Discolored varnsish- Mona Lisa

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qwerty12321: Senior | Next Rank: 100 Posts; Posts: 63; Joined: Sat May 17, 2014 9:01 amFollowed by: 1 member

by qwerty12321 » Thu Aug 21, 2014 9:00 am

Restorers say that if allowed to remove and replace the discolored layer of varnish on the Mona Lisa, the colors Leonardo da Vinci painted nearly five hundred years ago will once again shine through.
A. If
B. if it is
C. if they are
D. when
E. when it is

Can anyone tell me why A is incorrect?
Thanks

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Source: Beat The GMAT — Sentence Correction | Thu Aug 21, 2014 9:00 am

Pate13: Junior | Next Rank: 30 Posts; Posts: 12; Joined: Mon Jun 30, 2014 7:32 am

by Pate13 » Thu Aug 21, 2014 9:54 am

I believe this is a pronoun reference error. In the original sentence, it is not clear what "if" is referring to. It could either refer to "Restorers" or "the colors". I believe the answer is C, because colors can't be allowed to do anything, as they are inantimate. "If they are" makes it clear that the object being allowed to "remove and replace" is "Restorers". So, "Restorers say that if they are allowed to remove and replace" makes a clear pronoun reference.

Hope this helps.

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David@GMATPrepNow: Master | Next Rank: 500 Posts; Posts: 147; Joined: Mon Jul 21, 2014 3:52 pmFollowed by: 21 members; Thanked: 53 times

by David@GMATPrepNow » Fri Aug 22, 2014 7:57 am

Hi qwerty12321,

This is a classic conditional sentence with the "if clause" at the beginning. It has the following format: the "if clause" in the simple present, and the main clause containing will-future infinitive. Here is a simple example of this kind of sentence:

If I study, I will do well on the GMAT.

Answer A just contains the "if," not the noun/pronoun and verb. Without the noun/pronoun, it is unclear who is doing what.

Answer C has the correct combination to make a correct conditional sentence. Here is a simplified form of the sentence: "If they are allowed to do something, the colours will shine."

I hope this helps!

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thuyduong91vnu: Junior | Next Rank: 30 Posts; Posts: 27; Joined: Mon Apr 11, 2016 10:56 pm

by thuyduong91vnu » Thu May 05, 2016 11:22 pm

Hi,

Could someone help with this one, why could not B - "If it is" be correct answer? I mean, why could not we use "It is" in the same way as "It is easy/difficult/essential to...", in which cases "it" does not really have any antecedent?

Thanks for helping me

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