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As a baby emerges from the darkness of the womb..

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As a baby emerges from the darkness of the womb..

by parveen110 » Thu Feb 13, 2014 11:07 pm
As a baby emerges from the darkness of the womb with a rudimentary sense of vision, it would be rated about 20/500, or legally blind if it were an adult with such vision.

(A) As a baby emerges from the darkness of the womb with a rudimentary sense of vision, it would be rated about 20/500, or legally blind if it were an adult with such vision.
(B) A baby emerges from the darkness of the womb with a rudimentary sense of vision that would be rated about 20/500, or legally blind as an adult.
(C) As a baby emerges from the darkness of the womb, its rudimentary sense of vision would be rated about 20/500; qualifying it to be legally blind if an adult.
(D) A baby emerges from the darkness of the womb with a rudimentary sense of vision that would be rated about 20/500; an adult with such vision would be deemed legally blind.
(E) As a baby emerges from the darkness of the womb, its rudimentary sense of vision, which would be deemed legally blind for an adult, would be rated about 20/500.

OA:D
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by GMATGuruNY » Fri Feb 14, 2014 6:41 am
parveen110 wrote:As a baby emerges from the darkness of the womb with a rudimentary sense of vision, it would be rated about 20/500, or legally blind if it were an adult with such vision.

(A) As a baby emerges from the darkness of the womb with a rudimentary sense of vision, it would be rated about 20/500, or legally blind if it were an adult with such vision.
(B) A baby emerges from the darkness of the womb with a rudimentary sense of vision that would be rated about 20/500, or legally blind as an adult.
(C) As a baby emerges from the darkness of the womb, its rudimentary sense of vision would be rated about 20/500; qualifying it to be legally blind if an adult.
(D) A baby emerges from the darkness of the womb with a rudimentary sense of vision that would be rated about 20/500; an adult with such vision would be deemed legally blind.
(E) As a baby emerges from the darkness of the womb, its rudimentary sense of vision, which would be deemed legally blind for an adult, would be rated about 20/500.

OA:D
A: As a baby emerges, it would be rated about 20/500...
Here, it (subject pronoun) seems to refer to a baby (the nearest preceding subject), implying that A BABY would be rated about 20/500.
The intended meaning is that the SENSE OF VISION would be rated about 20/500.
Eliminate A.

B: a rudimentary sense of vision that would be rated...legally blind as an adult.
Here, as an adult seems to refer to a sense of vision, implying that a SENSE OF VISION can function AS AN ADULT.
Not the intended meaning.
Eliminate B.

A semi-colon must serve to connect TWO COMPLETE CLAUSES, each with its own subject and verb.
In C, what follows the semi-colon is a modifier: qualifying it to be legally blind.
Eliminate C.

E: its rudimentary sense of vision, which would be deemed legally blind
Here, which seems to refer to its rudimentary sense of vision, implying that the SENSE OF VISION would be deemed LEGALLY BLIND.
Not the intended meaning.
Only a PERSON can be deemed legally blind.
Eliminate E.

The correct answer is D.
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by Patrick_GMATFix » Fri Feb 14, 2014 3:09 pm
This is a tough one. The full solution below is taken from the GMATFix App.

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by Nick0203 » Tue Jan 15, 2019 12:13 am
The Sentence describes the baby's momentous escape from the womb, and then discusses the dreadful eyesight all babies possess. The sentence continues with the pronoun "it", which could refer back to the baby, the vision, or potentially even the womb, as any singular noun in the sentence could potentially be the correct antecedent. The context kind of guides you into understanding that the vision must be what's considered, because babies are not rated 20/500 (except on Toddlers & Tiaras). The presence of another "it" later on, ostensibly referring to the child this time, cements the notion that the pronouns are unclear and the answer cannot be A.
Choices C and E commit the same pronoun error. We can also eliminate option C because the semi-colon should link two sentences that could stand on their own, whereas the second portion is clearly dependent on the first section. Similarly, answer choice E is missing a crucial "be" between the words "would" and "deemed". In option B, everything after the comma changes the meaning of the sentence. The sentence does not convey that the baby's eyesight is just dreadful. Instead, it implies that the vision would be an adult, which is completely nonsensical.
By process of elimination, it must be answer choice D. This sentence uses syntax correctly and avoids ambiguous pronoun usage. The pronoun which is used properly (it always refers to the term right before the comma), and the meaning is clear and unambiguous. Not only are the four other answer choices incorrect, This choice is grammatically flawless and aesthetically pleasing.
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