Read the excerpt. Because the endangered panthers living in the forests need large, connected territories to roam. What is the best review of this excerpt?

This question is missing the answer choices. I have found them online. They are as follows:

A. The excerpt does not need revision because it contains an independent clause that completes the writer's thought.

B. The excerpt does not need revision because it contains a dependent clause that completes the writer's thought.

C. The excerpt should be revised because it contains an independent clause that leaves the writer's thought unfinished.

D. The excerpt should be revised because it contains a dependent clause that leaves the writer's thought unfinished.

The best review of the excerpt is:

D. The excerpt should be revised because it contains a dependent clause that leaves the writer's thought unfinished.

Explanation:

An independent clause expresses a complete thought on its own, which means it can stand alone as a sentence. On the other hand, a dependent clause cannot do the same, because it expresses an incomplete thought. Dependent clauses begin with subordinating conjunctions such as "because", "although", "when", "since", etc.

The excerpt we are analyzing here is an example of dependent clause. Notice that it begins with the subordinating conjunction "because" and that an idea is missing in the end:

"Because the endangered panthers living in the forest need large, connected territories to roam..." what? Because of that, what should happen? What should we do? See how the message is incomplete? Just as an example, let's complete this sentence with another idea:

- Because the endangered panthers living in the forest need large, connected territories to roam, we should protect large areas of wilderness.

See how it sounds better now? The message of the sentence is complete.