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Neanderthals had a vocal tract

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by ektamatta » Mon Jul 28, 2008 12:57 pm
22. Neanderthals had a vocal tract that resembled those of the apes and so were probably without language, a shortcoming that may explain why they were supplanted by our own species.
(A) Neanderthals had a vocal tract that resembled those of the apes
(B) Neanderthals had a vocal tract resembling an ape's
(C) The vocal tracts of Neanderthals resembled an ape's
(D) The Neanderthal's vocal tracts resembled the apes'
(E) The vocal tracts of the Neanderthals resembled those of the apes
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by swati.sug » Mon Jul 28, 2008 3:03 pm
ANSWER should be B
Neanderthals had a vocal tract............and so were...
Thus C,D,E are out as they make vocal chords the subject.

B and A remain
Neanderthals had a vocal tract that resembled those(vocal tract) of the apes
that not those should be used for vocal tract

B Remains
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OA B

by ektamatta » Mon Jul 28, 2008 8:05 pm
GOOD EXPLANATION ...THANKS!
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by bluementor » Wed Aug 27, 2008 7:36 am
For options A and B above:

Neanderthals had a vocal tract...

why is vocal tract singular? should it not be plural since we are talking about the vocal tracts of Neanderthal people in general....

Can someone please clearify?

Thanks

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by aj5105 » Wed Aug 27, 2008 10:07 am
yup..those cant be used here as 'those' indicates plural.Here we are talking about a singular thing.


Also we have to watch out for choices which gives sentences a solid start.
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by bluementor » Thu Aug 28, 2008 1:18 am
I understand that to refer to a singular, you can't use 'those'...

but my question here is why is vocal tract singular in the first place? Why is it not plural as follows:

Neanderthals had vocal tracts....

by having plural 'vocal tracts', we are decribing the inherent nature of the vocal tracts (of the Neanderthals) in general, which I think what the passage is all about.

From the OA, Neanderthals had a vocal tract... seems to refer to a single vocal tract 'shared' by all Neanderthals which I find illogical.

Can someone please clearify this. Thanks.

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by California4jx » Thu Aug 28, 2008 11:54 am
is OA: B ??

I am surprised since its making a wrong comparison of vocal tracts with apes.

It should be b/w D and E -- I think E is making more sense.
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by bluementor » Thu Aug 28, 2008 12:38 pm
is OA: B ??

I am surprised since its making a wrong comparison of vocal tracts with apes.

It should be b/w D and E -- I think E is making more sense.
Actually, to me, none of the answers seem right. The second clause in the sentence has the word 'they' which should refer to the Neanderthals instead of their vocal tracts.

Can someone please clearify why OA is B when the answer clearly has the singular vocal tract?
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by bourne159 » Thu Aug 28, 2008 1:38 pm
The subject of the sentence has to be Neanderthals (plural) because of using
1. and so were (Neanderthals were) probabaly without language
2. Why they (Neanderthals) were supplanted

A. Usage of those is wrong because Vocal tract is singular
B. Correct comparison because the resembled an ape's (possessive) should be read as 'resembled the vocal tract of an ape'.
Neanderthals(plural) is correctly used
C. Subject is Neanderthals and not vocal tracts
D. Neanderthal should be plural
E. Subject is not vocal tracts. It should be Neanderthals

I hope this helps.
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by bluementor » Thu Aug 28, 2008 2:14 pm
A. Usage of those is wrong because Vocal tract is singular
B. Correct comparison because the resembled an ape's (possessive) should be read as 'resembled the vocal tract of an ape'.
Neanderthals(plural) is correctly used
In B, for the term 'had a vocal tract', isn't this singular? Should it not be plural, as you had pointed out for Neanderthals. I am suggesting that the answer should be as follows:

Neanderthals had vocal tracts resembling the apes'

Correct me if I am wrong, but my thinking is that the vocal tracts(plural) of Neanderthals should be compared to the apes' vocal tracts (plural).

I am sorry for being very picky here, but I dont seem to see this through... Thanks for your patience and help.

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by bourne159 » Thu Aug 28, 2008 2:51 pm
Your point is valid.
Sometimes picking the best of the 5 choices is the only thing you can do.
If you are too picky it might work against you.
Given the problems in all other choices B is the best choice we are left with.
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by jessica.ng1988 » Sat Aug 30, 2008 9:03 pm
IMO: B
:roll:
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by raajan_p » Mon Nov 24, 2008 10:00 am
I see that a clear answer has not been identified fyet, for this Question ...So thought of responding back to bring this question on top of the SC forum...

May be others can confirm and provide a clear explanation on the diference between choice A and B.

Thanks!
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by Tryingmybest » Mon Nov 24, 2008 5:40 pm
IMO B
(A) Neanderthals had a vocal tract that resembled those of the apes
(B) Neanderthals had a vocal tract resembling an ape’s

In A u compare singular (vocal tract)to plural(those)
In B u compare singular to singular
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Neanderthals

by sg7007 » Wed Aug 05, 2009 11:09 pm
bluementor wrote:I understand that to refer to a singular, you can't use 'those'...

but my question here is why is vocal tract singular in the first place? Why is it not plural as follows:

Neanderthals had vocal tracts....

by having plural 'vocal tracts', we are decribing the inherent nature of the vocal tracts (of the Neanderthals) in general, which I think what the passage is all about.

From the OA, Neanderthals had a vocal tract... seems to refer to a single vocal tract 'shared' by all Neanderthals which I find illogical.

Can someone please clearify this. Thanks.

BlueMentor
I have the same question.
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