Explanation required

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prachi18oct: Master | Next Rank: 500 Posts; Posts: 269; Joined: Sun Apr 27, 2014 10:33 pmFollowed by: 5 members; Thanked: 8 times

by prachi18oct » Mon Jun 09, 2014 5:47 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
(D) think that they will be or could
(E) think the power stations would or could

Can anyone take up this and explain the correct answer?
I marked it E found the correct as D.Is there no pronoun ambiguity in D?
I agree in E, "that" is missing

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Source: Beat The GMAT — Sentence Correction | Mon Jun 09, 2014 5:47 am

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by [email protected] » Mon Jun 09, 2014 11:45 am

Hi prachi18oct,

On Test Day, the GMAT might test you on the issue of pronoun ambiguity, but you have to recognize the difference between an actual ambiguous pronoun and one that "looks" ambiguous, but isn't.

In answer D, the pronoun "they" is a plural pronoun - thus, it must refer to a plural noun. While it appears that this sentence has 2 plural nouns, it does NOT. The phrase "A MAJORITY of international journalists" actually refers to a singular noun: "A majority." The only plural noun is "nuclear power stations", so the reference that "THEY will be or could be sufficiently safe..." is correct.

GMAT assassins aren't born, they're made,
Rich

Contact Rich at [email protected]

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prachi18oct: Master | Next Rank: 500 Posts; Posts: 269; Joined: Sun Apr 27, 2014 10:33 pmFollowed by: 5 members; Thanked: 8 times

by prachi18oct » Mon Jun 09, 2014 8:20 pm

Thanks Rich!! I really missed to consider that "majority/minority" always go singular.

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