Thread: Need Clarification

163. Because Halley’s comet changes orbit slightly during the seventy-six-year interval between passing close to Earth, it may veer onto a collision course with a planet sometime in the distant future.
(A) between passing
(B) of passing
(C) between its passes
(D) of its passes
(E) as it passes

Please explain how C is the answer.

Hi,

Thanks for your reply. I read a little more and found that C is correct because of correct use of "gerund".

wat say?

Completely disagree with Adutta. If it's C, then there is no option of gerund.
Between presupposes use of noun - between 2 and 3 o'clock, or to choose between applying to harvard and stanford. You can't say only between passing as you can't only say between applying to harvard. Between requires 2 things. In C between says that smth happens between two passes. For example moment X when comet passed close to earth and moment Y 76 years later when comet passed close to earth for the second time.
"Between its passes" modifies the noun interval. And interval can't be passing

Not completely, but partly
the answer is C, but no option of gerund