BREAKING: Target Test Prep releases Brand New 2026 On Demand GMAT prep course

Redeem

Pronoun question in question # 13 (1000 SC)

This topic has expert replies
Post new topic Locked
Previous Topic Next Topic
Community Manager
Posts: 363
Joined: Sun Dec 10, 2006 12:24 pm
Location: St. Louis
Thanked: 7 times
Followed by:3 members

Pronoun question in question # 13 (1000 SC)

by isisalaska » Tue Dec 12, 2006 2:07 pm
A majority of the international journalists surveyed view nuclear power stations as unsafe at present but that they will, or could, be made sufficiently safe in the future.
(A) that they will, or could,
(B) that they would, or could,
(C) they will be or could
(D) think that they will be or could
(E) think the power stations would or could

Is it not “they” vague,. They could refer to international journalists or to nuclear power stations… :?
Isis Alaska
Top
Source: — Sentence Correction |
Master | Next Rank: 500 Posts
Posts: 354
Joined: Tue Jun 27, 2006 9:20 pm
Thanked: 11 times
Followed by:5 members

Re: Pronoun question in question # 13 (1000 SC)

by 800guy » Fri Dec 15, 2006 9:28 am
isisalaska wrote:A majority of the international journalists surveyed view nuclear power stations as unsafe at present but that they will, or could, be made sufficiently safe in the future.
(A) that they will, or could,
(B) that they would, or could,
(C) they will be or could
(D) think that they will be or could
(E) think the power stations would or could

Is it not “they” vague,. They could refer to international journalists or to nuclear power stations… :?
agree that "they" sounds kinda vague..

however, if they is correct maybe it's becuase "majority" refers to "journalists," and the pronoun "they" would thus only refer to "power stations"
Top
Senior | Next Rank: 100 Posts
Posts: 34
Joined: Tue Sep 19, 2006 12:00 am
Thanked: 5 times
Followed by:9 members

by prachipareekh » Fri Dec 22, 2006 12:19 am
Ans must be D - best out of given 5 options

According to my analysis -- They in D --- is not ambiguous....

A majority of the international journalists surveyed view nuclear power stations as unsafe at present but a majority of the international journalists surveyed think that they will be (made - ellipsed) or could be made sufficiently safe in the future.

Subject (in orange) + verb (in green) + object (in blue) ... but ....subject (in orange ellipsed) + verb (think - in green) + object .

Hope it is clear now ---

E - incorrect - violates parallelism....would must be followed by BE
Top
Junior | Next Rank: 30 Posts
Posts: 14
Joined: Mon May 26, 2008 1:06 pm

by zura » Mon May 26, 2008 3:54 pm
majoity is a singular so they refers to power stations . its d
Impossible is nothing
Top
Master | Next Rank: 500 Posts
Posts: 171
Joined: Sat May 03, 2008 3:51 pm
Thanked: 8 times

by wawatan » Mon May 26, 2008 4:07 pm
the answer is E. "they" is ambiguous.
Top
Master | Next Rank: 500 Posts
Posts: 186
Joined: Sat Jan 26, 2008 10:05 pm
Thanked: 2 times

by medea66 » Sun Aug 24, 2008 7:36 am
Also, D is parallel....."would be and could be"
Top
Master | Next Rank: 500 Posts
Posts: 177
Joined: Wed Jul 16, 2008 11:06 am
Thanked: 2 times
Followed by:1 members

by perfectstranger » Sun Jul 19, 2009 3:30 pm
Could someone provide explanation and OA?
Please do not post answers visibly . Please hide them or post them later after the discussion.
Top
Senior | Next Rank: 100 Posts
Posts: 74
Joined: Sun Aug 02, 2009 9:10 pm
Thanked: 1 times
Followed by:1 members

explain explain

by navdeepbajwa » Fri Oct 23, 2009 12:18 pm
The answer is D

Can anyone please explain why they in "D" is not ambigous how can we say for sure it is referring to journalists and not power stations
Top
User avatar
Newbie | Next Rank: 10 Posts
Posts: 5
Joined: Wed Sep 08, 2010 3:29 am

by gman.gowri » Sun Sep 26, 2010 10:09 pm
navdeepbajwa wrote:The answer is D

Can anyone please explain why they in "D" is not ambigous how can we say for sure it is referring to journalists and not power stations
OA is /d but i am convinced it is E
1)they is ambigous
2)if would becomes will, could should become can
3)Moreover, majority of scientists SURVEYED(in the past)...then referring to a future action (from the past) should ideally be would or could (please tell me if there is any discrepancy in this logic)
Top
Senior | Next Rank: 100 Posts
Posts: 72
Joined: Tue Aug 10, 2010 8:36 pm
Thanked: 2 times

by winner's attitude » Mon Sep 27, 2010 1:17 am
can eexperts intervene.. this is a good question
Top
Senior | Next Rank: 100 Posts
Posts: 54
Joined: Tue Aug 30, 2011 12:29 pm
Thanked: 4 times

by theforrestgump » Thu Sep 29, 2011 2:54 pm
I agree with the "They" being ambiguous, E is wrong because it clubs present tense with a would...you can only club a past with a would..present needs to go with will..
Top
User avatar
Newbie | Next Rank: 10 Posts
Posts: 1
Joined: Sun Sep 23, 2012 8:30 pm

by Ahmed Mukit » Wed Sep 26, 2012 1:46 am
The best answer is D. The reason may be the fact that if we have a closer look, we may see the main verb of this sentence is 'View' and its in the present form. Therefore, we can not use "would/could" here which represents past tone. Although 'they'seems unusual, but having no other alternatives, we have to choose 'D' as the correct answer.
Top
User avatar
Senior | Next Rank: 100 Posts
Posts: 32
Joined: Mon Sep 26, 2011 6:34 pm

by way2ashish » Thu Jan 03, 2013 8:06 am
A majority of the international journalists surveyed view nuclear power stations as unsafe at present but that they will, or could, be made sufficiently safe in the future.

a that they will, or could,

b that they would, or could,

c they will be or could

Correct Option:- think that they will be or could
Because : A majority of the international journalists surveyed view.......but think........
Hence introduction of think indicates parallelism which is absent in a,b,c.
Secondly we chose d and not e bcoz d is more closer to the original sentence

e think the power stations would or could
Top
Post new topic Locked
• Page 1 of 1