Sentence Correction

[BTGmoderatorRO]

Although the term "psychopath" is popularly applied to an especially brutal criminal, in psychology it is someone who is apparently incapable of feeling compassion or the pangs of conscience.

(A) it is someone who is
(B) it is a person
(C) they are people who are
(D) it refers to someone who is
(E) it is in reference to people

OA is D
Which modifier best suits the completion of this sentence? An Expert needed here pls.Thanks in anticipation.

[Brent@GMATPrepNow]

Although the term "psychopath" is popularly applied to an especially brutal criminal, in psychology it is someone who is apparently incapable of feeling compassion or the pangs of conscience.

(A) it is someone who is
(B) it is a person
(C) they are people who are
(D) it refers to someone who is
(E) it is in reference to people

OA is D
Which modifier best suits the completion of this sentence? An Expert needed here pls.Thanks in anticipation.

This question is primarily about PRONOUN REFERENTS.

In the original sentence, we have the pronoun it.
What does this pronoun refer to?

The pronoun refers to the TERM (word) "psychopath"

So, if we replace the pronoun IT with its referent TERM "psychopath" we get....

(A) the TERM "psychopath" is someone who is
It makes no sense to say that a TERM is incapable of some action
ELIMINATE A

(B) the TERM "psychopath" is a person
It makes no sense to say that a TERM is a person
ELIMINATE B

(C) they are people who are
THEY?
There is no clear referent for this pronoun.
ELIMINATE C

(D) the TERM "psychopath" refers to someone who is
Makes sense!
A TERM can refer to someone.
KEEP D for now

(E) the TERM "psychopath" is in reference to people
This sentence is awkward and uses more words than are necessary.
Just say "it refers to people.."
Also, we are mixing the singular term "psychopath" with the plural "people"

Answer: D

Cheers,
Brent