Sentence Correction

101. Heavy commitment by an executive to a course of action, especially if it has worried well in the past, makes it likely to miss signs of incipient trouble or misinterpret them when they do appear.


a. Heavy commitment by an executive to a course of action, especially if it has worried well in the past, makes it likely to miss signs of incipient trouble or misinterpret them when they do appear.

b. An executive who is heavily committed to a course of action, especially one that worked well in the past, makes missing signs of incipient trouble or misinterpreting ones likely when they do appear.

c. An executive who is heavily committed to a course of action is likely to miss or misinterpret signs of incipient trouble when they do appear, especially if it has worked well in the past.

d. Executives' being heavily committed to a course of action, especially if it has worked well in the past, makes them likely to miss signs of incipient trouble or misinterpreting them when they do appear.

e. Being heavily committed to a course of action, especially one that has worked well in the past, is likely to make an executive miss signs of incipient trouble or misinterpret them when they do appear.

I did not select E because Being heavily committed to a course of action - here it is not clear who is committed to the course of action, an executive is too far way from this modifying clause. I selected C because I have read at several places that if the antecedent of It pronoun is logically clear then it is correct.

Any thoughts?

113. Because there are provisions of the new maritime code that provide that even tiny islets can be the basis for claims to the fisheries and oil fields of large sea areas, they have already stimulated international disputes over uninhabited islands.

A. Because there are provisions of the new maritime code that provide that even tiny islets can be the basis for claims to the fisheries and oil fields of large sea areas, they have already stimulated

B. Because the new maritime code provides that even tiny islets can be the basis for claims to the fisheries and oil fields of large sea areas, it has already stimulated

C. Even tiny islets can be the basis for claims to the fisheries and oil fields of large sea areas under provisions of the new maritime code, already stimulated

D. Because even tiny islets can be the basis for claims to the fisheries and oil fields of large areas under maritime code, this has already stimulated

E. Because even tiny islets can be the basis for claims to the fisheries and oil fields of large areas under provisions of the new maritime code, which is already stimulating


My point above is further strenghtend by this question. Here B is correct even though between New Maritime code and It there are several other nouns

PLEASE POST ONE QUESTION PER THREAD.....!!!

vineetbatra wrote:Heavy commitment by an executive to a course of action, especially if it has worried well in the past, makes it likely to miss signs of incipient trouble or misinterpret them when they do appear.


a. Heavy commitment by an executive to a course of action, especially if it has worried well in the past, makes it likely to miss signs of incipient trouble or misinterpret them when they do appear.

b. An executive who is heavily committed to a course of action, especially one that worked well in the past, makes missing signs of incipient trouble or misinterpreting ones likely when they do appear.

c. An executive who is heavily committed to a course of action is likely to miss or misinterpret signs of incipient trouble when they do appear, especially if it has worked well in the past. ...what doest "it" refer to

d. Executives' being heavily committed to a course of action, especially if it has worked well in the past, makes them likely to miss signs of incipient trouble or misinterpreting them when they do appear.
e. Being heavily committed to a course of action, especially one (clearly modifies action) that has worked well in the past, is likely to make an executive miss signs of incipient trouble or misinterpret them when they do appear.

Apporva,

Thanks for the reply, I posted 2 questions to show the contrast in the answer choices.

Clause "Being heavily committed to a course of action" should modify an Executive because who is being committed especially one or the executive.

My question is also the contrast in the answer choices of the 2 questions; in choice C of 101 "IT" pronoun is incorrect because as per explanation there are several nouns between the antecedent and the pronoun IT; however in Choice B of 113 "It" pronoun is clear even though this choice also has several nouns between the antecedent and the pronoun it.

Vineet

101:E ; 103:B. Here's why:-

101: It can refer to "course of action". Another singular noun in between is "signs of incipient trouble"
113: It refers to "maritime code". Other nouns in between are "tiny islets", "fisheries", "oil fields", "large sea areas". None of these are singular.

Moreover, if you argue that "signs of incipient trouble" is a part of a prepositional phrase then even "course of action" too is a part of a prepositional phrase. (in 101).

Also, note that, in 103 everything after "that" will be a subordinate clause. Hence, it has a clear antecedent. It's not so in 101.

Thanks, that Makes a lot of sense.

Can you also explain why Clause "Being heavily committed to a course of action" is correct, it should modify an Executive because i.e. who is being committed here, the executive, but the executive is in a "Galaxy far far away" from the cluase.

Vineet

IMO E

vineetbatra wrote:Thanks, that Makes a lot of sense.

Can you also explain why Clause "Being heavily committed to a course of action" is correct, it should modify an Executive because i.e. who is being committed here, the executive, but the executive is in a "Galaxy far far away" from the cluase.

Vineet

"Being committed..." is not modifying "executives"
"Being committed" is a gerund (noun phrase) functioning as the subject of the sentence: "Being committed... is likely to make..."

ie: Being late will get you in trouble.