The administration has increased the number of fines for mining safety violations as part of their campaign to protect miners.
has increased the number of fines for mining safety violations as part of their
have increased the number of fines for mining safety violations as part of their
has increased the number of fines for mining safety violations as part of its
has increased the amount of fines for mining safety violations as part of its
have increased the amount of fines for mining safety violations as part of their
Here is the explanation for not choosing D
This choice correctly uses the singular “has increased” and “its”; both agree with the singular “administration.” However, the use of “amount” is incorrect. “Amount is used for uncountable quantities. “Fines” are countable, and so “number” should be used.


When you get a ticket, the question is - "How much is the fine?", right? You don't say "How many is the fine"?

The way I read it, the admin has increased the ($) amount of fines (per violation). The correct answer (c) literally means that if there were 10 fines earlier, the administration has increased that to 20. Please help me understand why my interpretation is wrong?

In the real world, an administrator could increase the dollar amount of a fine. The administrator could also expand the pool of fines from, say, 10 to 20 (that is, there are now more violations that can result in fines).

The original sentence says "increased the number of fines." It doesn't mention dollar amount. So this sentence is not talking about the cost of the fine. It's talking about the number of different fines that some mine could incur.

Make sure you don't read into the sentence something that isn't there. I agree that when we talk about fines we usually talk more about the money - but this sentence doesn't say anything about money or cost.