Sentence Correction

but "they" sounds ambiguous to me.

AnjaliOberoi wrote:Scientists have found new evidence of people initially registering emotions like sadness or anger in much the same way as heartburn-by monitoring what's going on within their bodies.

(A) of people initially registering emotions like sadness or anger in much the same way as
(B) of people initially registering emotions such as sadness or anger much the same as experiencing
(C) that people initially register emotions such as sadness or anger in much the same way as they experience
(D) that a person initially registers emotions such as sadness or anger much the same way as experiencing
(E) that a person initially registers emotions like sadness or anger much the same as

Although i have filtered out the options and according to me the answer is C but "they" sounds ambiguous to me.
I am not able to make out that whether "they" is going to people or scientist. Can anyone help me to understand the usage of "they" in the above question.

Thanks

e-GMAT wrote:

AnjaliOberoi wrote:Scientists have found new evidence of people initially registering emotions like sadness or anger in much the same way as heartburn-by monitoring what's going on within their bodies.

(A) of people initially registering emotions like sadness or anger in much the same way as
(B) of people initially registering emotions such as sadness or anger much the same as experiencing
(C) that people initially register emotions such as sadness or anger in much the same way as they experience
(D) that a person initially registers emotions such as sadness or anger much the same way as experiencing
(E) that a person initially registers emotions like sadness or anger much the same as

Although i have filtered out the options and according to me the answer is C but "they" sounds ambiguous to me.
I am not able to make out that whether "they" is going to people or scientist. Can anyone help me to understand the usage of "they" in the above question.

Thanks

Hi @AnjaliOberoi,

Thanks for posting this question. I'm happy to help with your doubt.

First, let's do the error analysis for this sentence.

Error Analysis

There are no subject-verb, verb tense, modifier or pronoun errors in the sentence.

However, this sentence has a comparison error. It also has two idiom errors, but let's focus on the comparison issue since that's what we need to look at to address your question on the use of 'they'.

Comparison Error: The phrase 'same as' is a comparison marker, meaning that the two entities it compares should be both logically and grammatically similar. These are the two elements compared in the original sentence:

"¢ People initially registering emotions like sadness or anger in much the same way as heartburn.

Now, 'people initially registering emotions like sadness or anger' is in no way parallel to 'heartburn'. 'Heartburn' can be parallel to 'emotions like sadness or anger', since both are noun entities. However, this comparison is clearly not intended by the sentence. The phrase 'in much the same way' tells us that the author obviously wants to refer to a WAY in which something happens. In other words, the author wants to convey an ACTION. 'Heartburn' is not an action; it's a thing. Clearly, there are some elements missing in the way the comparison has been structured.

Let's see how the correct answer resolves this error.

Process of Elimination: Option A Versus Option C

Option A: INCORRECT as discussed in the error analysis.

Option C: CORRECT.

Comparison: The clause people initially register emotions such as sadness or anger is perfectly parallel to the clause as they experience heartburn. This also takes care of the pronoun issue that you were concerned about. Since "they" is clearly parallel to "people" in this option, it must refer to "people". There is no other possible logical antecedent for this pronoun, thanks to the perfectly parallel comparison in this option.

I hope this analysis helps! Let me know if you have doubts about any of the other options.

Regards,
Meghna

e-GMAT wrote:

AnjaliOberoi wrote:Scientists have found new evidence of people initially registering emotions like sadness or anger in much the same way as heartburn-by monitoring what's going on within their bodies.

(A) of people initially registering emotions like sadness or anger in much the same way as
(B) of people initially registering emotions such as sadness or anger much the same as experiencing
(C) that people initially register emotions such as sadness or anger in much the same way as they experience
(D) that a person initially registers emotions such as sadness or anger much the same way as experiencing
(E) that a person initially registers emotions like sadness or anger much the same as

Although i have filtered out the options and according to me the answer is C but "they" sounds ambiguous to me.
I am not able to make out that whether "they" is going to people or scientist. Can anyone help me to understand the usage of "they" in the above question.

Thanks

Hi @AnjaliOberoi,

Thanks for posting this question. I'm happy to help with your doubt.

First, let's do the error analysis for this sentence.

Error Analysis

There are no subject-verb, verb tense, modifier or pronoun errors in the sentence.

However, this sentence has a comparison error. It also has two idiom errors, but let's focus on the comparison issue since that's what we need to look at to address your question on the use of 'they'.

Comparison Error: The phrase 'same as' is a comparison marker, meaning that the two entities it compares should be both logically and grammatically similar. These are the two elements compared in the original sentence:

"¢ People initially registering emotions like sadness or anger in much the same way as heartburn.

Now, 'people initially registering emotions like sadness or anger' is in no way parallel to 'heartburn'. 'Heartburn' can be parallel to 'emotions like sadness or anger', since both are noun entities. However, this comparison is clearly not intended by the sentence. The phrase 'in much the same way' tells us that the author obviously wants to refer to a WAY in which something happens. In other words, the author wants to convey an ACTION. 'Heartburn' is not an action; it's a thing. Clearly, there are some elements missing in the way the comparison has been structured.

Let's see how the correct answer resolves this error.

Process of Elimination: Option A Versus Option C

Option A: INCORRECT as discussed in the error analysis.

Option C: CORRECT.

Comparison: The clause people initially register emotions such as sadness or anger is perfectly parallel to the clause as they experience heartburn. This also takes care of the pronoun issue that you were concerned about. Since "they" is clearly parallel to "people" in this option, it must refer to "people". There is no other possible logical antecedent for this pronoun, thanks to the perfectly parallel comparison in this option.

I hope this analysis helps! Let me know if you have doubts about any of the other options.

Regards,
Meghna