<p>Despite research on the diagnosis of heart disease and the use of increasingly sophisticated technology in its treatment, the condition of coronary arteries is still difficult to assess precisely.</p>
<p>I thought that the answer would be C because 'its' could refer to research. Why is this not ambiguous?</p>
<p>Because of the exceptionally hilly terrain, the first miles of the racecourse were difficult for the other runners and me.</p>
<p>Could someone explain why "Because of" is correct instead of "Due to"? I don't completely understand their diction usages.</p>
<p>Thanks in advance!</p>
<p>Are both of them no error?</p>
<p>Because of modifies verbs, due to modifies nouns. My failure was due to my inability to study. I failed because of my inability to study.</p>
<p>For the first one…idk. Sometimes it is ambiguous sometimes it isn’t. I would say because heart disease is closer. I do not get why it is no error because heart disease is the object of the prep. Usually the object of the prep cannot be an antecedent.</p>
<p>“because of” and “due to” are both grammatical in this context, though you might think “due to” might work better, that is beyond what the SAT is asking you to do. “The first miles of the racecourse were difficult for the other runners and me BECAUSE of the exceptionally hilly terrain.” Makes perfect sense right?</p>
<p>The answer key says that both of them are No error.</p>
<p>Anyone, please? I still don’t full understand these questions.</p>
<p>For the second one, “because of” is correct, and “due to” would be wrong. A good way of understanding how these structures work is by looking at the words “because” and “due.” You use “due” in a sentence like The paper is due next Tuesday. In this sentence, “due” is an adjective describing “paper.” (Similarly, in the sentence The sky is blue, “blue” is an adjective describing “sky.” Also, although the use of “due” in that sentence has a different meaning than the word in “due to,” the usage of the word is still the same because “due” is an adjective in both cases.) On the other hand, “because” is a conjunction, so it essentially describes a clause: The first miles of the racecourse were difficult because the terrain was exceptionally hilly or The first miles of the racecourse were difficult because of the exceptionally hilly terrain. You would say It is raining because of saturated air, where “It is raining” (a clause) is essential. On the other hand, you would say Rain is due to saturated air, where “Rain” (a noun) is essential.</p>
<p>So since “because of” logically follows the idea that *The first miles of the racecourse were difficult<a href=“represented%20as%20a%20clause,%20i.e.,%20a%20simple%20sentence”>/i</a>, you would not be able to interchangeably use “due to,” unless the idea was represented in a noun, as in The difficulty of running the racecourse was due to…, where (essentially) “difficulty” is being described.</p>
<p>For the first one, the antecedent of “it” (“heart disease”) is implied. Just because there is more than one noun that comes before a pronoun in a sentence doesn’t mean that the pronoun is ambiguous. As long as what a pronoun refers to is understood (through context and logic), the pronoun is not ambiguous. </p>
<p>The context that helps you understand that “it” refers to “heart disease” comes not only from common sense, but also from word association. We associate “treatment” with “heart disease.” We also associate “treatment” with “diagnosis.” We do not associate “research” with “treatment.”</p>
<p>Thanks a lot, crazybandit. I understand it now.</p>