Question 14·Medium·Form, Structure, and Sense
On the small island of Anacapa, hundreds of Western gulls nest each spring; the ______ and swooping dives signal the start of breeding season.
Which choice completes the text so that it conforms to the conventions of Standard English?
For apostrophe and possession questions, first decide if the noun should be singular or plural based on the context around it. Then ask whether that noun needs to show ownership; if so, use singular possessive (’s) for one owner or plural possessive (s’) for more than one. Finally, make sure only the word that actually owns something gets the apostrophe, and that other nouns in the phrase stay as regular plural or singular forms as needed.
Hints
Focus on who is doing the signaling
Look at the part after the semicolon: what two things together are doing the signaling in this sentence?
Think about ownership
Do the gulls own or produce the things named in the blank, or are those words just describing the gulls? If they own/produce them, what form should the noun "gulls" take?
Check singular vs. plural and apostrophe placement
The sentence mentions "hundreds of Western gulls." With more than one gull, where should the apostrophe go to show possession? And should the word "calls" itself have an apostrophe?
Step-by-step Explanation
Understand what the blank is describing
Read the full sentence: "On the small island of Anacapa, hundreds of Western gulls nest each spring; the ______ and swooping dives signal the start of breeding season."
The blank plus "and swooping dives" is the subject of the verb "signal." So the blank must be a noun phrase that, together with "swooping dives," can act as the thing doing the signaling.
Decide if you need possession
Ask what the missing words should mean: it is the gulls’ calls and dives that signal the start of breeding season.
That means the calls belong to the gulls, so the noun referring to the birds should be in the possessive form, not just a plain plural. We also want "calls" itself to just be a normal noun (things the gulls make), not something owning anything.
Choose singular vs. plural possessive
Earlier in the sentence, we have "hundreds of Western gulls nest each spring"—this clearly refers to more than one gull.
So the possessive form for "gull" must be plural possessive (showing ownership by many gulls), which is formed by adding an apostrophe after the final s in the plural form of the noun.
Separately, "distinct calls" should be a simple plural noun (no apostrophe), because the calls do not own anything; they are just being described.
Match the correct grammar to an answer choice
Now check the options:
- We need a plural possessive form of "gulls" (apostrophe after the s) to show that the calls belong to many gulls.
- We need "calls" as a regular plural noun with no apostrophe.
The only choice that has both a plural possessive "gulls" and a regular plural "calls" is C) gulls' distinct calls.