carcass wrote:
Since digital recording offers essentially perfect reproduction—on compact discs, digital audiotapes, or digital videodiscs—audiophiles can accumulate vast collections of music, transferring them from one format to another, copying it, and digitally altering it with little effort and not damaging the sound quality.
(A) music, transferring them from one format to another, copying it, and digitally altering it with little effort and not damaging
(B) music, transferring it from one format to another, copying it, and digitally altering it with little effort and no damage to
(C) music, transferring them from one format to another, copy them, and digitally alter them with little effort and no damage to
(D) music and transfer it from one format to another, copy it, and then digitally altering it with little effort and not damaging
(E) music and transfer it from one format to another, copying it, and digitally alter it with little effort and no damage to
adkikani wrote:
GMATNinja generis KarishmaB gmatexam439 egmatCan anyone help with pronoun ambiguity - it - in OA (B). Should we use
them to refer to a collection of music
Since
digital recording offers essentially perfect reproduction
—on compact discs, digital audiotapes, or digital videodiscs—
audiophiles can accumulate vast collections of
music, transferring it from one format to another, copying it, and digitally altering it with little effort and no damage to the sound quality
I believe transferring , copying and altering are coma+ verb-ing modifiers that show how audiophiles accumulate vast amount of music
and we are trying to maintain a parallel structure with stem - can accumulate. (can accumulate by x, y and z) adkikani , although I understand the urge to have perfect command of rules, in a question in which elimination is as easy as it is in this case,
please do not worry about pronoun ambiguity.
Quote:
Can anyone help with pronoun ambiguity - it - in OA (B). Should we use them to refer to a collection of music
"them" would be used to refer to "collectionS" of music (the sentence says collections, plural)
"it" would be used to refer to "music"
My view of pronoun ambiguity? Let it be the VERY last reason you eliminate (or choose) an answer.
Literally. The very last.
You can eliminate the other four answers in no time flat because they have glaring parallelism errors.
You can perform this elimination with zero reference to the issue of whether B has pronoun ambiguity.
Quote:
we are trying to maintain a parallel structure with stem - can accumulate. (can accumulate by x, y and z)
Yes, you have identified one set of items that must be parallel.
Grammar requires parallelism in other parts of the sentence, too.
These items must be parallel:
1) verbs: transferring, copying, altering / (transfer, copy, alter)
2) adverbial modifiers: little [u]effort, no
damage3) pronouns: it, it, it / or them, them, them
Quote:
(A) music, transferring them from one format to another, copying it, and digitally altering it with little effort and not damaging
(B) music, transferring it from one format to another, copying it, and digitally altering it with little effort and no damage to
(C) music, transferring them from one format to another, copy them, and digitally alter them with little effort and no damage to
(D) music and transfer it from one format to another, copy it, and then digitally altering it with little effort and not damaging
(E) music and transfer it from one format to another, copying it, and digitally alter it with little effort and no damage to
Split #1: verb-ing parallelismEliminate C, D, and E. Their verbs are not parallel:
C) transferring, copy, alter
D) transfer, copy, altering
E) transfer, copying, alter
Split #2: pronoun parallelismEliminate option A) them, it, it
More issues - parallelism between effort and damage:A and D have the not-parallel "effort" and "damaging."
ANSWER B (check: parallelism errors? Nope. Your doubt is
pronoun ambiguity?
See analysis below. The pronoun "it" in B comprehensibly and logically refers to "music."
Is any other sentence even remotely correct? No?
The answer is B.)
Analysis of pronoun ambiguity in B?In my opinion, this sentence is not going to win any awards for elegant prose.
But the sentence is the correct answer.
Answer B is correct
1)
because GMAC says so;
2) because "it" as the pronoun for "music" is logical and meaningful; and
3) because all the other answers have 100% incorrect answers.
I am not confused in the slightest by what "it" should refer to. "It" refers to music.
How do I know that "it" refers to "music"? Context.
Here are my rules for pronoun ambiguity on the GMAT:
-- in context, does the pronoun have a sensible and decipherable meaning?
-- is there a noun that matches the pronoun's intended meaning?
-- does the noun agree in quantity and sex? (plural/singular, female/male)
-- are there
ANY other issues that can eliminate options? Yes?
Use those other issues instead of pronoun ambiguity.
-- is the pronoun a dummy or placeholder such as the pronoun in "It rained a lot"? [This group of exceptions is very small]
Although the pronoun "it" for "music" may bother you because it seems to conflict with rules from some sources (those with which I agree included):
-- is the meaning of IT clear from the context? (Yes. We know that this "it" thing can be changed in various ways with ease and without damage.)
-- does IT have a logical antecedent? (Yes. That logical antecedent is "music.")
-- do the noun and pronoun "match"? Yes. Both are singular sexless nouns.
Takeaway? The other four answers are flagrantly incorrect.
Check B for glaring errors. None?
Mark it. Walk away. Spend your time studying just about anything except pronoun ambiguity.
Did I mention that I and many others believe that pronoun ambiguity should be the LAST reason you reject or select an option?
I hope that helps.
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