Affording strategic proximity to the Strait of Gibraltar

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simplyjat: Master | Next Rank: 500 Posts; Posts: 423; Joined: Thu Dec 27, 2007 1:29 amFollowed by: 2 members; Location: Hyderabad, India; Thanked: 36 times; GMAT Score:770

by simplyjat » Mon Apr 28, 2008 3:06 am

Affording strategic proximity to the Strait of Gibraltar, Morocco was also of interest to the French throughout the first half of the twentieth century because they assumed that if they did not hold it, their grip on Algeria was always insecure.

(A) if they did not hold it, their grip on Algeria was always insecure
(B) without it their grip on Algeria would never be secure
(C) their grip on Algeria was not ever secure if they did not hold it
(D) without that, they could never be secure about their grip on Algeria
(E) never would their grip on Algeria be secure if they did not hold it

OA B

simplyjat

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Source: Beat The GMAT — Sentence Correction | Mon Apr 28, 2008 3:06 am

VP_Jim: GMAT Instructor; Posts: 1223; Joined: Thu May 01, 2008 3:29 pmFollowed by: 15 members; Location: Los Angeles, CA; Thanked: 185 times

by VP_Jim » Mon May 05, 2008 6:03 pm

Hi simplyjat,

This question focuses on idioms and the clarity and conciseness of the sentence. Answer A can be eliminated because the phrase, "if they did not hold it," is awkward and wordy. Answer C uses the phrase, "was not ever secure," which is not idiomatically correct, and can be eliminated. Answer D is unclear in its meaning; what does "without that" refer to (Morocco or their hold on Morocco)? Similarly, the pronoun "it" in answer E is also ambiguous. The correct choice, answer B, is clear, concise, and idiomatically correct.

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asdf29: Junior | Next Rank: 30 Posts; Posts: 19; Joined: Tue Mar 10, 2009 10:25 am; GMAT Score:750

by asdf29 » Wed Mar 18, 2009 1:36 pm

I agree with your arguments against A, C, D and E. However, I do not understand why B is correct because it introduces 'it'. What does 'it' refer to?

Morocco?

"... without Morocco their grip on Algeria would never be secure"

Surely it should be the "occupation of Morocco" or the "control of Morocco".

What have I missed? I'm confused.

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gmat_jul: Junior | Next Rank: 30 Posts; Posts: 13; Joined: Fri Jun 13, 2008 2:07 pm

Affording strategic proximity to the Strait of Gibraltar

by gmat_jul » Sat Jun 20, 2009 10:33 am

What is the difference between pronoun it and pronoun that in above sentence? Can that not be used for above?

I understand that choice D is wrong for other reasons however want to confirm the reason for incorrect pronoun usage.

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hemanth28: Master | Next Rank: 500 Posts; Posts: 157; Joined: Tue Dec 04, 2007 9:05 am; Thanked: 9 times; GMAT Score:680

Re: Affording strategic proximity to the Strait of Gibraltar

by hemanth28 » Sat Jun 20, 2009 10:45 am

gmat_jul wrote:What is the difference between pronoun it and pronoun that in above sentence? Can that not be used for above?

I understand that choice D is wrong for other reasons however want to confirm the reason for incorrect pronoun usage.

A relative pronoun is usually used to introduce an adjective clause. that is a relative pronoun and should only be used to introduce a clause to to describe a noun not to refer to a noun.

--Correct me if i am wrong.

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maihuna: Legendary Member; Posts: 1578; Joined: Sun Dec 28, 2008 1:49 amFollowed by: 9 members; Thanked: 82 times; GMAT Score:720

by maihuna » Sat Jun 20, 2009 10:48 am

I will say, out of D and B, that vs it is not the actual issue, issue is following phrases/clauses:

without it their grip on Algeria would never be secure
without that, they could never be secure about their grip on Algeria

secure about their grip is wrong compared to their grip on Alg will never be secure...

it could have been they could never be sure of their grip on algeria...

Charged up again to beat the beast

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Yossarian: Junior | Next Rank: 30 Posts; Posts: 10; Joined: Fri Feb 12, 2010 6:03 am

by Yossarian » Fri Jun 25, 2010 2:13 am

VP_Jim wrote:Hi simplyjat,

This question focuses on idioms and the clarity and conciseness of the sentence. Answer A can be eliminated because the phrase, "if they did not hold it," is awkward and wordy. Answer C uses the phrase, "was not ever secure," which is not idiomatically correct, and can be eliminated. Answer D is unclear in its meaning; what does "without that" refer to (Morocco or their hold on Morocco)? Similarly, the pronoun "it" in answer E is also ambiguous. The correct choice, answer B, is clear, concise, and idiomatically correct.

Hi Jim,

I've my own reservations about B. Here 'it' would refer to 'Morocco' ... hence this sentence now tends to imply that without 'Morocco' (its physical existence), the French hold on Algeria wouldn't be secure..which is not correct ... the original sentence says that 'They wouldn't be secure about their grip on Algeria' without their 'hold' on Morocco not by the absence of Morocco!

This made me feel that statement B tends to distort the meaning of the sentence. So, 'A' is the next best construction.

Correct me if am wrong please.

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martin.jonson007: Master | Next Rank: 500 Posts; Posts: 226; Joined: Wed Jun 02, 2010 1:46 am; Thanked: 2 times

by martin.jonson007 » Fri Jun 25, 2010 2:49 am

good ques...!

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tnaim: Senior | Next Rank: 100 Posts; Posts: 67; Joined: Tue Mar 16, 2010 2:06 pm; Thanked: 3 times

by tnaim » Thu Jul 22, 2010 7:49 am

Hello,
here's the sentence with the correct choice B:

Affording strategic proximity to the Strait of Gibraltar, Morocco was also of interest to the French throughout
the first half of the twentieth century because they assumed that without it their grip on Algeria would never be secure

my question is: why is "it" considered to unambiguously refer to Morocco when it seems that it could have two antecedents Morocco and "the first half of the twentieth century"
thanks!

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tomada: Master | Next Rank: 500 Posts; Posts: 406; Joined: Mon Jan 25, 2010 11:36 amFollowed by: 4 members; Location: Syracuse, NY; Thanked: 23 times; GMAT Score:740

by tomada » Thu Jul 22, 2010 7:57 am

At first, I wasn't sure whether "it" referred to the Strait of Gibraltar or Morocco.

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lunarpower: GMAT Instructor; Posts: 3380; Joined: Mon Mar 03, 2008 1:20 amFollowed by: 1535 members; Thanked: 2256 times; GMAT Score:800

by lunarpower » Mon Jul 26, 2010 5:52 am

tnaim wrote:Hello,
here's the sentence with the correct choice B:

Affording strategic proximity to the Strait of Gibraltar, Morocco was also of interest to the French throughout
the first half of the twentieth century because they assumed that without it their grip on Algeria would never be secure

my question is: why is "it" considered to unambiguously refer to Morocco when it seems that it could have two antecedents Morocco and "the first half of the twentieth century"
thanks!

as we've seen again and again and again and again, not all ambiguous pronouns are incorrect!

so here's the simplest way of making the decision:

1) if you see an AMBIGUOUS PRONOUN that is SPLIT AGAINST A SPECIFIC NOUN, then eliminate the ambiguous pronoun and keep the specific noun.
for an example, see problem 68 in the blue OG 2nd edition verbal supplement, in which "them" is split against "these companies". in that type of situation, the specific noun is better than the ambiguous pronoun, so go ahead and narrow down to the choices that contain the specific noun.

HOWEVER,
2) if you see an ambiguous pronoun that is NOT split against a specific noun, then DON'T eliminate!
for an example, see problem 21 in the blue OG 2nd ed verbal supplement (in which the correct answer contains a technically ambiguous pronoun).
or see the problem in this thread!
in the problem in this thread, "it" is not split against a specific noun (i.e., there is no split between "it" and "morocco"), so ambiguity is not sufficient grounds for eliminating that pronoun.

Ron has been teaching various standardized tests for 20 years.

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lunarpower: GMAT Instructor; Posts: 3380; Joined: Mon Mar 03, 2008 1:20 amFollowed by: 1535 members; Thanked: 2256 times; GMAT Score:800

by lunarpower » Mon Jul 26, 2010 5:52 am

also:
in general, OBJECTS OF PREPOSITIONS are very rarely the antecedents of pronouns. (i won't say never -- but rarely enough that, if you have to make a random guess, this is probably a pretty good standard by which to make such a guess.)
for instance:
if you have "the cat in the box", then it is very unlikely that a pronoun will be able to stand for "box".
see #29 in the blue verbal supplement, choices (a) and (b).
you can also apply this guideline here -- both "the strait of gibraltar" and "the first half of the 20th century" are objects of prepositions, so they are going to be generally disfavored as antecedents for pronouns.

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kvcpk: Legendary Member; Posts: 1893; Joined: Sun May 30, 2010 11:48 pmFollowed by: 7 members; Thanked: 215 times

by kvcpk » Mon Jul 26, 2010 7:16 am

Can anyone explain me what is wrong with the wrong options. I am unable to zero in on th eright answer.

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YellowSapphire: Master | Next Rank: 500 Posts; Posts: 117; Joined: Fri Jul 23, 2010 7:57 pm; Location: India; Thanked: 1 times

by YellowSapphire » Tue Jul 27, 2010 8:04 am

lunarpower wrote:also:
in general, OBJECTS OF PREPOSITIONS are very rarely the antecedents of pronouns. (i won't say never -- but rarely enough that, if you have to make a random guess, this is probably a pretty good standard by which to make such a guess.)
for instance:
if you have "the cat in the box", then it is very unlikely that a pronoun will be able to stand for "box".
see #29 in the blue verbal supplement, choices (a) and (b).
you can also apply this guideline here -- both "the strait of gibraltar" and "the first half of the 20th century" are objects of prepositions, so they are going to be generally disfavored as antecedents for pronouns.

Hi Ron,

Is "enough that" correct idiom in GMAT?

Yellow Sapphire

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lunarpower: GMAT Instructor; Posts: 3380; Joined: Mon Mar 03, 2008 1:20 amFollowed by: 1535 members; Thanked: 2256 times; GMAT Score:800

by lunarpower » Fri Jul 30, 2010 3:01 am

YellowSapphire wrote:
lunarpower wrote:also:
in general, OBJECTS OF PREPOSITIONS are very rarely the antecedents of pronouns. (i won't say never -- but rarely enough that, if you have to make a random guess, this is probably a pretty good standard by which to make such a guess.)
for instance:
if you have "the cat in the box", then it is very unlikely that a pronoun will be able to stand for "box".
see #29 in the blue verbal supplement, choices (a) and (b).
you can also apply this guideline here -- both "the strait of gibraltar" and "the first half of the 20th century" are objects of prepositions, so they are going to be generally disfavored as antecedents for pronouns.
Hi Ron,

Is "enough that" correct idiom in GMAT?

heh. actually, no, it's not.

it's good that you're noticing these things.

still, though, be aware that i'm definitely not trying to write my posts themselves in the style of the gmat.
in fact, there are all kinds of things i'll do in my posts that are incorrect in extremely formal written english (i.e., the type used in gmat sentences) -- i deliberately try to make my posts somewhat conversational in tone, in order to make them a little easier to read.

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