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Neanderthals had a vocal tract

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Neanderthals had a vocal tract

by svaradhan » Mon Jul 07, 2008 7:39 am
Neanderthals had a vocal tract that resembled those of the apes and so were probably without language, a shortcoming that may explain why they were supplanted by our own species.
(A) Neanderthals had a vocal tract that resembled those of the apes
(B) Neanderthals had a vocal tract resembling an ape’s
(C) The vocal tracts of Neanderthals resembled an ape’s
(D) The Neanderthal’s vocal tracts resembled the apes’
(E) The vocal tracts of the Neanderthals resembled those of the apes

Please let me know your answer with explanation.
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Answer is A

by harish » Mon Jul 07, 2008 9:41 am
I think the right answer is A
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by gaura83 » Mon Jul 07, 2008 9:59 am
i think the correct answer is E
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by brontobuffy » Mon Jul 07, 2008 11:55 am
I think its D
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by loki.gmat » Mon Jul 07, 2008 12:12 pm
A - in second half of the sentence, antecedant of "they" is not clear - is it "Neanderthals" or "apes". hence incorrect.



hence IMO E.



Thanks!
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by svaradhan » Mon Jul 07, 2008 2:46 pm
But E doesn't look correct either because the subject is "vocal tracts". So, "and were..." incorrectly refers to this.

I chose A but OA is 'B'. I can't understand how that can be correct because "ape's" doesn't have anything followed and hence, ambiguous.
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by gmattestprep » Mon Jul 07, 2008 4:32 pm
here is what i think..

(A) "those" is used to refer to "vocal"
(B) Sounds correct
(C) passive voice and secondly "vocal tract resembled an ape's" is the correct form
(D) should be "vocal tract"
(E) passive voice...
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by kiranlegend » Mon Jul 07, 2008 9:12 pm
gmattestprep wrote:here is what i think..

(A) "those" is used to refer to "vocal"
(B) Sounds correct
(C) passive voice and secondly "vocal tract resembled an ape's" is the correct form
(D) should be "vocal tract"
(E) passive voice...

how is 'Neanderthals had a vocal tract resembling an ape’s' sounding correct? :x pls let me know.. i thought the answer is E
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by Aldiablo » Mon Jul 07, 2008 11:42 pm
IMO B:

We are only talking about one kind of Vocal Tract in the question, thus Plural is WRONG. changes meaning.
Eliminate C,D,E.

A is wrong because 'those' refers 'vocal tract'.

Only answer left B.
When you think you can or you cannot, you are generally correct.
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by gaurang » Tue Jul 08, 2008 1:45 am
The main problem I think is of pronoun reference
so eliminate A and B

(A) Neanderthals had a vocal tract that resembled those of the apes
those (plural pronoun) is used for "vocal tract" (singular noun)
incorrect pronoun reference


(B) Neanderthals had a vocal tract resembling an ape’s
had is past perfect, resembling is past progressive, tense inconsistent
also "vocal tract resembling an ape’s WHAT ?" is not clearly mentioned
and again incorrect pronoun reference

(C) The vocal tracts of Neanderthals resembled an ape’s
though the pronoun reference is rectified,
"vocal tracts resembling an ape’s WHAT ?" is not clearly mentioned

(D) The Neanderthal’s vocal tracts resembled the apes’
ambigious

(E) The vocal tracts of the Neanderthals resembled those of the apes
This option seems correct as a proper pronoun reference and parallel comparison is used.

vocal tracts of A resembled those of B
Thanks and Regards,
Gaurang
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Re: Neanderthals had a vocal tract

by sharkss » Tue Jul 08, 2008 11:14 am
svaradhan wrote:Neanderthals had a vocal tract that resembled those of the apes and so were probably without language, a shortcoming that may explain why they were supplanted by our own species.
(A) Neanderthals had a vocal tract that resembled those of the apes
(B) Neanderthals had a vocal tract resembling an ape’s
(C) The vocal tracts of Neanderthals resembled an ape’s
(D) The Neanderthal’s vocal tracts resembled the apes’
(E) The vocal tracts of the Neanderthals resembled those of the apes

Please let me know your answer with explanation.
Lets first eliminate the wrong ones...

C..is wrong because the subject of the sentence becomes "the vocal tract"....and when we read the rest of the sentence.....it sounds like the vocal tracts were withouth language...and not the neanderthals.
D....tells you that their vocal tract resembled the apes'...MEANS IT LOOKED LIKE AN APE!!! ..
E....also makes the "vocal tract" the subject of the sentence ...(See C)

between A and B...

A. neanderthals had A vocal tract ... (singular) that resembled those of the apes (plural) .... WRONG
B. neanderthals had A vocal track ... (singular) that resembled an ape's (singular) .... RIGHT


B. uses an idiom in english .... where at the end.... it is unnecessary to repeat "vocal tract" after "an ape's"

hope this helps
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by bigfernhead » Tue Jul 08, 2008 11:56 am
Just wondering, how come the part that needs to be corrected wasn't underlined?
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by svaradhan » Wed Jul 09, 2008 3:20 am
All - thanks for the explanation.
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by kiranlegend » Wed Jul 09, 2008 3:48 am
svaradhan wrote:All - thanks for the explanation.

what is the correct answer for this question?
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by kirube » Wed Jul 09, 2008 5:37 am
Neanderthals had a vocal tract that resembled those of the apes and so were probably without language, a shortcoming that may explain why they were supplanted by our own species.
(A) Neanderthals had a vocal tract that resembled those of the apes
(B) Neanderthals had a vocal tract resembling an ape’s
(C) The vocal tracts of Neanderthals resembled an ape’s
(D) The Neanderthal’s vocal tracts resembled the apes’
(E) The vocal tracts of the Neanderthals resembled those of the apes


C, D and E can be eliminated, because the 'they' seem to point towards the vocal tracts rather than the Neanderthanls themselves. It distorts the meaning by making it look like 'vocal tracts were without language'.

A could not be the answer, because it makes the 'they' ambiguous.

B is the correct answer because it overcomes the aforesaid problems. Since we are using possessive for ape. The 'they' would point only to the Neanderthals.

Correct me if I am wrong!!!!
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