An apostrophe question tests whether a noun owns something and how many owners there are. Read past the blank, then flip the nouns with of between them to see whether the meaning stays the same. A noun takes an apostrophe only when it owns what follows. One owner takes 's; several owners ending in s take an apostrophe after the s. As you count, count the owners, not the thing they own.
Hints
- Hint 1
Read the word immediately after the blank. Can you link it to the trees using of?
- Hint 2
Look back at the list of apple, pear, and cherry trees. Count the owners, not the growth, to decide which noun form the sentence needs.
Step-by-step
Test ownership, then count the owners
Step 1Test ownership
Read past the blank to growth, because an apostrophe depends on whether the noun owns what follows. Does growth of the trees mean what the sentence says? It does: pruning changes how the trees grow in spring. A noun takes an apostrophe when it owns the thing named next, so the noun needs an apostrophe.
- Step 2
Count the owners
How many owners are there? The phrase various apple, pear, and cherry trees describes several trees, even though they're all in one orchard. We're counting the trees whose growth is described, not the orchard or the amount of growth. The owners are plural, so the noun starts as trees.
- Step 3
Place the apostrophe
For a plural noun ending in s, put the apostrophe after the existing s. We don't add another s, because trees already ends in s; adding only the apostrophe gives trees'. The blank reads the trees', followed by growth, so the growth belongs to several trees. Choice C.