For nearly a century, New Zealand's kākāpō-large, ground-dwelling parrots-have teetered on the brink of extinction. It was unlikely that most of us would ever see one in person, unless ______ visited the few islands that the birds still inhabited. Now, a kākāpō named Sirocco has been made the official "Spokesbird" for the Department of Conservation, travelling to different areas to connect with more people and increase awareness about endangered species.
Which choice completes the text so that it conforms to the conventions of Standard English?
Correct
Incorrect
The pronouns in the answer choices indicate that the question is testing which subjective pronoun is correct, so begin by determining the antecedent. The antecedent is the thing visited. Because neither the parrots nor New Zealand can logically visit the birds' island, the missing pronoun's antecedent must be "us." The correct pronoun must be plural and subjective. The correct answer is (D): "we." All other pronouns are incorrect: "they" is objective (A), "it" is singular (B), and "you" (C) is also singular.
