BREAKING: Target Test Prep releases Brand New 2026 On Demand GMAT prep course

Redeem

Oneself vs Themselves

This topic has expert replies
Post new topic Locked
Previous Topic Next Topic
Junior | Next Rank: 30 Posts
Posts: 27
Joined: Thu May 21, 2009 8:52 am
Thanked: 3 times

Oneself vs Themselves

by adityanarula » Mon Jul 06, 2009 5:37 am
Need help with this. I think the answer is B

575. Pensions are now viewed as a deferred payment of salary, money a worker is compelled to put away to take care of one’s later years.
(A) a worker is compelled to put away to take care of one’s
(B) that a worker is compelled to put away to take care of oneself in
(C) a worker is compelled to put away to take care of oneself in
(D) workers are compelled to put away to take care of them in
(E) workers are compelled to put away to take care of themselves in
Top
Source: — Sentence Correction |
User avatar
MBA Student
Posts: 1194
Joined: Sat Aug 16, 2008 9:42 pm
Location: Paris, France
Thanked: 71 times
Followed by:17 members
GMAT Score:710

by gmat740 » Mon Jul 06, 2009 5:49 am
As Stacey says in a reply to this question:
Grammatically speaking, you do need the "that," which seems to eliminate everything except for B. (Though in casual language, it would be acceptable to omit the "that.")

BUT B talks about singular "worker" and the previous part of the sentence talks about "pensionS." One worker doesn't have many pensions, so we need to talk about plural workers, which seems to eliminate everything except for D and E.

If I had to pick one, hmm. I'd agonize. But really - I wouldn't pick one. I just wouldn't study it at all.

You can search for 1000 SC's questions. Most of them have been answered, so that will save you a lot of time.

hope this helps
Top
Master | Next Rank: 500 Posts
Posts: 134
Joined: Sun Feb 15, 2009 7:44 pm
Thanked: 14 times

by m&m » Mon Jul 06, 2009 6:16 am
extending on what was said in above post I would say E. First for plural...

"Pensions are money a worker is compelled..."
"Pensions are money workers are compelled..." <-- plural is better though in theory one person could have multiple pensions

So this leaves D and E,

D) workers are compelled to put away to take care of them in
-- them could refer to the money or to the workers, it's ambiguous

(E) workers are compelled to put away to take care of themselves in
--themselves clearly refers to the workers

Pick E
Top
Junior | Next Rank: 30 Posts
Posts: 21
Joined: Mon Apr 06, 2009 5:32 am

by walker » Mon Jul 06, 2009 6:16 am
E looks OK

A,B and C are out bcause a Worker is being referred by one's, oneself... etc

singular worker should be referrd by his/her/himself/herself pronoun here..

between E and D,

D is OUT coz 'themselves' in E overtakes 'them'.

possesive pronoun clearly wins here coz the meaning requires that.
Top
Junior | Next Rank: 30 Posts
Posts: 27
Joined: Thu May 21, 2009 8:52 am
Thanked: 3 times

by adityanarula » Mon Jul 06, 2009 8:49 am
Thanks!

Can you give explanation around why oneself is wrong and instead himself/herself would suit better?
Top
Post new topic Locked
• Page 1 of 1