Mary Anning discovered her first complete ichthyosaur fossil on the cliffs of Lyme Regis in 1811. The finding brought international...

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

Sentence 1:

• Mary Anning discovered her first complete ichthyosaur fossil
  • on the cliffs of Lyme Regis
  • in 1811.

Sentence 2:

• The finding brought international attention
  • to the coastal town
• and established Anning's reputation
  • in paleontology.

Sentence 3:

• [?] went on to uncover numerous significant specimens,
  • including plesiosaurs and pterosaurs.

Understanding the Meaning

Let's read from the beginning to understand what's happening:

Sentence 1 introduces us to a specific person:

• 'Mary Anning discovered her first complete ichthyosaur fossil'
  • Mary Anning is one person
  • She made a fossil discovery
  • The word "her" tells us Mary Anning is female
• This happened 'on the cliffs of Lyme Regis in 1811'

Sentence 2 tells us the impact of this discovery:

• 'The finding brought international attention to the coastal town'
  • The fossil discovery made the town famous
• 'and established Anning's reputation in paleontology'
  • It also made Anning well-known in the field
  • Still talking about the same person - Mary Anning

Now we reach the blank in Sentence 3:

• '[blank] went on to uncover numerous significant specimens'

Let's look at our choices:

• She (singular - one person)
• Both (plural - two people)
• They all (plural - multiple people)
• Those (plural - multiple things or people)

What do we notice?

• The entire passage is about one person: Mary Anning
  • She's the only person mentioned in sentence 1
  • Sentence 2 continues discussing "Anning" (same person)
  • Sentence 3 needs a pronoun to keep talking about this same person

• Mary Anning is:
  • One person (singular, not multiple)
  • Female (we know from "her first complete ichthyosaur fossil")

So we need: A singular pronoun that refers back to Mary Anning.

The correct answer is She - it's the only singular pronoun that matches Mary Anning (one female person).

Grammar Concept Applied

Pronouns Must Match What They Refer To

When you use a pronoun (like "she," "he," "they," "it"), it needs to match what it's referring back to - called the antecedent in grammar terms. The pronoun must agree in two ways:

1. Number Agreement (singular vs. plural):

• If referring to ONE person/thing → use singular pronoun (she, he, it)
• If referring to MULTIPLE people/things → use plural pronoun (they, both, these)

Example from this question:

• Antecedent: Mary Anning (ONE person)
• Correct pronoun: She (singular)
• Incorrect: They all, Both, Those (all plural)

2. Gender Agreement (when applicable):

• If referring to a female person → use feminine pronoun (she, her)
• If referring to a male person → use masculine pronoun (he, him)

In this passage:

• "Mary Anning" and "Anning" appear in the first two sentences
• This establishes Mary Anning as the singular female subject
• The blank in sentence 3 needs a pronoun to continue discussing this same person
• "She" is the only choice that matches: singular (one person) and feminine (Mary Anning)