confuse mind wrote:GMATGuruNY wrote:hey_thr67 wrote:167. 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
OA is B. Why not A ? OG says those can refer to a vocal tract but my confusion is that those of is for apes which is also in plural
In A,
those (plural) cannot be used to refer to
tract (singular). Eliminate A.
C, D and E each distort the meaning by stating that
the VOCAL TRACTS...were probably without language. The intended meaning is that NEANDERTHALS were probably without language. Eliminate C, D and E.
The correct answer is
B.
Thanks. I completely agree with the reasoning that you gave for A, C, D and E
In B I have some confusion that you can help me understand:
Neanderthals
[plural] had a vocal tract
[singular] resembling an ape's
[singular]
since the Neanderthals each has a vocal tract and not all of them are owing a single:)
so the vocal tract be plural.
Neanderthals had vocal tracts.
Here, a reader unfamiliar with evolution might construe that each Neanderthal had more than one vocal tract.
Neanderthals had a vocal tract.
No reader would ever construe that Neanderthals shared one vocal tract that was passed around from Neanderthal to Neanderthal.
Hence, this wording conveys the intended meaning more clearly.
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