Sentence Correction

Although the first pulsar, or rapidly spinning collapsed star, to be sighted was in the summer of 1967 by graduate student Jocelyn Bell, it had not been announced until February, 1968.

(A) Although the first pulsar, or rapidly spinning collapsed star, to be sighted was in the summer of 1967 by graduate student Jocelyn Bell, it had not been announced until February, 1968.

(B) Although not announced until February, 1968, in the summer of 1967 graduate student Jocelyn Bell observed the first pulsar, or rapidly spinning collapsed star, to be sighted.

(C) Although observed by graduate student Jocelyn Bell in the summer of 1967, the discovery of the first sighted pulsar, or rapidly spinning collapsed star, had not been announced before February, 1968.

(D) The first pulsar, or rapidly spinning collapsed star, to be sighted was observed in the summer of 1967 by graduate student Jocelyn Bell, but the discovery was not announced until February, 1968.

(E) The first sighted pulsar, or rapidly spinning collapsed star, was not announced until February, 1968, while it was observed in the summer of 1967 by graduate student Jocelyn Bell

hi Verbal Experts,
I've a quick question on option A.

i think, the pronoun IT wrongly refers to the pulsar INSTEAD OF the discovery (of the pulsar) -- am i correct on this error ?

ngk4mba3236 wrote:hi Verbal Experts,
I've a quick question on option A.

i think, the pronoun IT wrongly refers to the pulsar INSTEAD OF the discovery (of the pulsar) -- am i correct on this error ?

Yes.
The default referent for a subject pronoun is the preceding subject.
In A, it (subject pronoun) seems to refer to the first pulsar (the preceding subject), incorrectly conveying that the PULSAR had not been announced.
The intended meaning is that the DISCOVERY of the pulsar had not been announced.
Since the OA avoids this issue and is free of errors, eliminate A.

GMATGuruNY wrote: The default referent for a subject pronoun is the preceding subject.

is it always TRUE in GMAT ?

ngk4mba3236 wrote:

GMATGuruNY wrote: The default referent for a subject pronoun is the preceding subject.

is it always TRUE in GMAT ?

This rule will generally hold true for the following cases:
SUBORDINATE CLAUSE + COMMA + INDEPENDENT CLAUSE WITH A SUBJECT PRONOUN
INDEPENDENT CLAUSE + COMMA + CONJUNCTION + INDEPENDENT CLAUSE WITH A SUBJECT PRONOUN
In these cases, the default referent for the subject pronoun in the second clause will be the subject of the first clause.

But there could certainly be exceptions.
Pronoun ambiguity should be considered a low-priority error.
Eliminate an answer choice with a potentially ambiguous pronoun only if an alternate answer choice avoids the ambiguity and is free of errors.

GMATGuruNY wrote: This rule will generally hold true for the following cases:
SUBORDINATE CLAUSE + COMMA + INDEPENDENT CLAUSE WITH A SUBJECT PRONOUN
INDEPENDENT CLAUSE + COMMA + CONJUNCTION + INDEPENDENT CLAUSE WITH A SUBJECT PRONOUN
In these cases, the default referent for the subject pronoun in the second clause will be the subject of the first clause.

But there could certainly be exceptions.

gmatguru,
thanks for the clarifications.

here, by first clause, i think you meant either the SUBORDINATE CLAUSE or the INDEPENDENT CLAUSE in the above two structures respectively. right ?

p.s: btw, will it be possible to shed some light on the exceptions scenarios that you referred to in your above quote ?

ngk4mba3236 wrote:here, by first clause, i think you meant either the SUBORDINATE CLAUSE or the INDEPENDENT CLAUSE in the above two structures respectively. right ?

Correct.

p.s: btw, will it be possible to shed some light on the exceptions scenarios that you referred to in your above quote ?

For examples of OAs in which a third-person pronoun does not serve to refer to a preceding subject, check my second the third posts here:
https://www.beatthegmat.com/parallel-str ... 83199.html