As part of its ongoing conservation efforts, the wildlife sanctuary monitors populations of endangered species in the region and _____...

Let's begin by understanding the meaning of this sentence. We'll use our understanding of pause points and segment the sentence as shown - understanding and assimilating the meaning of each segment bit by bit!

Sentence Structure

• As part of its ongoing conservation efforts,
• the wildlife sanctuary monitors populations of endangered species in the region
  • and
  • (?) specialized breeding programs
    • to increase genetic diversity
    • and
    • ensure long-term survival.

Understanding the Meaning

Let's start reading from the beginning:

• 'As part of its ongoing conservation efforts'
  • This sets up the context – everything that follows is part of the sanctuary's conservation work.
• 'the wildlife sanctuary monitors populations of endangered species in the region'
  • Subject: 'the wildlife sanctuary' (singular)
  • First action: 'monitors populations' – they track and observe endangered species
• 'and ______ specialized breeding programs'
  • Now here's where we need to fill in the blank.
  • Notice that 'and' is connecting this to what came before.

Let's look at our choices:

• A. maintained (past tense)
• B. maintaining (present participle)
• C. maintains (present tense, singular)
• D. to maintain (infinitive)

What do we notice about the structure here?

The 'and' is connecting two actions that the sanctuary performs:

1. 'monitors populations of endangered species'
2. '______ specialized breeding programs'

Both actions are done by the same subject: 'the wildlife sanctuary'

Since we have:

• Subject: 'the wildlife sanctuary' (singular)
• First verb: 'monitors' (present tense, singular form)
• Second verb: must match the same form

The two verbs need to be parallel – they're both main actions the sanctuary takes, so they need to be in the same form.

So we need: maintains – present tense, singular, matching 'monitors'

Now let's read the rest to see the complete picture:

• 'to increase genetic diversity and ensure long-term survival'
  • This tells us why they maintain these breeding programs – the goal is to increase genetic diversity and ensure survival.

The complete meaning:

• As part of their conservation work, the wildlife sanctuary does two main things: (1) monitors endangered species populations, and (2) maintains specialized breeding programs – all to increase genetic diversity and ensure long-term survival.

The correct answer is C. maintains

Grammar Concept Applied

Parallel Structure in Compound Predicates

When a subject performs two or more actions connected by "and," all the verbs must be in the same form – this is called parallel structure. The verbs also must agree with their shared subject.

Pattern:

• Subject + Verb₁ + and + Verb₂
• Both verbs must match in form and both must agree with the subject

Example 1:

• The company develops new products and sells them internationally.
• Subject: "the company" (singular)
• Verb₁: "develops" (present tense, singular)
• Verb₂: "sells" (present tense, singular) ✓

Example 2 (incorrect):

• The company develops new products and selling them internationally. ✗
• "develops" and "selling" are not parallel

In our question:

• Subject: "the wildlife sanctuary" (singular)
• Verb₁: "monitors" (present tense, singular)
• Verb₂: "maintains" (present tense, singular) ✓
• Both verbs are parallel and both agree with the singular subject