GMATGuruNY wrote:TheGraduate wrote:Today's technology allows manufacturers to make small cars more fuel-efficient now than at any time in their production history.
A) small cars more fuel-efficient now than at any time in their
B) small cars that are more fuel-efficient than they were at any time in their
D) more fuel-efficient small cars than those at any other time in their
Please comment on pronoun ambiguity of "their" in (A),(D) and of "they" and "their" in (B).
In A and D, it is unclear whether
their serves to refer to
manufacturers or to
small cars.
Eliminate A and D.
Forms of
they (
they, them, their) cannot serve to compare TWO DIFFERENT SETS OF X.
Incorrect:
This year's cellphones are better than THEY were last year.
Here, the usage of
they implies that the SAME set of cellphones is being discussed in each instance.
Not so.
The intention is to compare ONE set of cellphones (this year's cellphones) to ANOTHER set of cellphones (last year's cellphones).
Correct:
This year's cellphones are better than last year's.
B:
small cars that are more fuel-efficient than they were at any time in their history
Here, the intention is compare ONE set of cars (today's small cars) to ANOTHER set of cars (small cars produced in the past).
Since forms of
they cannot serve to compare two different sets of X, eliminate B.
Dear GMATGuru,
In the OA
C, does 'those' refer to '
small cars' or '
small cars that are more fuel-efficient'?
GMATGuruNY wrote:
Incorrect: The manufacturer produced more cars this year than those last year.
Correct: The manufacturer produced more cars this year than last year.
The correct version implies the following comparison:
The manufacturer produced more cars this year than [it produced cars] last year.
In the following (OG2017 SC#758):
Prices at the producer level are only 1.3 percent higher now
than a year ago and are going down, even though floods I the Midwest and drought in the south are hurting crops and therefore raised corn and soybean prices.
A: than a year ago and are going down, even though floods I the Midwest and drought in the south are hurting crops and therefore raised
B: than those of a year ago, and are going down, even though floods in the Midwest and drought in the south are hurting crops and therefore raising
C: than a year ago and are going down, despite floods in the Midwest and drought in the south, and are hurting crops and therefore raising
D: as those of a year ago and are going down, even though floods in the Midwest and drought in the south hurt crops and therefore raise
E: as they were a year ago and are going down, despite floods in the Midwest and drought in the south, and are hurting crops and therefore raising
Why A is wrong? In light of your examples about manufacture, we can omit the subject and verb and their presence could be implied as follows:
Prices at the producer level are only 1.3 percent higher now than [Prices at the producer level are] a year ago.
Where did I go wrong? I think it is like to your example:
'The manufacturer produced more cars this year than last year'
Thanks
