Question

    Read the sentence to find out whether there is any

    grammatical or idiomatic error in it. The error, if any, will be in one part of the sentence. The letter of that part is the answer. If there is ‘No error’, the answer is (5). (Ignore errors of punctuation, if any). Except for causing of episodic mortality of pinnipeds and cetaceans in Europe and North America, the virus had not spread to marine mammals. 
    A Except for causing of episodic mortality Correct Answer Incorrect Answer
    B of pinnipeds and cetaceans in Europe Correct Answer Incorrect Answer
    C and North America, the virus Correct Answer Incorrect Answer
    D had not spread to marine mammals Correct Answer Incorrect Answer
    E No error Correct Answer Incorrect Answer

    Solution

    The phrase "causing of episodic mortality" is incorrect. The preposition "of" is unnecessary and ungrammatical in this context. The correct construction is "causing episodic mortality", as "causing" directly governs "episodic mortality."

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