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Over the past few years, banks have systematically raised

Expert replies
by aditya8062 » Thu Feb 28, 2013 10:21 pm
Over the past few years, banks have systematically raised their old fees and invented new ones that are harder and harder for consumers to avoid.

(A) banks have systematically raised their old fees and invented new ones that are harder and harder for consumers to avoid

(B) banks are systematically raising their old fees and inventing new ones that become harder and harder for consumers to avoid.

(C) banks systematically raising and inventing new ones make them harder and harder for consumers to avoid

(D) as banks systematically raised their old fees and invented new ones, avoiding them becomes harder and harder for consumers

(E) as banks have systematically raised their old fees and invented new ones, it is becoming harder and harder for consumers to avoid them.

this is a gmat prep question
OA is A
i have the following doubt :
In one of the post of Ron i read that object pronouns cannot refer to the subject of the clause .
i am talking about the following question where he had explained that "them " is not ambiguous

Sports Medicine Programs of the Olympic Training Center, a complex where final try outs are held for athletes representing the US in the Olympics, is geared toward enhancing athletes' performance and toward their preparation for international competition.
A.) is geared toward enhancing athletes' performance and toward their preparation
B.) is geared to enhance the performance of athletes and to prepare them
C.) are geared to enhance athletes performance and their preparation
D.) are geared toward the enhancement of athletes' performance and toward preparing them
E.) are geared toward enhancing the performance of athletes and preparing them


Ron had given the following reasoning as why "them " is not wrong in the above mentioned question (blue color )
he(Ron) said:
"them" is not ambiguous. first, consider the following:
you should stop looking at you in the mirror.
that's wrong, right? right. the reason? if you have a verb whose subject and object are the same entity (called a 'reflexive verb'), then the object has to have the ending -self/-selves.
hence, the correct version:
you should stop looking at yourself in the mirror.

--

first, completely ignore the appositive modifier ('a complex where ... olympics'), which is just noise that doesn't affect the surrounding grammar at all. if you do so, you'll notice that 'programs' is the subject. were it also the object, it would have to manifest as themselves.


therefore, 'them' is not ambiguous (only possible referent remaining = athletes)

Now my doubt is why "them" is ambiguous in the top most question (red color ) in choice E.(OE said that "them" is ambiguous in E)
Also if "them " is not ambiguous then what is wrong in E ? how option A IS BETTER THAN E in the red colored question?


thanks and regards
aditya
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Source: — Sentence Correction |

by Kasia@EconomistGMAT » Fri Mar 01, 2013 4:57 am
Answer E is incorrect because it does not state clearly what is hard to avoid for consumers - banks, old fees or new fees. All three nouns could be referents of the pronoun "them." That's why answer A is the best one.

The rule that object pronouns cannot refer to the subject of the clause cannot be used here because the subject of the clause that includes the pronoun "them" is "it" ("IT is becoming harder and harder...") and not "banks."
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by aditya8062 » Fri Mar 01, 2013 5:54 am
To Kasia
The rule that object pronouns cannot refer to the subject of the clause cannot be used here because the subject of the clause that includes the pronoun "them" is "it" ("IT is becoming harder and harder...") and not "banks."
your text is right on the spot ,can't tell u how much i appreciate ur help .now i realize how my application of that rule was faulty .thanks for chipping in
thanks a ton
regards
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by Kasia@EconomistGMAT » Fri Mar 01, 2013 6:12 am
Glad I could help!
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by Tommy Wallach » Fri Mar 01, 2013 9:51 am
Hey Aditya,

I'd also add that, when all else fails, avoid expletive pronoun forms if you have a better choice. (E) has that expletive form ("it is becoming harder and harder") and (A) doesn't.

Also interesting to note that "one" is also usable as a pronoun. For example, it's incorrect in answer choice (B) because it has no antecedent.

-t
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by metallicafan » Mon May 13, 2013 9:53 am
Kasia@EconomistGMAT wrote:Answer E is incorrect because it does not state clearly what is hard to avoid for consumers - banks, old fees or new fees. All three nouns could be referents of the pronoun "them." That's why answer A is the best one.

The rule that object pronouns cannot refer to the subject of the clause cannot be used here because the subject of the clause that includes the pronoun "them" is "it" ("IT is becoming harder and harder...") and not "banks."
In choice E, is not "them" being parallel with "fees"? I have read that a pronoun can refer to a noun, which is far, when both are in the same case. Please clarify.
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