In order to help prevent human overpopulation, scientist Benjamin Zuckerman favors using tax breaks to encourage families to limit the - number - of children they have.

In order to help prevent human overpopulation, scientist Benjamin Zuckerman favors using tax breaks to encourage families to limit the - number - of children they have.

• A. number
• B. amount
• C. quantity
• D. total

Answer: (A)

The concept being tested is choosing the right noun for countable items after a verb like limit. Children are countable, so we use number to indicate how many there are. The natural phrase is "the number of children." Amount is reserved for uncountable nouns (like water or sand), and quantity, while it can refer to countable items, sounds less natural here. Total isn’t used alone in this spot; the common and idiomatic expression is the number of children.

The concept being tested is choosing the right noun for countable items after a verb like limit. Children are countable, so we use number to indicate how many there are. The natural phrase is "the number of children." Amount is reserved for uncountable nouns (like water or sand), and quantity, while it can refer to countable items, sounds less natural here. Total isn’t used alone in this spot; the common and idiomatic expression is the number of children.