PLEASE HELP ME CLARIFY the use of that vs. who

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Question:
The Diary of Anne Frank tells the true story of a young girl and her family that were hidden during the Nazi occupation of the Netherlands by a gentile Dutch couple, though they were eventually discovered

Source: MGMAT SC Question Bank



a) that were hidden during the Nazi occupation of the Netherlands by a gentile Dutch couple, though they were eventually discovered

b)that were hidden by a gentile Dutch couple during the Nazi occupation of the Netherlands, though they were eventually discovered

c) whom a gentile Dutch couple hid during the Nazi occupation of the Netherlands but were eventually discovered

d) who were hidden by a gentile Dutch couple during the Nazi occupation of the Netherlands but were eventually discovered

e) who were hidden by a gentile Dutch couple during the Nazi occupation of the Netherlands even though they were eventually discovered

I did this problem yesterday and a little confused by part of the explanation provided by MGMAT. Specifically "The original sentence uses the relative pronoun "that" where "who" is preferred because the antecedent is a group of people"

Can someone please elaborate on this point, I was definitely not aware of this. Thanks

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by vikram4689 » Tue Jun 21, 2011 7:16 pm
tgou008 wrote:Question:
The Diary of Anne Frank tells the true story of a young girl and her family that were hidden during the Nazi occupation of the Netherlands by a gentile Dutch couple, though they were eventually discovered

Source: MGMAT SC Question Bank



a) that were hidden during the Nazi occupation of the Netherlands by a gentile Dutch couple, though they were eventually discovered

b)that were hidden by a gentile Dutch couple during the Nazi occupation of the Netherlands, though they were eventually discovered

c) whom a gentile Dutch couple hid during the Nazi occupation of the Netherlands but were eventually discovered PARALLELISM Violated

d) who were hidden by a gentile Dutch couple during the Nazi occupation of the Netherlands but were eventually discovered

e) who were hidden by a gentile Dutch couple during the Nazi occupation of the Netherlands even though they were eventually discovered - USE OF EVEN THOUGH is WRONG (it means despite the fact, replace it and you will not get the intended meaning of showing contrast)

I did this problem yesterday and a little confused by part of the explanation provided by MGMAT. Specifically "The original sentence uses the relative pronoun "that" where "who" is preferred because the antecedent is a group of people"

Can someone please elaborate on this point, I was definitely not aware of this. Thanks
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by abhishek.pati » Tue Jun 21, 2011 10:22 pm
IMO D