pronoun ambiguity

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nafiul9090: Master | Next Rank: 500 Posts; Posts: 226; Joined: Thu Nov 25, 2010 12:19 amFollowed by: 2 members; Thanked: 3 times

by nafiul9090 » Wed Jul 18, 2012 2:02 am

i consider pronoun ambiguity a hard and fast rule. but i have come to know from Ron's post that official answer may contain ambiguous pronoun. i quote his post below

1. if you see an AMBIGUOUS PRONOUN that is REPLACED BY THE CORRECT NOUN in OTHER ANSWER CHOICES, then ELIMINATE the ambiguous pronoun and keep the specific noun.
2. if you see an ambiguous pronoun that is NOT replaced by the correct noun in any of the other answer choices, then DON'T eliminate!"

could some one explain the matter elaborately with example.

thanks in advance

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Source: Beat The GMAT — Sentence Correction | Wed Jul 18, 2012 2:02 am

Kasia@EconomistGMAT: GMAT Instructor; Posts: 646; Joined: Mon May 21, 2012 7:08 amFollowed by: 143 members; Thanked: 322 times

by Kasia@EconomistGMAT » Wed Jul 18, 2012 2:13 am

Consider the following question:

Using chest and dental x-rays, anthropological researchers have discovered a new method that can determine the age of a given individual, and although it is still being developed, nevertheless it is already proving to be more effective than current methods.

A. anthropological researchers have discovered a new method that can determine the age of a given individual, and although it is still being developed, nevertheless it is already proving to be more effective than

B. anthropological researchers have discovered a new method that can determine the age of a given individual, and though it is still being developed, it is already proving to be more effective than the

C. anthropological researchers have discovered a new method that can determine a given individual's age, and even though it is still being developed, it nevertheless is already proving to be more effective than

D. a given individual's age can be determined by anthropological researchers who have discovered a new method that, although still being developed, is already proving to be more effective than the

E. the age of a given individual can be determined by anthropological researchers who have discovered a new method that, although still being developed, is already proving to be more effective than

The correct answer is B although it does contain the possibly ambiguous pronoun "it." Since there isn't a better answer choice available that would get rid of the pronoun but preserve the intended meaning, the right answer choice includes the pronoun.

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nafiul9090: Master | Next Rank: 500 Posts; Posts: 226; Joined: Thu Nov 25, 2010 12:19 amFollowed by: 2 members; Thanked: 3 times

by nafiul9090 » Wed Jul 18, 2012 2:31 am

Kasia@MasterGMAT wrote:Consider the following question:

Using chest and dental x-rays, anthropological researchers have discovered a new method that can determine the age of a given individual, and although it is still being developed, nevertheless it is already proving to be more effective than current methods.

A. anthropological researchers have discovered a new method that can determine the age of a given individual, and although it is still being developed, nevertheless it is already proving to be more effective than

B. anthropological researchers have discovered a new method that can determine the age of a given individual, and though it is still being developed, it is already proving to be more effective than the

C. anthropological researchers have discovered a new method that can determine a given individual's age, and even though it is still being developed, it nevertheless is already proving to be more effective than

D. a given individual's age can be determined by anthropological researchers who have discovered a new method that, although still being developed, is already proving to be more effective than the

E. the age of a given individual can be determined by anthropological researchers who have discovered a new method that, although still being developed, is already proving to be more effective than

The correct answer is B although it does contain the possibly ambiguous pronoun "it." Since there isn't a better answer choice available that would get rid of the pronoun but preserve the intended meaning, the right answer choice includes the pronoun.

i analyze the question in my level. D and E are out because of modifier error and "even though" "although", "nevertheless" are not used simultaneously in a sentence i guess. correct me if i am wrong.

could you please explain the following question

To meet the rapidly rising market demand for fish and seafood, suppliers are growing fish twice as fast as their natural growth rate, cutting their feed allotment by nearly half and raising them on special diets

A) their natural growth rate, cutting their feed allotment
B) their natural growth rate, their feed allotment cut
C) growing them naturally, cutting their feed allotment
D) they grow naturally, cutting their feed allotment
E) they grow naturally, with their feed allotment cut

the OA is D. i didnt use the spoiler because i have to learn some specific things from the answer. In D they can refer fish as well as suppliers. in this situation how can i determine that "they" refers to fish.

thanks in advance

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Kasia@EconomistGMAT: GMAT Instructor; Posts: 646; Joined: Mon May 21, 2012 7:08 amFollowed by: 143 members; Thanked: 322 times

by Kasia@EconomistGMAT » Wed Jul 18, 2012 5:08 pm

The only way you can determine that "they" refers to "fish" and not to "suppliers" is from the context. Every answer choice contains the ambiguous pronoun "they" or "their." Therefore, you should focus on other problems presented in this question and NOT ambiguity.

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mv12: Master | Next Rank: 500 Posts; Posts: 150; Joined: Sat Apr 28, 2012 11:19 pm; Thanked: 4 times

by mv12 » Wed Jul 18, 2012 7:38 pm

My answer B.

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rajcools: Senior | Next Rank: 100 Posts; Posts: 80; Joined: Thu Apr 12, 2012 7:00 am; Thanked: 4 times

by rajcools » Thu Jul 19, 2012 11:03 am

what is problem with A here

To meet the rapidly rising market demand for fish and seafood, suppliers are growing fish twice as fast as their natural growth rate, cutting their feed allotment by nearly half and raising them on special diets

A) their natural growth rate, cutting their feed allotment
B) their natural growth rate, their feed allotment cut
C) growing them naturally, cutting their feed allotment
D) they grow naturally, cutting their feed allotment
E) they grow naturally, with their feed allotment cut

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mv12: Master | Next Rank: 500 Posts; Posts: 150; Joined: Sat Apr 28, 2012 11:19 pm; Thanked: 4 times

by mv12 » Thu Jul 19, 2012 12:11 pm

Problem with A is that growing fish is compared with growth rate..while in D grow is compared to grow.
Hence D is the answer.

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