According to the answer key of a SAT preparation book I’m studying, there is an error in the sentence
By the time the bank guard closed the doors, a riot had erupted due to the long lines and shortage of tellers.
and it should be changed to
By the time the bank guard closed the doors, a riot had erupted as a result of the long lines and shortage of tellers.
I disagree with this. Why is the first sentence unacceptable?
Answer
19th-century stylists held that due is an adjective and that due to X phrases should be employed only as
- a postposed modifier, as in A riot due to long lines erupted, or
- a predicate adjective, as in The riot was due to long lines.
Actual on-the-ground usage has long since transformed due to into a preposition equivalent to because of, and you may safely ignore this ‘rule’ in all circumstances except one:
When you’re taking a test of your knowledge of English, assume your examiner follows the old rule: use due only as an adjective, and treat any other use as incorrect.
It’s stupid, but it’s a fact. As the poet Schiller wrote:
Against stupidity the gods themselves struggle in vain.
Attribution
Source : Link , Question Author : zodiac , Answer Author : StoneyB on hiatus
