In studying bird migration patterns, researchers examine where certain species travel and how ______ Analysis of tracking data reveals that...

Sentence Structure

First sentence:

• In studying bird migration patterns,
• researchers examine
  • where certain species travel
  • and how ______ [they navigate across continents] [?: question or statement? inverted or standard order?]

Second sentence:

• Analysis of tracking data reveals
  • that these species navigate using both magnetic fields and visual landmarks.

Understanding the Meaning

Let's start reading from the beginning:

'In studying bird migration patterns, researchers examine where certain species travel and how ______'

So researchers are examining two things about bird migration:

• Where the birds go
• How they get there (navigate across continents)

Now here's where we have the blank. Let's look at our choices:

• A. do they navigate across continents.
• B. do they navigate across continents?
• C. they navigate across continents?
• D. they navigate across continents.

So we're deciding between:

• Word order: "do they navigate" vs. "they navigate"
• Punctuation: question mark vs. period

To see what works here, let's understand the structure of what we're reading!

The key is that word "examine":

• Researchers examine WHERE certain species travel
• Researchers examine HOW ______ across continents

These are questions being investigated, but they're embedded inside a statement about what researchers do.

Let's think about the difference:

• Direct question (standing alone): "How do they navigate?"
  • Uses inverted order: "do they"
  • Uses question mark

• Indirect question (embedded in a statement): "researchers examine how..."
  • Uses standard order: "they navigate" (not "do they navigate")
  • No question mark (because the whole sentence is a statement)

What do we notice about the structure here?

• This is an indirect question - it's part of the larger statement about what researchers examine
• Since it's embedded in a statement (not standing alone as a question), we need:
  • Standard word order: "they navigate"
  • A period (because the overall sentence is a statement)

So we need: they navigate across continents. (Choice D)

Let's read the second sentence to see the complete picture:
'Analysis of tracking data reveals that these species navigate using both magnetic fields and visual landmarks.'

This confirms we're in a passage making statements about research findings, not asking direct questions.

GRAMMAR CONCEPT APPLIED

Direct vs. Indirect Questions

When a question is embedded within a larger statement (called an indirect question in grammar terms), it follows different rules than a question standing alone:

Direct question (stands alone):

• "How do birds navigate?"
• Uses inverted word order: "do birds navigate"
• Ends with question mark

Indirect question (embedded in statement):

• "Researchers examine how birds navigate."
• Uses standard word order: "birds navigate" (not "do birds navigate")
• No question mark (the whole sentence is a statement)

Pattern with compound objects:

• "Scientists study where penguins breed and how they survive harsh winters."
• Both "where penguins breed" and "how they survive" are indirect questions
• Both use standard word order
• The sentence ends with a period

In this question:

• "researchers examine where certain species travel and how they navigate across continents."
• Both parts after "examine" are indirect questions
• Standard word order required: "they navigate" ✓
• Period at the end because it's a statement ✓