Sentence Correction

Almost like clones in their similarity to one another, the cheetah species' homogeneity makes them especially vulnerable to disease.

(A) the cheetah species' homogeneity makes them especially vulnerable to disease
(B) the cheetah species is especially vulnerable to disease because of its homogeneity
(C) the homogeneity of the cheetah species makes it especially vulnerable to disease
(D) homogeneity makes members of the cheetah species especially vulnerable to disease
(E) members of the cheetah species are especially vulnerable to disease because of their homogeneity

OA is E

This is a question that can be resolved just on the basis of the beginnings of the options. In the given sentence, you have the introductory phrase Almost like clones in their similarity to one another. The reciprocal pronouns ONE ANOTHER require a plural referent, and in this sentence that plural referent must be the subject. Furthermore, this plural subject must be one that the introductory phrase can logically modify.

1. In option A, the subject is HOMOGENEITY, which is singular and is not logically modified by the introductory phrase.

2. In option B, the subject is SPECIES, which can be either singular or plural, but here is singular and is followed by a singular verb. Moreover, there is no logical connection between SPECIES and the introductory phrase.

3. In options C and D the subject is again HOMOGENEITY, so the objections that apply to option A also apply here.

4. Since option E refers to plural MEMBERS, and since it is these MEMBERS that are similar TO ONE ANOTHER, this is the correct answer.

If you like this post, please click on the THANK icon.

You can also visit us at https://www.xgmat.com/

hi experts,
could you please share your detail analysis on this official qs ?

would much appreciate your reply.

thank you!

p.s: rich@empower/gmatguru/veritas experts/others - anybody, please share your analysis for this og sc!

ngk4mba3236 wrote:Almost like clones in their similarity to one another, the cheetah species' homogeneity makes them especially vulnerable to disease.

(A) the cheetah species' homogeneity makes them especially vulnerable to disease
(B) the cheetah species is especially vulnerable to disease because of its homogeneity
(C) the homogeneity of the cheetah species makes it especially vulnerable to disease
(D) homogeneity makes members of the cheetah species especially vulnerable to disease
(E) members of the cheetah species are especially vulnerable to disease because of their homogeneity

OA is E

Only LIKE things may be compared.
APPLES may be compared to other APPLES.
APPLES may not be compared to COMPUTER KEYBOARDS.

like means similar to.
homogeneity is the condition of being similar.

A: Almost like clones, the...homogeneity
C: Almost like clones, the homogeneity
D: Almost like clones, homogeneity
Conveyed comparison:
THE CONDITION OF BEING SIMILAR is almost similar to CLONES.
This comparison is nonsensical.
Eliminate A, C and D.

B: in their similarity, the cheetah species is
Here, their (plural) does not agree with species (singular).
Eliminate B.

The correct answer is E.

GMATGuruNY wrote: B: in their similarity, the cheetah species is
Here, their (plural) does not agree with species (singular).
Eliminate B.

gmatguru,
I don't really get this part...

I guess,here,the antecedent of pronoun their should be the preceding noun clones -- NOT the following noun species (singular). whereas, the antecedent of pronoun its is the corresponding preceding noun species (singular).

isn't it ?

please let me know your thoughts!

ngk4mba3236 wrote:

GMATGuruNY wrote: B: in their similarity, the cheetah species is
Here, their (plural) does not agree with species (singular).
Eliminate B.

gmatguru,
I don't really get this part...

I guess,here,the antecedent of pronoun their should be the preceding noun clones -- NOT the following noun species (singular). whereas, the antecedent of pronoun its is the corresponding preceding noun species (singular).

isn't it ?

please let me know your thoughts!

A clone is an exact copy created in a laboratory.
X and Y exhibit similarities if X and Y are not exact copies of each other but have traits IN COMMON.
Thus, clones -- which are exact copies of each other -- CANNOT exhibit similarities.

A pronoun in an introductory modifier can serve to refer to the subject of the following clause.
SC28 in the OG12:
Building on civilizations that preceded THEM in coastal Peru, THE MOCHICA developed their own elaborate society.
Here, them serves to refer not to civilizations (the preceding plural noun) but to the Mochica (the subject of the following clause).

The OA to SC132 in the OG16:
Almost like clones in their similarity, members of the cheetah species are especially vulnerable to disease.
Since clones cannot exhibit similarity, the only logical referent for their is members (the subject of the following clause).
The portion in red implies the following:
In THEIR similarity to one another, MEMBERS of the cheetah species are almost like clones.
Here, their serves to refer to members of the cheetah species.
Conveyed meaning:
Members of the cheetah species are so similar to one another that they are almost like exact copies created in a laboratory.

B implies the following:
In their similarity to one another, the cheetah species is almost like clones.
Here, their (plural) does not agree with species (singular).
Eliminate B.

gmatguru,
while I understand your above explanation, but what I don't get is:

how we can interpret it in this way ?

because, this complete PHRASE "Almost like clones in their similarity to one another" is followed by comma. so, how we can consider a part of this PHRASE -- in their similarity to one another -- with the portion of the SC after comma ?

can you please help ?

p.s: as for ERROR in B, will the following constitute a valid ERROR ?

CLONES means many individuals, whereas the cheetah species is A GROUP. so we can't compare many individuals with A GROUP. thoughts ?

ngk4mba3236 wrote:gmatguru,
while I understand your above explanation, but what I don't get is:

how we can interpret it in this way ?

because, this complete PHRASE "Almost like clones in their similarity to one another" is followed by comma. so, how we can consider a part of this PHRASE -- in their similarity to one another -- with the portion of the SC after comma ?

can you please help ?

Almost like clones in their similarity to one another, members of the cheetah species are especially vulnerable to disease.

The phrase in red is an ADJECTIVE modifying members of the cheetah species.
Question:
What KIND of members?
Answer:
Members ALMOST LIKE CLONES.

The phrase in blue is an ADVERB modifying the phrase in red, expressing HOW members of the cheetah species are almost like clones.
Question:
HOW are members of the cheetah species almost like clones?
Answer:
In the members' similarity to one another.

p.s: as for ERROR in B, will the following constitute a valid ERROR ?

CLONES means many individuals, whereas the cheetah species is A GROUP. so we can't compare many individuals with A GROUP. thoughts ?

This line of reasoning seems valid.

Hello Everyone!

Let's tackle this question, one issue at a time, and narrow it down to the correct choice! First, let's take a closer look at the original question and highlight any major differences we can find in orange:

Almost like clones in their similarity to one another, the cheetah species' homogeneity makes them especially vulnerable to disease.

(A) the cheetah species' homogeneity makes them especially vulnerable to disease
(B) the cheetah species is especially vulnerable to disease because of its homogeneity
(C) the homogeneity of the cheetah species makes it especially vulnerable to disease
(D) homogeneity makes members of the cheetah species especially vulnerable to disease
(E) members of the cheetah species are especially vulnerable to disease because of their homogeneity

After a quick glance over the options, a couple things jump out that we can focus on:

1. Modifiers (leading with homogeneity or cheetahs)
2. Pronouns (them / its / it / their)

Let's start off with #1 in our list: modifiers. Whenever we look at modifiers, we need to ask ourselves these two things:

1. Where is the modifier?
2. What is the modifier referring to?

If we can figure out those two things, we can probably figure out if there are any misplaced, misleading, or just plain wrong modifiers! Here's the original sentence:

Almost like clones in their similarity to one another, the cheetah species' homogeneity makes them especially vulnerable to disease.

The modifier is the non-underlined portion of the sentence, so we know that has to stay as is. Now we need to ask ourselves, "WHAT is the modifier referring to?" WHAT is almost like clones? Cheetahs! We need to make sure that the modifier is right next to the cheetahs, and nothing else:

(A) the cheetah species' homogeneity makes them especially vulnerable to disease
(B) the cheetah species is especially vulnerable to disease because of its homogeneity
(C) the homogeneity of the cheetah species makes it especially vulnerable to disease
(D) homogeneity makes members of the cheetah species especially vulnerable to disease
(E) members of the cheetah species are especially vulnerable to disease because of their homogeneity

We can eliminate options A, C, & D because they mislead the reader into thinking that the modifier is referring to homogeneity, and not cheetahs.

Now that we have it narrowed down to only 2 options, let's tackle #2 on our list: pronouns. We need to make sure all pronouns have clear antecedents and that they agree with their antecedents in number:

(B) the cheetah species is especially vulnerable to disease because of its homogeneity

This is INCORRECT because the singular pronoun "its" doesn't agree with the plural antecedent "species."

(E) members of the cheetah species are especially vulnerable to disease because of their homogeneity

This is CORRECT! The pronoun "their" and antecedent "members" are both plural. It's also clear that the modifier in the beginning is referring to cheetahs, and not homogeneity.

There you have it - option E is the correct choice! By focusing on the obvious differences between the options, we can narrow down options quickly to get the right one.


Don't study for the GMAT. Train for it.