BREAKING: Target Test Prep releases Brand New 2026 On Demand GMAT prep course

Redeem
TTP OnDemand GMAT Video Course
Featured Course

Target Test Prep GMAT OnDemand

Scott Woodbury-Stewart’s private virtual classroom — 400 hours of master-class video lessons for the GMAT Focus Edition.

  • 715+ score guarantee — highest in the industry (99th percentile)
  • 52 chapters · 1,500+ lessons · 4,000+ practice questions
  • 400 hours of video · 1,500+ instructor-led HD smartboard lessons
  • 300,000+ students accepted to Harvard, Stanford, Wharton, Booth & Sloan & more
  • 24/7 live support + weekly Zoom office hours with GMAT instructors
  • TTP AI Assist — 24/7 AI-powered virtual tutor for instant help
  • 1,200+ flashcards + AI-powered study assistant & daily calendar
  • OnDemand, LiveTeach & GMAT Bootcamp formats available
  • Also: GRE, SAT Math & Executive Assessment courses
  • MBA Admissions Consulting now available
  • 🏆 2025 EdTech Breakthrough Award: Test Prep Solution Provider of the Year
  • 200,000+ students served
  • 5-day free trial — $0 to start, no auto-billing, cancel anytime
★★★★★ 5.0 (559 reviews)
130-pt guarantee
$0 to start then $127/mo
Start Free 5-Day Trial Read 559 Reviews →

Church's attraction

Expert replies
Post new topic Locked
Previous Topic Next Topic
Newbie | Next Rank: 10 Posts
Posts: 9
Joined: Mon Apr 18, 2011 8:36 am
GMAT Score:680
by realizedream » Thu May 12, 2011 6:48 pm
Constructed with the finest Italian marble, the floor of the church is its greatest attraction and is more attractive to tourists than are its ornate stained-glass windows.
(A) attraction and is more attractive to tourists than are its ornate stained-glass windows
(B) attraction, itself more attractive to tourists than are its ornate stained-glass windows
(C) attraction, itself more attractive to tourists as are its ornate stained-glass windows
(D) attraction, being more attractive to tourists than its ornate stained-glass windows are
(E) attraction as it more is attractive to tourists than are the church's stained- glass windows

Source: Kap 800
[spoiler]Doubt: Isn't 'it' referring to the floor, then how come 'its' refer to church?
OA: B[/spoiler]
Top
Join the discussion
Log in to postLogin with Googleuse password
QUOTE IN REPLY
Source: — Sentence Correction |
Legendary Member
Posts: 1112
Joined: Sat Feb 26, 2011 11:16 amFollowed by: 49 members
Thanked: 77 times

by atulmangal » Thu May 12, 2011 9:36 pm
realizedream wrote:Constructed with the finest Italian marble, the floor of the church is its greatest attraction and is more attractive to tourists than are its ornate stained-glass windows.
(A) attraction and is more attractive to tourists than are its ornate stained-glass windows
(B) attraction, itself more attractive to tourists than are its ornate stained-glass windows
(C) attraction, itself more attractive to tourists as are its ornate stained-glass windows
(D) attraction, being more attractive to tourists than its ornate stained-glass windows are
(E) attraction as it more is attractive to tourists than are the church's stained- glass windows

Source: Kap 800
[spoiler]Doubt: Isn't 'it' referring to the floor, then how come 'its' refer to church?
OA: B[/spoiler]
This is really confusing, pronoun ambiguity, i discuss this concept with many and everyone held different views...

For me, Op A looks good..

the floor of the church is its greatest attraction..
and
the floor is more attractive to tourists than are its ornate stained-glass windows.

The pronoun ITS logically can refer to ONLY CHURCH...NOT FLOOR...saying that, FLOOR'S ORNATE STAINED GLASS WINDOWS IS NONSENSICAL.

In Sum, the meaning of the sentence is clear and there is no ambiguity.

Consider this ex: Made up

John told his friend that he had won the election.

Here, pronoun HE is ambiguous, as HE can logically refer to both John and Friend so its not clear who had won the election.

But in the given question, ITS is clear, so why not Op A....?????
Last edited by atulmangal on Thu May 12, 2011 11:07 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Top
Join the discussion
Log in to postLogin with Googleuse password
QUOTE IN REPLY
User avatar
Legendary Member
Posts: 979
Joined: Tue Apr 14, 2009 1:38 amFollowed by: 12 members
Location: Hyderabad, India
Thanked: 49 times
GMAT Score:700

by bubbliiiiiiii » Thu May 12, 2011 10:24 pm
Agree with Atul as I have arrived on A too.

However, I eliminated B and C because I felt 'itself' to be awkwardly placed.
D eliminated due to being and E seems wordy.

So, left with A.

Can someone comment on my reasoning for elimination of B and C?
Regards,

Pranay
Top
Join the discussion
Log in to postLogin with Googleuse password
QUOTE IN REPLY
User avatar
GMAT Instructor
Posts: 1035
Joined: Fri Dec 17, 2010 11:13 amFollowed by: 365 members
Location: Los Angeles, CA
Thanked: 474 times

by VivianKerr » Fri May 13, 2011 8:56 am
I am NOT a big fan of this question, and it has been discussed elsewhere (https://www.beatthegmat.com/constructed- ... 80374.html), but it's worth discussing since I think it comes down to comparisons and parallelism, rather than any pronoun ambiguity.

We have the idiom "more...than" here, which helps elim. (C).
(D) is out because of "being" and "are", while (E) also has "are" ruining the comparison.

When it comes down to (A) and (B), we do not need the "are" in (A). The comparison would be parallel and clear if we said "The floor...is more attractive...than...THE WINDOWS."

(B) makes the comparison clear by comparing "itself" to "its WINDOWS."

You're correct that "its" can only logically refer to the church, since a floor does not have windows (at least not any church I've seen :-))
Vivian Kerr
GMAT Rockstar, Tutor
https://www.GMATrockstar.com
https://www.yelp.com/biz/gmat-rockstar-los-angeles

Former Kaplan and Grockit instructor, freelance GMAT content creator, now offering affordable, effective, Skype-tutoring for the GMAT at $150/hr. Contact: [email protected]

Thank you for all the "thanks" and "follows"! :-)
Top
Join the discussion
Log in to postLogin with Googleuse password
QUOTE IN REPLY
Legendary Member
Posts: 1574
Joined: Fri Jan 28, 2011 2:52 amFollowed by: 13 members
Thanked: 88 times

by aspirant2011 » Fri May 13, 2011 9:29 am
VivianKerr wrote:I am NOT a big fan of this question, and it has been discussed elsewhere (https://www.beatthegmat.com/constructed- ... 80374.html), but it's worth discussing since I think it comes down to comparisons and parallelism, rather than any pronoun ambiguity.

We have the idiom "more...than" here, which helps elim. (C).
(D) is out because of "being" and "are", while (E) also has "are" ruining the comparison.

When it comes down to (A) and (B), we do not need the "are" in (A). The comparison would be parallel and clear if we said "The floor...is more attractive...than...THE WINDOWS."

(B) makes the comparison clear by comparing "itself" to "its WINDOWS."

You're correct that "its" can only logically refer to the church, since a floor does not have windows (at least not any church I've seen :-))
Hi Vivian,

I have a doubt in this question regarding "itself" in option B.......don't you feel that this "itself" is ambiguous and can refer to either floor or to church.............though I agree that "its" refers to church..............
Top
Join the discussion
Log in to postLogin with Googleuse password
QUOTE IN REPLY
User avatar
GMAT Instructor
Posts: 1035
Joined: Fri Dec 17, 2010 11:13 amFollowed by: 365 members
Location: Los Angeles, CA
Thanked: 474 times

by VivianKerr » Fri May 13, 2011 10:23 am
Good question. No, I don't think "itself" is ambiguous here since "itself" logically refers back to the noun immediately preceding it. "Herself", "himself" and "itself" are typically used to emphasize that preceding noun.

She, herself, did not know the answer.

On graduation day the orator's speech was itself exceptionally long.

We'd never think that "itself" refers to "graduation day."

The phrase "of the church" is a prepositional phrase describing the floor. We can almost eliminate it mentally, the way we would an appositive.

"The floor [insert prep. phrase] is [insert description], ITSELF..."
Vivian Kerr
GMAT Rockstar, Tutor
https://www.GMATrockstar.com
https://www.yelp.com/biz/gmat-rockstar-los-angeles

Former Kaplan and Grockit instructor, freelance GMAT content creator, now offering affordable, effective, Skype-tutoring for the GMAT at $150/hr. Contact: [email protected]

Thank you for all the "thanks" and "follows"! :-)
Top
Join the discussion
Log in to postLogin with Googleuse password
QUOTE IN REPLY
Legendary Member
Posts: 2330
Joined: Fri Jan 15, 2010 5:14 amFollowed by: 26 members
Thanked: 56 times

by mundasingh123 » Tue Jul 26, 2011 2:22 pm
VivianKerr wrote:Good question. No, I don't think "itself" is ambiguous here since "itself" logically refers back to the noun immediately preceding it. "Herself", "himself" and "itself" are typically used to emphasize that preceding noun.

She, herself, did not know the answer.

On graduation day the orator's speech was itself exceptionally long.

We'd never think that "itself" refers to "graduation day."

The phrase "of the church" is a prepositional phrase describing the floor. We can almost eliminate it mentally, the way we would an appositive.

"The floor [insert prep. phrase] is [insert description], ITSELF..."
Hi Vivian Thanks for the Explanataion .

(B) attraction, itself more attractive to tourists than are its ornate stained-glass windows
In Option B, when "its" windows refers to the churchs windows, how come itself refers to the church's floor.
This is confusing . :>
Also In C
C)It is more attractive to tourists than are its ornate stained-glass windows
Here,"are" is a helping verb .
I read that in cases in which the tenses do not need to match , the exact verb form missing after the helping verb should be present elsewhere in the sentence .
He likes movies more than does his sister : Similar sentence . I think this sentence is correct
Last edited by mundasingh123 on Tue Jul 26, 2011 10:40 pm, edited 2 times in total.
I Seek Explanations Not Answers
Top
Join the discussion
Log in to postLogin with Googleuse password
QUOTE IN REPLY
Newbie | Next Rank: 10 Posts
Posts: 5
Joined: Tue Jul 26, 2011 3:38 pm

by abhizone » Tue Jul 26, 2011 4:09 pm
With all due respect to Vivian and everyone else discussing, I too think option A is the best.
In B, whether itself points to the church, or the floor is unclear from the sentence, and the position of the comma is incorrect too.
The usage of 'are' as done in A is necessary because floor is singular, and windows (is) plural.
I would once more argue that A is the best answer in this case.
Top
Join the discussion
Log in to postLogin with Googleuse password
QUOTE IN REPLY
Junior | Next Rank: 30 Posts
Posts: 28
Joined: Sat Jan 15, 2011 2:46 pm
Thanked: 2 times

by krishp84 » Wed Jul 27, 2011 8:28 am
VivianKerr wrote:I am NOT a big fan of this question, and it has been discussed elsewhere (https://www.beatthegmat.com/constructed- ... 80374.html), but it's worth discussing since I think it comes down to comparisons and parallelism, rather than any pronoun ambiguity.

We have the idiom "more...than" here, which helps elim. (C).
(D) is out because of "being" and "are", while (E) also has "are" ruining the comparison.

When it comes down to (A) and (B), we do not need the "are" in (A). The comparison would be parallel and clear if we said "The floor...is more attractive...than...THE WINDOWS."

(B) makes the comparison clear by comparing "itself" to "its WINDOWS."

You're correct that "its" can only logically refer to the church, since a floor does not have windows (at least not any church I've seen :-))
Viv - Agree with you that the question is not good.

(B) attraction, itself more attractive to tourists than are its ornate stained-glass windows
Here the last "its" refers to floors.
So again according to B - We are comparing FLOOR with FLOOR's stained-glass windows that is nonsensical.

Let me know if I am missing anything here.
Top
Join the discussion
Log in to postLogin with Googleuse password
QUOTE IN REPLY
Post new topic Locked
• Page 1 of 1