Elk

[crazy4gmat]

Elk now live almost solely in the Rocky Mountains, which would make it seem that elk are mountain dwellers, while they once ranged over virtually all of the continental United States except for a small strip in the extreme Southwest.
A. Elk now live almost solely in the Rocky Mountains, which would make it seem
that elk are mountain dwellers, while
B. The fact that elk now live almost solely in the Rocky Mountains would make it
seem that they are mountain dwellers, but
C. It would seem that elk would be mountain dwellers because of their living now
solely almost in the Rocky Mountains, but still
D. Now living almost solely in the Rocky Mountains, it would seem that elk were
mountain dwellers, although
E. It seems that elk would be mountain dwellers from the fact that they now live
solely almost in the Rocky Mountains, since

[acecoolan]

C), D) and E) are simply awkward constructions and so I think its clearly a choice between A) and B)

now between A) and B), I would prefer B). The "while" at the end of "A" doesn't seem right.

whats the OA?

[ronniecoleman]

IMO B

[vivek.kapoor83]

Same here...B

[schumi_gmat]

There are 2 instances we are comparing. Elk now and elk in the past. This is rightly introduced by "but" in B

A. Elk now live almost solely in the Rocky Mountains, which would make it seem that elk are mountain dwellers, while
B. The fact that elk now live almost solely in the Rocky Mountains would make it seem that they are mountain dwellers, but
C. It would seem that elk would be mountain dwellers because of their living now solely almost in the Rocky Mountains, but still ------awkward
D. Now living almost solely in the Rocky Mountains, it would seem that elk were mountain dwellers, although ---------it does not have correct referrent
E. It seems that elk would be mountain dwellers from the fact that they now live solely almost in the Rocky Mountains, since
-----------Changes the meaning.[/b]

[raunekk]

what is "they" refering to in B???

[vittalgmat]

Elk now live almost solely in the Rocky Mountains, which would make it seem that elk are mountain dwellers, while they once ranged over virtually all of the continental United States except for a small strip in the extreme Southwest.
A. Elk now live almost solely in the Rocky Mountains, which would make it seem
that elk are mountain dwellers, while

',which': creates a dependent clause but the content of the dependent clause is very much needed and hence cannot be a dependent clause.
Also 'it' is ambigous --What does it refer?? Rock mountains OR Elk ??


B. The fact that elk now live almost solely in the Rocky Mountains would make it
seem that they are mountain dwellers, but

IMO this is correct.


C. It would seem that elk would be mountain dwellers because of their living now
solely almost in the Rocky Mountains, but still

'because of their living', 'but still': are wordy and ackward.

D. Now living almost solely in the Rocky Mountains, it would seem that elk were
mountain dwellers, although

Wrong usage of the impersonal it. 'it' is not living in rocky mountains. Elk is living !!!


E. It seems that elk would be mountain dwellers from the fact that they now live
solely almost in the Rocky Mountains, since

Wordy. Also 'since' is used to mean 'because' which is wrong most of the time. 'Since' is used to signify time, as in : "I have not slept since last week"

[bsandhyav]

What is the OA for this question?

Even in B it and they are ambiguous...aren't they?

Please explain the reasoning behind this if i am wrong

[schumi_gmat]

You are right. They is ambiguous in B but B is the best answer as there are major porblems in other answer choices

[mmslf75]

but guys..

Official Answer is "A"

How can A be the answer.. "it" has no referent rigth ? ??

[Stacey Koprince]

Received a PM asking me to respond. This is from the old paper sets, which means the problem is at least 12 years old. I really don't recommend studying such old problems, especially on the verbal side. Things can change substantially over time.

"it" is sometimes allowed not to have a referent. For example, when you say "it's raining outside" - who is "it"? The sky? Mother Nature? Nobody / nothing - it's just a state of being.

[nervesofsteel]

any thoughts on this question..??

[kevincanspain]

Received a PM asking me to respond. This is from the old paper sets, which means the problem is at least 12 years old. I really don't recommend studying such old problems, especially on the verbal side. Things can change substantially over time.

"it" is sometimes allowed not to have a referent. For example, when you say "it's raining outside" - who is "it"? The sky? Mother Nature? Nobody / nothing - it's just a state of being.

Paper Tests are a great source for verbal questions: a correct answer from 15 years ago would still be correct today, and wrong answers from 15 years ago would still be wrong today. I agree with Stacey in that you are better off using OG12 questions, as they are more recent and thus may better reflect the issues that current questions test.

There are some examples of 'it' without a referent among GMATPrep questions.

If you say that OA = A, you have taken this question-perhaps unwittingly- from a document called 1000 SC. This document has many excellent questions, but the answer key has many mistakes. On the balance, I don't think it is worth using