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Question on noun-pronoun reference

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by karmayogi » Sat Dec 20, 2008 3:01 am
Content though she seems, the unhappiness of the housewife is evident to those who know her well.
(A)
(B) Even though she seems content, the unhappiness of the housewife
(C) Thought content, the housewife's unhappiness
(D) Though the housewife seems content, her unhappiness
(E) The unhappiness of the housewife who seems content

I don't think the explanation given in the book has done justice with the question. Looking for some better explanation.
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by raunekk » Sat Dec 20, 2008 3:26 am
imo:D

wats d source and OA??
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by karmayogi » Sat Dec 20, 2008 6:28 am
raunekk wrote:imo:D

wats d source and OA??
For OA, have patience :twisted:

Explanation for you opinion, plz...
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Re: Question on noun-pronoun reference

by parallel_chase » Sat Dec 20, 2008 7:14 am
Who seems content

Housewife or housewife's unhappiness

Housewife - of course

Eliminate A, B, & C

Compared with D, E is wordy.
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Re: Question on noun-pronoun reference

by karmayogi » Sat Dec 20, 2008 10:39 am
parallel_chase wrote:Who seems content

Housewife or housewife's unhappiness

Housewife - of course

Eliminate A, B, & C

Compared with D, E is wordy.
Your reasoning for eliminating A, B & C is same as mine. Cool! But book has given a little different explanation, which I don't think is apt, if not incorrect.

Regarding E, is wordiness the only issue?
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by parallel_chase » Sat Dec 20, 2008 10:50 am
I think E would have been better

The unhappiness of the housewife, who seems content, is evident to those who know her well.

here "who seems content" is acting like an appositive.

I cant think of any other reason why E is incorrect.

Let me know what you think.
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by karmayogi » Sat Dec 20, 2008 6:20 pm
parallel_chase wrote:I think E would have been better

The unhappiness of the housewife, who seems content, is evident to those who know her well.

here "who seems content" is acting like an appositive.

I cant think of any other reason why E is incorrect.

Let me know what you think.
Correct
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by iwg770 » Sun Dec 21, 2008 10:13 am
Other than wordy E is passive

The unhappiness of the housewife is evident to those who know her well.

Can also be written as

Housewife's unhappiness is evident to those who know her well.

So option D is better.
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by karmayogi » Sun Dec 21, 2008 7:47 pm
iwg770 wrote:Other than wordy E is passive

The unhappiness of the housewife is evident to those who know her well.

Can also be written as

Housewife's unhappiness is evident to those who know her well.

So option D is better.
But I have seen at least in GMAT "X of Y" is preferred over Y's X.
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by iwg770 » Sun Dec 21, 2008 9:34 pm
Regarding "X of Y" is preferred over Y's X, I think when sentence emphasize more on the action of the subject rather than on the subject X of Y construction is prefered.

So if the original sentence was structured more talking about the unhappiness of housewife than about the housewife, i.e. if the subject housewife was secondary or subordinate in the sentence, then X of Y construction would be proper.

Also, i think structure of original structure is some what different from that of E, use of preposition 'though' divides original sentence in 2 clauses, though clause acts as a subordinate clause and more emphasis is given on the next clause.

Option D corrects the error in original sentence and also follow the structure similar to original sentence.
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by vivek.kapoor83 » Sun Dec 21, 2008 9:49 pm
along with all these reasons i also feel, D shows the contradiction...perfectly...though she was but she wasn't...it is more apt than E.
wht do u say karamyogi
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by ronniecoleman » Sun Dec 21, 2008 9:51 pm
Content though she seems, the unhappiness of the housewife is evident to those who know her well.
(A)

Rule book say: Pronoun in the opening modifier should refere to the subject of the next clause...which is unhappiness.....illogical OUT


(B) Even though she seems content, the unhappiness of the housewife

She it seems refer to unhappiness of the housewife...illogical!! OUT

(C) Thought content, the housewife's unhappiness

OUT
(D) Though the housewife seems content, her unhappiness

We require a contrast... though she is content but her unhappiness is visible to who know her well...

Correct
(E) The unhappiness of the housewife who seems content

lacks contrast....
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by ronniecoleman » Sun Dec 21, 2008 9:52 pm
karmayogi wrote:
iwg770 wrote:Other than wordy E is passive

The unhappiness of the housewife is evident to those who know her well.

Can also be written as

Housewife's unhappiness is evident to those who know her well.

So option D is better.
But I have seen at least in GMAT "X of Y" is preferred over Y's X.
absolutely correct

but we need to check out a bigger error in hand...

just my opinion!
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by schumi_gmat » Mon Dec 22, 2008 9:10 pm
IMO D

E is incorrect because who should be set off by a comma.
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Explanation

by sanjaysmart » Mon Dec 22, 2008 10:27 pm
Content though she seems, the unhappiness of the housewife is evident to those who know her well.
(A)
(B) Even though she seems content, the unhappiness of the housewife
(C) Thought content, the housewife's unhappiness
(D) Though the housewife seems content, her unhappiness
(E) The unhappiness of the housewife who seems content

A- is an elimination because the stimulus contains a misplaced/illogical modifier (the 'unhappiness' does not seem content)
B-is also an elimination. Though the phrase has been changed to a reduced adverb clause, the illogical modifier still exists
C- is an elimination. The rule is that when the advern clause precedes the independent clause and has a pronoun subject, the subject of the independent clause has to be the noun replacing this pronoun. This too is like an illogical modification.
D- is the answer. It follows the perfect adverb-independent clause word order and contains no illogical modification.
E- is an elimination. The use of the adjective clause eliminates the concession (provided by the adverb clause marker 'though') and thus changes the meaning. Also the post modifier in the noun phrase subject has been modified by the adjective clause introducing a very awkward modification.
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