulatory environment obviously determines
• D. Each state faces similar industrial waste problems, the predominant industries and the regulatory environment of each state obviously determines
• E. All states face similar industrial waste problems, the predominant industries and the regulatory environment of each state obviously determine

Answer 1

The correct option is E All states face similar industrial waste problems, the predominant industries and the regulatory environment of each state obviously determine

Let's go through the options here-

In option A, there is a disagreement of subject and verb- the verb 'determines' is singular while the subject 'the predominating industries and the regulatory environment' is plural. Also, the use of 'predominating' is wrong. B too has a similar error - 'each state' is singular but 'their' is plural and thus cannot refer to 'each'. The semi-colon in C is incorrect. When a semi-colon is used, both sides of the punctuation need to be independent clauses. This is not the case in C because the use of "While" denotes a dependent clause. Option D has the same error as A. E brings out the contrast required quite strongly as displayed by the use of ' all state..' and 'each'and has zero grammatical errors. Thus, E is our answer.