Pronoun Ambiguity - semicolon case expert help please OG12 - The Beat The GMAT Forum

Pronoun Ambiguity - semicolon case expert help please OG12

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GMATMadeEasy: Legendary Member; Posts: 768; Joined: Mon Nov 30, 2009 3:46 amFollowed by: 7 members; Thanked: 21 times

by GMATMadeEasy » Sun Oct 31, 2010 4:14 am

The energy source on Voyager 2 is not a nuclear reactor, in which atoms are actively broken apart; rather a kind of nuclear battery that uses natural radioactive decay to produce power.

(A) apart; rather
(B) apart, but rather
(C) apart, but rather that of
(D) apart, but that of
(E) apart; it is that of

OA is B

Q1: option E -> it should refer to "The energy source on Voyager 2" not "nuclear reactor " ? I understand that pronoun ambiguity is not hard and fast rule and that this AC has another error as well .

Would E be correct if written as follows : apart;but it is

Q2: option B -> but rather is considered as correct usage in OG but if we write only "but" instead of "but rather " is it correct too ?

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Source: Beat The GMAT — Sentence Correction | Sun Oct 31, 2010 4:14 am

gmat_perfect: Legendary Member; Posts: 1083; Joined: Wed Feb 24, 2010 9:38 pmFollowed by: 14 members; Thanked: 127 times

by gmat_perfect » Sun Oct 31, 2010 5:38 am

GMATMadeEasy wrote:The energy source on Voyager 2 is not a nuclear reactor, in which atoms are actively broken apart; rather a kind of nuclear battery that uses natural radioactive decay to produce power.

(A) apart; rather
(B) apart, but rather
(C) apart, but rather that of
(D) apart, but that of
(E) apart; it is that of

OA is B

Q1: option E -> it should refer to "The energy source on Voyager 2" not "nuclear reactor " ? I understand that pronoun ambiguity is not hard and fast rule and that this AC has another error as well .

Would E be correct if written as follows : apart;but it is

Q2: option B -> but rather is considered as correct usage in OG but if we write only "but" instead of "but rather " is it correct too ?

Answer to the question No1:

Apart; but it is is not correct following reasons:

1. Semicolon (;) is used in the following ways in case of two clauses:

1.1. Clause + semicolon (;) + Clause

Example:
They were playing cricket; I was playing football.
--> Two clause has been joined by semicolon, and every clause MUST have a subject and a verb.

1.2. Clause + Semicolon (;) + Conjunctive Adverb + COMMA + Clause

They were playing cricket; however, I was playing football.

Mind: All the clauses are independent clause.

In your example, Semicolon (;) + But it is, the clause after semicolon is not independent clause. It is coordinating clause.
You cannot join coordinating clause with semicolon. You need just a comma before coordinating clause.

Example:

I was plating for a long time, but I could make good number of runs.

Answer to the question NO. 2:

Nope, it is not correct to use "COMMA + BUT + dependent clause"

Mind the following two things:

2.1. "COMMA + BUT" needs an independent clause after it if "comma + but" is not used in a list of NOUN or in case of "not only X, but Y" construction.
2.2. "COMMA + But rather" needs a NOUN after it.

Another issue:

See the example:

The source of light is not the moon, but the sun.
--> We should not use "that of" because "that" does not have reference.

The light of moon is less bright than that of the sun.
--> We need that because "that" has reference, the light.

We can write the sentence as "the light of the moon is less bright than the light of the sun".

Thanks.

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gmat_perfect: Legendary Member; Posts: 1083; Joined: Wed Feb 24, 2010 9:38 pmFollowed by: 14 members; Thanked: 127 times

by gmat_perfect » Sun Oct 31, 2010 5:40 am

gmat_perfect wrote:
GMATMadeEasy wrote:The energy source on Voyager 2 is not a nuclear reactor, in which atoms are actively broken apart; rather a kind of nuclear battery that uses natural radioactive decay to produce power.

(A) apart; rather
(B) apart, but rather
(C) apart, but rather that of
(D) apart, but that of
(E) apart; it is that of

OA is B

Q1: option E -> it should refer to "The energy source on Voyager 2" not "nuclear reactor " ? I understand that pronoun ambiguity is not hard and fast rule and that this AC has another error as well .

Would E be correct if written as follows : apart;but it is

Q2: option B -> but rather is considered as correct usage in OG but if we write only "but" instead of "but rather " is it correct too ?
Answer to the question No1:

Apart; but it is is not correct for following reasons:

1. Semicolon [;] is used in the following ways in case of two clauses:

1.1. Clause + semicolon [;] + Clause

Example:
They were playing cricket; I was playing football.
--> Two clause has been joined by semicolon, and every clause MUST have a subject and a verb.

1.2. Clause + Semicolon [;] + Conjunctive Adverb + COMMA + Clause

They were playing cricket; however, I was playing football.

Mind: All the clauses are independent clause.

In your example, Semicolon [;] + But it is, the clause after semicolon is not independent clause. It is coordinating clause.
You cannot join coordinating clause with semicolon. You need just a comma before coordinating clause.

Example:

I was plating for a long time, but I could make good number of runs.

Answer to the question NO. 2:

Nope, it is not correct to use "COMMA + BUT + dependent clause"

Mind the following two things:

2.1. "COMMA + BUT" needs an independent clause after it if "comma + but" is not used in a list of NOUN or in case of "not only X, but Y" construction.
2.2. "COMMA + But rather" needs a NOUN after it.

Another issue:

See the example:

The source of light is not the moon, but the sun.
--> We should not use "that of" because "that" does not have reference.

The light of moon is less bright than that of the sun.
--> We need that because "that" has reference, the light.

We can write the sentence as "the light of the moon is less bright than the light of the sun".

Thanks.

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GMATMadeEasy: Legendary Member; Posts: 768; Joined: Mon Nov 30, 2009 3:46 amFollowed by: 7 members; Thanked: 21 times

by GMATMadeEasy » Sun Oct 31, 2010 5:57 am

gmat-perfect , that is just perfect.

2.1. "COMMA + BUT" needs an independent clause after it if "comma + but" is not used in a list of NOUNor in case of "not only X, but Y" construction.

Could you clarify the bolded part in abpve qoute ?

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gmat_perfect: Legendary Member; Posts: 1083; Joined: Wed Feb 24, 2010 9:38 pmFollowed by: 14 members; Thanked: 127 times

by gmat_perfect » Sun Oct 31, 2010 12:20 pm

GMATMadeEasy wrote:gmat-perfect , that is just perfect.

2.1. "COMMA + BUT" needs an independent clause after it if "comma + but" is not used in a list of NOUNor in case of "not only X, but Y" construction.
Could you clarify the bolded part in abpve qoute ?

though I have written it, it is rarely used.

Example:

They can hit on X and Y, but not on Z.

--> I am not sure.

So, please forget this one.

Thanks.

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Jim@Grockit: GMAT Instructor; Posts: 641; Joined: Wed Jul 22, 2009 3:07 pmFollowed by: 45 members; Location: Madison, WI; Thanked: 162 times; GMAT Score:760

by Jim@Grockit » Mon Nov 01, 2010 8:11 pm

GMATMadeEasy wrote:The energy source on Voyager 2 is not a nuclear reactor, in which atoms are actively broken apart; rather a kind of nuclear battery that uses natural radioactive decay to produce power.

(A) apart; rather
(B) apart, but rather
(C) apart, but rather that of
(D) apart, but that of
(E) apart; it is that of

OA is B

Q1: option E -> it should refer to "The energy source on Voyager 2" not "nuclear reactor " ? I understand that pronoun ambiguity is not hard and fast rule and that this AC has another error as well .

Would E be correct if written as follows : apart;but it is

Q2: option B -> but rather is considered as correct usage in OG but if we write only "but" instead of "but rather " is it correct too ?

1. No, the semicolon makes it wrong.
2. Yes. "But" can be used to coordinate contrasting elements "It is not a duck, but a swan"

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