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Pronoun reference

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Pronoun reference

by Indradeep » Mon Dec 01, 2008 8:06 am
Like their male counterparts, women scientists are above average in terms of intelligence and creativity, but unlike men of science, their female counterparts have had to work against the grain of occupational stereotyping to enter a “man’s world.”

(A) their female counterparts have had to work
(B) their problem is working
(C) one thing they have had to do is work
(D) the handicap women of science have had is to work
(E) women of science have had to work

What is wrong with B?
their should be for women. Do you think there is a doubt with pronouns?
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by GMATters1001 » Mon Dec 01, 2008 8:47 am
I'm gonna say that the "their" in answer B is ambiguous. Is it referring to the men or the women? You don't necessarily know.
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by codesnooker » Mon Dec 01, 2008 8:52 am
IMO (E) because of parallelism
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Re: Pronoun reference

by iamcste » Mon Dec 01, 2008 9:23 am
Indradeep wrote:Like their male counterparts, women scientists are above average in terms of intelligence and creativity, but unlike men of science, their female counterparts have had to work against the grain of occupational stereotyping to enter a “man’s world.”

(A) their female counterparts have had to work
(B) their problem is working
(C) one thing they have had to do is work
(D) the handicap women of science have had is to work
(E) women of science have had to work

What is wrong with B?
their should be for women. Do you think there is a doubt with pronouns?

Unlike X, Y

Note: X and Y should be logical and strucuturally parallel.

Unlike "men of science", "women of science"

Infact, its only E which fits the bill
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by vivek.kapoor83 » Mon Dec 01, 2008 10:12 am
completely agree with Icaste.
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by jnellaz » Mon Dec 01, 2008 11:59 am
But unlike men of science, X

There is a comparison of men of science. After the comma, Women is needed for the sentence to be correct.

Choice E.
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by nervesofsteel » Mon Dec 01, 2008 11:33 pm
E should be the ans
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by ronniecoleman » Tue Dec 02, 2008 3:26 am
Like their male counterparts, women scientists are above average in terms of intelligence and creativity, but unlike men of science, their female counterparts have had to work against the grain of occupational stereotyping to enter a “man’s world.”

(A) their female counterparts have had to work
not parallel

(B) their problem is working
illogically refering to men..

(C) one thing they have had to do is work
they illogically refer to men

(D) the handicap women of science have had is to work
handicap women of science: not parallel

(E) women of science have had to work
Correct: Parallel construction
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by vittalgmat » Tue Dec 02, 2008 9:32 pm
IMO E,
thanks ronniecoleman for the explanation. Had a question.
Is "their" in A and B possessive noun?? if so then it would incorrectly refer to men's women.

thanks
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