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SC Question from OG 12

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by Kushal Kumar » Wed Jul 14, 2010 9:49 am
Guys plz help with the following question of OG 12:

Nobody knows exactly how many languages there are in the world, partly because of the difficulty of distinguishing between a language and the sublanguages or the dialects within it, but those who have tried to count typically have found about five thousand.

(A) and the sublanguages or the dialects within it, but those who have tried to count typically have found
(B) and the sublanguages or the dialects within them, with those who have tried counting typically finding
(C) and the sublanguages or the dialects within it, but those who have tried to counting it typically find
(D) and the sublanguages or the dialects within them, but those who tried to count typically found
(E) or the sublanguages or dialects within them, with those who have tried to count typically finding


Please explain your choice too.

THanks~
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Source: — Sentence Correction |

by kvcpk » Wed Jul 14, 2010 10:25 am
Please check in this and post back if you have any queries.
https://www.beatthegmat.com/many-languag ... 12437.html
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by Kushal Kumar » Wed Jul 14, 2010 10:54 am
kvcpk,

I have changed the option (D). Would (D) be preferred over (A), had the choice been so?

According to me, pronoun "it" is bit ambiguous because it may refer to "language" or "sublanguages". So "them" accurately fits in the sentence as it is closer to the plural "sublanguages".

Please give your opinion!
I always knew I was going to be rich. I never doubted it for a minute. -- Rakesh Jhunjhunwala (rakeshjhunjhunwala.in)
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by kvcpk » Wed Jul 14, 2010 11:11 am
Kushal Kumar wrote:kvcpk,

I have changed the option (D). Would (D) be preferred over (A), had the choice been so?

According to me, pronoun "it" is bit ambiguous because it may refer to "language" or "sublanguages". So "them" accurately fits in the sentence as it is closer to the plural "sublanguages".

Please give your opinion!
You go the meaning of the sentence wrong.

"it" is actually referring back to "language". Hence "them" (plural) is inappropriate.

"between a language and the sublanguages or the dialects within it" means
"between a language and the sublanguages or the dialects within that language"

We are not allowed to change the intended meaning of the sentence.

Idiom is Distinguish between X and Y
here X is a language
Y is sublanguages or the dialects within that language
Y cannot be only Sublanguages. Because, in that case "or the dialects within it" will be hanging without any relation to anything.

Hope this helps!!
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by Kushal Kumar » Wed Jul 14, 2010 11:49 am
Thanx for the explanation! It cleared my doubt.
I always knew I was going to be rich. I never doubted it for a minute. -- Rakesh Jhunjhunwala (rakeshjhunjhunwala.in)
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