Marine biologist Sylvia Earle has pioneered deep-sea exploration for decades. Her groundbreaking work in the 1970s included leading the first...

Sentence Structure

• Marine biologist Sylvia Earle
  • has pioneered deep-sea exploration for decades.

• Her groundbreaking work in the 1970s
  • included leading the first team of female aquanauts.

• Many of the (?) of underwater ecosystems
  • have become foundational texts in oceanography.

• Where (?): scientist's/scientists + detailed + study's/studies

Understanding the Meaning

The passage introduces us to Sylvia Earle:

• A marine biologist who has pioneered deep-sea exploration for decades
• Her work in the 1970s included leading the first team of female aquanauts

Now we get to the sentence with the blank:

• "Many of the _____ of underwater ecosystems have become foundational texts in oceanography."

This is where we have the blank. Let's look at the choices:

• A. scientists detailed study's
• B. scientist's detailed studies
• C. scientist's detailed study's
• D. scientists detailed studies

To see what works here, let's read and really understand what this sentence is telling us!

The sentence is saying that:

• "Many" of something have become foundational texts (plural books/papers)
• These are texts "in oceanography" - the field of ocean science

What are these "many" things?

Let's think about the structure: "Many of the _____ of underwater ecosystems"

Breaking this down:

• We need something that can be "many" (plural)
• These things are "of underwater ecosystems" (about underwater ecosystems)
• They belong to someone (the scientist - Earle, from context)

What do we notice about what we need here?

• First, "many" tells us we need a plural noun at the end
  • "studies" works with "many" ✓
  • "study's" (singular possessive) cannot work with "many" ✗

• Second, we need to show possession - whose studies?
  • The scientist's studies (belonging to the scientist - Earle)
  • So we need "scientist's" (with apostrophe + s showing possession)

• Third, "detailed" is the adjective describing what kind of studies

So the complete phrase should be:

• "the scientist's detailed studies"
  • = the detailed studies belonging to the scientist (Earle)

The complete meaning:

• Many of Earle's detailed studies of underwater ecosystems have become foundational texts in the field of oceanography.

The correct answer is Choice B: scientist's detailed studies

GRAMMAR CONCEPT APPLIED

Using Possessive Apostrophes with Singular Nouns

When you want to show that something belongs to a singular person or thing, you add apostrophe + s to the noun. Then the noun that follows must match any quantity words in the sentence.

Pattern:

• Singular possessive: scientist + 's = scientist's (the scientist's work, the scientist's studies)
• This shows ownership: the studies belonging to the scientist

Key principle: Match the final noun to quantity words

• "Many of the scientist's studies" ✓ (many requires plural "studies")
• "Many of the scientist's study's" ✗ (study's is singular possessive - can't work with "many")

In this question:

• We need: "the scientist's detailed studies"
• "scientist's" = possessive showing the studies belong to the scientist (Earle)
• "studies" = plural noun matching "many"
• "detailed" = adjective describing the studies

Common mistake to avoid:

• Don't confuse plural (scientists) with possessive (scientist's)
• "scientists studies" = unclear (just plural, no possession shown)
• "scientist's studies" = clear (shows ownership + plural)