At Shiprock, New Mexico, a perennially powerful girls' high school basketball team has become a path to college for some and a source of pride for a community where the household incomes of 49 percent of them are below the poverty level.
(A) where the household incomes of 49 percent of them are
(B) where they have 49 percent of the household incomes
(C) where 49 percent of the household incomes are
(D) which has 49 percent of the household incomes
(E) in which 49 percent of them have household incomes
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Hi RiyaR,
This SC has a "quirky" design to it - while the wrong answers are fairly easy to define, the typical grammar "splits" that you would normally see don't exist in this prompt. For example, the beginnings of the answer choices ("where", "which" and "in which") are not enough, on their own, to eliminate any of the answers for an obvious reason.
1) Vague Pronouns: Answers A, B and E all use a plural pronoun ("them" or "they") that does not properly refer to a noun. Eliminate A, B and E.
2) Meaning: Between C and D, C uses the word "where" to refer to "Shiprock, New Mexico" - which is fine. The sentence goes on to state that 49% of the household incomes (in this place) are below the poverty line. The grammar here is fine. In D, the phrase "which has 49 percent of the household incomes..." means that that Shiprock (the city) has 49% of the household incomes - this implies that the city "possesses" the incomes, which makes no sense. Eliminate D.
Final Answer: C
GMAT assassins aren't born, they're made,
Rich
This SC has a "quirky" design to it - while the wrong answers are fairly easy to define, the typical grammar "splits" that you would normally see don't exist in this prompt. For example, the beginnings of the answer choices ("where", "which" and "in which") are not enough, on their own, to eliminate any of the answers for an obvious reason.
1) Vague Pronouns: Answers A, B and E all use a plural pronoun ("them" or "they") that does not properly refer to a noun. Eliminate A, B and E.
2) Meaning: Between C and D, C uses the word "where" to refer to "Shiprock, New Mexico" - which is fine. The sentence goes on to state that 49% of the household incomes (in this place) are below the poverty line. The grammar here is fine. In D, the phrase "which has 49 percent of the household incomes..." means that that Shiprock (the city) has 49% of the household incomes - this implies that the city "possesses" the incomes, which makes no sense. Eliminate D.
Final Answer: C
GMAT assassins aren't born, they're made,
Rich
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vivekvijayan
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Hi Rich,
In this sentence can't "where" incorrectly refer to community? That is how I interpreted it. After where came
right after community. Isn't this sentence in that sense a little ambiguous?
In this sentence can't "where" incorrectly refer to community? That is how I interpreted it. After where came
right after community. Isn't this sentence in that sense a little ambiguous?
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Hi vivekvijayan,
Your point is one of the reasons why I mentioned the "quirky design" of this SC. From a strict "usage" standpoint, the word "where" MUST refer to a place. In this sentence, the word "where" refers to Shiprock, New Mexico (which IS a place). Over the years, I've found that the GMAT sometimes is a bit "loose" with some of its "usage and style" rules. As such, when I find myself debating an answer choice, I tend to look for more obvious rules (verbs, pronouns, etc. ) that are incorrect - in that way, I can eliminate all of the answers that are wrong because of VERY specific, established grammar rules - and I can avoid the usage "debate" altogether. There will always be 1 correct answer on Test Day; even I don't love the answer, if I can eliminate the other 4 options, then the one that's left is the one that I'll pick.
GMAT assassins aren't born, they're made,
Rich
Your point is one of the reasons why I mentioned the "quirky design" of this SC. From a strict "usage" standpoint, the word "where" MUST refer to a place. In this sentence, the word "where" refers to Shiprock, New Mexico (which IS a place). Over the years, I've found that the GMAT sometimes is a bit "loose" with some of its "usage and style" rules. As such, when I find myself debating an answer choice, I tend to look for more obvious rules (verbs, pronouns, etc. ) that are incorrect - in that way, I can eliminate all of the answers that are wrong because of VERY specific, established grammar rules - and I can avoid the usage "debate" altogether. There will always be 1 correct answer on Test Day; even I don't love the answer, if I can eliminate the other 4 options, then the one that's left is the one that I'll pick.
GMAT assassins aren't born, they're made,
Rich
