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Peterson SC doubt

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Peterson SC doubt

by popo33 » Sat Aug 30, 2008 5:06 am
This question appeared in some Mock GMAT

The time it takes for a star to change its brightness is directly related to the luminosity of it.
a. the luminosity of it
b. the luminosity of its brightness
c. the luminosity of a star
d. luminosity of it
e. its luminosity

The answer is E. Here is the explanation
The original version is grammatically correct, but the pronoun reference is vague. (To what does it refer?) (E) clarifies the pronoun reference by using the possessive its luminosity.

Isn't 'its' in option E also vague as it can refer to both "star" and "brightness"?
Last edited by popo33 on Sat Aug 30, 2008 10:13 am, edited 2 times in total.
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Re: Peterson SC doubt

by Stuart@KaplanGMAT » Sat Aug 30, 2008 8:04 am
popo33 wrote:This question appeared in some Mock GMAT

The time it takes for a star to change its brightness is directly related to the luminosity of it.
a. the luminosity of it
b. the luminosity of its brightness
c. the luminosity of a star
d. luminosity of it
e. its luminosity

The answer is E. Here is the explanation
The original version is grammatically correct, but the pronoun reference is vague. (To what does it refer?) (E) clarifies the pronoun reference by using the possessive its luminosity.
Isn't 'its' also vague here as it can refer to both the star and its brightness
You're correct. (E) is the best choice purely for style reasons.
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by ddm » Sat Aug 30, 2008 12:15 pm
Can someone explain this...

'its' in option E also vague as it can refer to both "star" and "brightness"?
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by Stuart@KaplanGMAT » Sat Aug 30, 2008 6:56 pm
ddm wrote:Can someone explain this...

'its' in option E also vague as it can refer to both "star" and "brightness"?
Pronoun ambiguity is a style issue, not a grammar issue.

Here's the list of priorities for SC:

1) grammar
2) meaning
3) style

In this question, (e) is clearly the best stylistic choice. Further, since the pronoun "its" is used previously in the sentence (and in that case can only refer to "star"), it's clear to what noun the second "its" refers.
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by jessica.ng1988 » Sat Aug 30, 2008 8:23 pm
Its refers to star not to brightness.
brightness under the possesion of its too
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by GmatKiss » Fri Oct 07, 2011 9:20 am
IMO:E
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