Almost like clones in their similarity to one another, the cheetah spe

Hello Everyone!

Let's tackle this question, one issue at a time, and narrow it down to the correct choice! First, let's take a closer look at the original question and highlight any major differences we can find in orange:

Almost like clones in their similarity to one another, the cheetah species’ homogeneity makes them especially vulnerable to disease.

(A) the cheetah species’ homogeneity makes them especially vulnerable to disease
(B) the cheetah species is especially vulnerable to disease because of its homogeneity
(C) the homogeneity of the cheetah species makes it especially vulnerable to disease
(D) homogeneity makes members of the cheetah species especially vulnerable to disease
(E) members of the cheetah species are especially vulnerable to disease because of their homogeneity

After a quick glance over the options, a couple things jump out that we can focus on:

1. Modifiers (leading with homogeneity or cheetahs)
2. Pronouns (them / its / it / their)

Let's start off with #1 in our list: modifiers. Whenever we look at modifiers, we need to ask ourselves these two things:

1. Where is the modifier?
2. What is the modifier referring to?

If we can figure out those two things, we can probably figure out if there are any misplaced, misleading, or just plain wrong modifiers! Here's the original sentence:

Almost like clones in their similarity to one another, the cheetah species’ homogeneity makes them especially vulnerable to disease.

The modifier is the non-underlined portion of the sentence, so we know that has to stay as is. Now we need to ask ourselves, "WHAT is the modifier referring to?" WHAT is almost like clones? Cheetahs! We need to make sure that the modifier is right next to the cheetahs, and nothing else:

(A) the cheetah species’ homogeneity makes them especially vulnerable to disease
(B) the cheetah species is especially vulnerable to disease because of its homogeneity
(C) the homogeneity of the cheetah species makes it especially vulnerable to disease
(D) homogeneity makes members of the cheetah species especially vulnerable to disease
(E) members of the cheetah species are especially vulnerable to disease because of their homogeneity

We can eliminate options A, C, & D because they mislead the reader into thinking that the modifier is referring to homogeneity, and not cheetahs.

Now that we have it narrowed down to only 2 options, let's tackle #2 on our list: pronouns. We need to make sure all pronouns have clear antecedents and that they agree with their antecedents in number:

(B) the cheetah species is especially vulnerable to disease because of its homogeneity

This is INCORRECT because the singular pronoun "its" doesn't agree with the plural antecedent "species."

(E) members of the cheetah species are especially vulnerable to disease because of their homogeneity

This is CORRECT! The pronoun "their" and antecedent "members" are both plural. It's also clear that the modifier in the beginning is referring to cheetahs, and not homogeneity.

There you have it - option E is the correct choice! By focusing on the obvious differences between the options, we can narrow down options quickly to get the right one.


Don't study for the GMAT. Train for it.