Sentence Correction

ngk4mba3236 wrote:hi verbal experts,
please let me know whether i'm correct in the following -

another error in A &C : "which" seems to modify "brain" in option A & C, thus distorting the meaning. right ?

hi verbal experts,
can you please clarify the above concerns ?

thank you!

An answer choice may be eliminated for pronoun ambiguity only if an alternate answer choice avoids the ambiguity and is free of errors.

ngk4mba3236 wrote:

ngk4mba3236 wrote:hi verbal experts,
please let me know whether i'm correct in the following -

another error in A &C : "which" seems to modify "brain" in option A & C, thus distorting the meaning. right ?

hi verbal experts,
can you please clarify the above concerns ?

thank you!

This line of reasoning is valid.
Since the OA avoids this ambiguity and is free of errors, eliminate A and C.

GMATGuruNY wrote:An answer choice may be eliminated for pronoun ambiguity only if an alternate answer choice avoids the ambiguity and is free of errors.

ngk4mba3236 wrote:hi verbal experts,
please let me know whether i'm correct in the following -

another error in A &C : "which" seems to modify "brain" in option A & C, thus distorting the meaning. right ?

This line of reasoning is valid.
Since the OA avoids this ambiguity and is free of errors, eliminate A and C.

hi gmatguru,
thanks for confirming. however, a quick follow-up :

you've mentioned in your other forum posts that COMMA + which + SINGULAR Verb always refers to nearest preceding SINGULAR NOUN -- and this rule is always maintained in GMAT SC. therefore how can we really consider my abovementioned error in BLUE in A & C as "pronoun ambiguity" ?

isn't this error (as I've mentioned in my above quote in BLUE) a direct one beyond doubt & debate ?

just curious to know your thoughts!

ngk4mba3236 wrote:

GMATGuruNY wrote:An answer choice may be eliminated for pronoun ambiguity only if an alternate answer choice avoids the ambiguity and is free of errors.

ngk4mba3236 wrote:hi verbal experts,
please let me know whether i'm correct in the following -

another error in A &C : "which" seems to modify "brain" in option A & C, thus distorting the meaning. right ?

This line of reasoning is valid.
Since the OA avoids this ambiguity and is free of errors, eliminate A and C.

hi gmatguru,
thanks for confirming. however, a quick follow-up :

you've mentioned in your other forum posts that COMMA + which + SINGULAR Verb always refers to nearest preceding SINGULAR NOUN -- and this rule is always maintained in GMAT SC. therefore how can we really consider my abovementioned error in BLUE in A & C as "pronoun ambiguity" ?

isn't this error (as I've mentioned in my above quote in BLUE) a direct one beyond doubt & debate ?

just curious to know your thoughts!

Generally, which + SINGULAR VERB should refer to the nearest preceding singular noun.
That said, Ali has offered a recently published official SC that deviates from this rule:
The state religion of ancient China, which came into existence at least as far back as the Han Dynasty, allowed the ritual worship of heaven.
Here, which serves to refer not to China -- the nearest eligible referent -- but to religion.
It is risky to draw conclusions from the non-underlined portion of an SC.
Usages in the non-underlined portion cannot be changed and thus are not being tested.
Still, the non-underlined portion above could imply that the GMAT is softening its position on which.
For this reason, we should eliminate an answer choice with a suspect usage of which only if an alternate answer choice avoids the issue and is free of errors.
I would apply this line of reasoning to any answer choice with a potentially ambiguous pronoun.

gmatguru,
I hear you here...but what I knew (from some of your posts):

1. COMMA + which + SINGULAR Verb always refers to nearest preceding SINGULAR NOUN.
2. COMMA + which + PLURAL Verb always refers to nearest preceding PLURAL NOUN.
3. COMMA + which + Verb (neither SINGULAR nor PLURAL) will refer to nearest preceding NOUN or NOUN-phrase, depending on the context. (The state religion of ancient China, which came into existence -- this example I think, conforms to this 3rd rule! isn't it ?)

so, should we consider that these THREE rules are NO LONGER treated as hard & fast rule in GMAT SC ?

please clarify!

ngk4mba3236 wrote:gmatguru,
I hear you here...but what I knew (from some of your posts):

1. COMMA + which + SINGULAR Verb always refers to nearest preceding SINGULAR NOUN.
2. COMMA + which + PLURAL Verb always refers to nearest preceding PLURAL NOUN.
3. COMMA + which + Verb (neither SINGULAR nor PLURAL) will refer to nearest preceding NOUN or NOUN-phrase, depending on the context. (The state religion of ancient China, which came into existence -- this example I think, conforms to this 3rd rule! isn't it ?)

so, should we consider that these THREE rules are NO LONGER treated as hard & fast rule in GMAT SC ?

please clarify!

Rule 3 was presented as follows:

If the verb attributed to which can be singular or plural, the referent for which must be the NEAREST PRECEDING NOUN.
To my knowledge, no OA has deviated from this rule.

See here:
https://www.beatthegmat.com/og-verbal-20 ... 90165.html

The non-underlined portion in the OA above does not abide by Rule 3.
OA: The state religion of ancient China, which came into existence at least as far back as the Han Dynasty, allowed the ritual worship of heaven.
Here, came -- which can be singular or plural -- refers not to the nearest preceding noun (China) but to an earlier noun (religion).

This OA notwithstanding, I expect the three rules above to hold true in most, if not all, cases.
But to be safe -- before eliminating an answer choice that breaks one of these rules -- we should confirm that an alternate answer choice avoids the problem and is free of errors.