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chaitanya.mehrotra: Master | Next Rank: 500 Posts; Posts: 184; Joined: Thu Nov 25, 2010 9:57 pmFollowed by: 5 members; Thanked: 1 times; GMAT Score:700

by chaitanya.mehrotra » Sat Jul 02, 2011 2:24 pm

The spatial relationships among the elements of Jan Micker's 1652 masterwork Bird's Eye View of Amsterdam, which he painted long before such a vantage point became possible, are much more subtle and intricate than they are in most other seventeenth-century Dutch paintings.

A)which he painted long before such a vantage point became possible, are much more subtle and intricate than they are in
B)painted by the artist long before such a vantage point was to become possible, are much more subtle and intricate than those among
C)which he painted long before the possibility of such a vantage point, are much more subtle and intricate than in
D)painted long before the possibility of such a vantage point, are much more subtle and intricate than they are in
E)painted long before such a vantage point became possible, are much more subtle and intricate than those in

Doubt: can which refer to the whole noun clause "Jan Micker's 1652 masterwork Bird's Eye View of Amsterdam".
Whats wrong with using they in the sentence , cant it refer to the only plural subject spatial relationships clearly ?

OA[spoiler]:E[/spoiler]

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Source: Beat The GMAT — Sentence Correction | Sat Jul 02, 2011 2:24 pm

sandy217: Master | Next Rank: 500 Posts; Posts: 165; Joined: Wed Aug 04, 2010 9:44 pm; Thanked: 8 times

by sandy217 » Sat Jul 02, 2011 11:23 pm

1.Which can refer noun or noun phrase.
2.They suggests same spatial relationships exists in other seventeenth-century Dutch painting.The comparison should be made with "those" in other seventeenth-century Dutch paintings.

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chaitanya.mehrotra: Master | Next Rank: 500 Posts; Posts: 184; Joined: Thu Nov 25, 2010 9:57 pmFollowed by: 5 members; Thanked: 1 times; GMAT Score:700

by chaitanya.mehrotra » Sun Jul 03, 2011 12:00 am

@Sandy can u pls elaborate a bit further , i am still not clear.....

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garima99: Master | Next Rank: 500 Posts; Posts: 217; Joined: Tue May 31, 2011 9:42 pmFollowed by: 2 members; Thanked: 8 times

by garima99 » Sun Jul 03, 2011 12:02 am

what is wrong with using 'which'?pls explain

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Ashley@VeritasPrep: GMAT Instructor; Posts: 199; Joined: Tue May 17, 2011 6:06 amFollowed by: 121 members; Location: Cambridge, MA; Thanked: 192 times; GMAT Score:780

by Ashley@VeritasPrep » Sun Jul 03, 2011 4:09 pm

chaitanya.mehrotra wrote:The spatial relationships among the elements of Jan Micker's 1652 masterwork Bird's Eye View of Amsterdam, which he painted long before such a vantage point became possible, are much more subtle and intricate than they are in most other seventeenth-century Dutch paintings.

A)which he painted long before such a vantage point became possible, are much more subtle and intricate than they are in
B)painted by the artist long before such a vantage point was to become possible, are much more subtle and intricate than those among
C)which he painted long before the possibility of such a vantage point, are much more subtle and intricate than in
D)painted long before the possibility of such a vantage point, are much more subtle and intricate than they are in
E)painted long before such a vantage point became possible, are much more subtle and intricate than those in

Doubt: can which refer to the whole noun clause "Jan Micker's 1652 masterwork Bird's Eye View of Amsterdam".
Whats wrong with using they in the sentence , cant it refer to the only plural subject spatial relationships clearly ?

OA[spoiler]:E[/spoiler]

Hi there,

"Which" can indeed refer to that whole thing ("Jan Micker's...Amsterdam"), because it's only really one noun (specifically, "masterwork") -- the rest is just modifiers and a title. BUT it's more concise (a desirable attribute) to just say "painted" rather than "which he painted."

"They are" is roughly the same story... it's okay because the referent of "they" is pretty clearly "spatial objects," but again, it's just more concise to say "those" instead of "they are."

After you've weeded out any options that contain grammatical errors, you want to go for the more concise option of the two you've got left, assuming their meanings are equally clear.

Hope this helps!

Ashley Newman-Owens
GMAT Instructor
Veritas Prep

Post helpful? Mosey your cursor on over to that Thank button and click, please! I will bake you an imaginary cake.

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jonathan123456: Senior | Next Rank: 100 Posts; Posts: 96; Joined: Wed May 20, 2009 8:46 pm; Thanked: 1 times

by jonathan123456 » Tue Jul 05, 2011 4:28 pm

A)which he painted long before such a vantage point became possible, are much more subtle and intricate than they are in
He has no reference
B)painted by the artist long before such a vantage point was to become possible, are much more subtle and intricate than those among
was to become possible is not concise
C)which he painted long before the possibility of such a vantage point, are much more subtle and intricate than in
He has no reference
D)painted long before the possibility of such a vantage point, are much more subtle and intricate than they are in
possibility of such a vantage point is not very clear
E)painted long before such a vantage point became possible, are much more subtle and intricate than those in
E is the answer

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Ashley@VeritasPrep: GMAT Instructor; Posts: 199; Joined: Tue May 17, 2011 6:06 amFollowed by: 121 members; Location: Cambridge, MA; Thanked: 192 times; GMAT Score:780

by Ashley@VeritasPrep » Wed Jul 06, 2011 7:28 pm

Responding to a PM re: whether there is pronoun ambiguity here on account of "they" or "those." The short answer is that there isn't pronoun ambiguity in terms of meaning, but see my posts here for more detail on the issue of ERRORS' being the only true grounds for certain elimination of options: https://www.beatthegmat.com/pronoun-ambi ... tml#377668. Note that in this question, the only option--C--that doesn't introduce a "they" or a "those" has a grammatical ERROR, a faulty comparison between "the spatial relationships" and "in most other seventeenth-century Dutch paintings."

Ashley Newman-Owens
GMAT Instructor
Veritas Prep

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rveeraga: Senior | Next Rank: 100 Posts; Posts: 42; Joined: Fri Jul 03, 2009 9:52 am; Location: San Jose, CA; Thanked: 2 times

by rveeraga » Thu Jul 07, 2011 1:29 pm

chaitanya.mehrotra wrote:The spatial relationships among the elements of Jan Micker's 1652 masterwork Bird's Eye View of Amsterdam, which he painted long before such a vantage point became possible, are much more subtle and intricate than they are in most other seventeenth-century Dutch paintings.

A)which he painted long before such a vantage point became possible, are much more subtle and intricate than they are in
B)painted by the artist long before such a vantage point was to become possible, are much more subtle and intricate than those among
C)which he painted long before the possibility of such a vantage point, are much more subtle and intricate than in
D)painted long before the possibility of such a vantage point, are much more subtle and intricate than they are in
E)painted long before such a vantage point became possible, are much more subtle and intricate than those in

Doubt: can which refer to the whole noun clause "Jan Micker's 1652 masterwork Bird's Eye View of Amsterdam".
Whats wrong with using they in the sentence , cant it refer to the only plural subject spatial relationships clearly ?

OA[spoiler]:E[/spoiler]

Yes, which refers to noun phrase. (by the way, it is not a clause but a phrase. A clause must have, at minimum , subject and verb.) The actual issue is that he in the which subordinate clause can not refer to the possessive--Jan Micker's.

In general, they is used to refer to people, whereas those is used to refer to objects such as The spatial relationships in this instance. On the other hand, the GMAT prefers those for plural and that for singular to refer to similar instance of the previous item in comparisons.

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