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Pronoun ambiguity

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Pronoun ambiguity

by winnerhere » Thu Jun 16, 2011 9:50 am
1) Well informed people know that Bordeaux is a french region whose famous export is the wine that bears its name - correct sentence as per Manhattan guide

In the above sentence - its can refer to wine isnt it?

2)Confronted by Radical changes in production and distribution, modern Hollywood studios are attempting various experiments in an effort to retain their status as the primary arbiters of movie consumption

In the above sentence their can represent experiments too isnt it?

GMAT in 2 weeks . Please help.

Thanks,
Sai
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by winnerhere » Thu Jun 16, 2011 9:54 am
sorry for the repost..Kindly delete it!!
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by Isaac@EconomistGMAT » Fri Jun 17, 2011 3:33 pm
Hi there,

Indeed you are right that its can refer to more than one noun. However! In the GMAT, ambiguity is a stylistic error and can at times be fine.

First you eliminate all the grammatical errors, then if you are left with an answer that is stylistically flawed (such as an ambiguity) it can still be correct. In this case, it is not a 'hard' ambiguity, meaning that it it more logical for the sentence to be considered unambiguous (somewhat) and therefore correct (even though there are two nouns to which its can refer). What I mean is that the placement of the its makes it more logical that the reference is to the region. Had the possessive been placed somewhere else the ambiguity would be more severe.

So your main hint here is to not immediately eliminate for ambiguity. First eliminate based on grammar. (at Master GMAT we do differentiate between the various mistake types and do not lump everything into 'grammar'!).

Your second sentence is a good example of a more obvious ambiguity and probably a better candidate for elimination as we really do not know what the pronoun refers to. But remember the rules above!
Isaac Bettan
Academic Director
Master GMAT
https://econgm.at/EconomistGMAT
[youtube]QBNZczg84tU[/youtube]
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