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555-605 (Medium)|   Comparisons|   Meaning/Logical Predication|   Modifiers|                     
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Although a number of excellent studies narrate the development of dome 31 Mar 2021, 15:34
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ishikasoni111
Hi egmat

Here is my analysis for the question:

Although a number of excellent studies narrate the development of domestic technology and its impact on housewifery, these works do not discuss the contributions of the women employed by manufacturers and utility companies as product demonstrators and publicists, who initially promoted new and unfamiliar technology to female consumers.
A. by manufacturers and utility companies as product demonstrators and publicists,
B. to be product demonstrators and publicists by manufacturers and utility companies,
C. to demonstrate and publicize their products by manufacturers and utility companies
D. by manufacturers and utility companies to be demonstrators and publicists of their products
E. by manufacturers and utility companies to demonstrate and publicize their products

Who refers to demonstrators and publicists
A : I see no direct issues
B. is just rearrangement of A but we have moved referrant of who far, without any actual benefit. So clearly A is a better option.
C has no referrant for who --- > incorrect
D. their is ambiguous, but logically it makes sense for their to point to manufacturers.
E like C has no referant for who --- >incorrect

In A and D, A is clearer option.
But I was not able to eliminate D on stronger grounds.
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Hello ishikasoni111,

Thank you for the query. :-)

Per the context of this sentence, "who initially promoted new and unfamiliar technology to female consumers"? The product demonstrators and publicists. So the "who" clause should refer to these noun entities in the sentence. So Choice A is correct.

Choice D also presents this modification. However, we know from the sentence that women were employed in these roles. Hence, the sentence must use the word "as" to present the role of the employed women "the product demonstrators and publicists". Choice D is incorrect for the usage of "to be".


Hope this helps. :-)
Thanks.
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Although a number of excellent studies narrate the development of dome 04 Apr 2021, 15:42
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Although a number of excellent studies narrate the development of domestic technology and its impact on housewifery, these works do not discuss the contributions of the women employed by manufacturers and utility companies as product demonstrators and publicists, who initially promoted new and unfamiliar technology to female consumers.

Dosent the bold portion indicate a preposition? Therefore 'who' in the next part of the sentence should refer back to women, regardless of what follows it. So the sentence says 'these works do not discuss the contributions of women EMPLOYED BY MANUFACTURERS'...isnt this a prepositional phrase?

Please could someone correct my logic?
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Although a number of excellent studies narrate the development of dome 06 Apr 2021, 02:25
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clover1987
Although a number of excellent studies narrate the development of domestic technology and its impact on housewifery, these works do not discuss the contributions of the women employed by manufacturers and utility companies as product demonstrators and publicists, who initially promoted new and unfamiliar technology to female consumers.

Dosent the bold portion indicate a preposition? Therefore 'who' in the next part of the sentence should refer back to women, regardless of what follows it. So the sentence says 'these works do not discuss the contributions of women EMPLOYED BY MANUFACTURERS'...isnt this a prepositional phrase?

Please could someone correct my logic?
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Although a number of excellent studies narrate the development of domestic technology and its impact on housewifery, these works do not discuss the contributions of the women employed by manufacturers and utility companies as product demonstrators and publicists, who initially promoted new and unfamiliar technology to female consumers.

preposition phrase starts with of is Ok , but there is no rule that relative pronoun must refer to women . You ask a question why can't it refer to publicists.
key point is: who xx can refer to human whoever comes as near as it is possible in the sentence.

assuming that who xx refer to women is wrong.
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Although a number of excellent studies narrate the development of dome 06 Apr 2021, 05:17
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clover1987
Although a number of excellent studies narrate the development of domestic technology and its impact on housewifery, these works do not discuss the contributions of the women employed by manufacturers and utility companies as product demonstrators and publicists, who initially promoted new and unfamiliar technology to female consumers.

Dosent the bold portion indicate a preposition? Therefore 'who' in the next part of the sentence should refer back to women, regardless of what follows it. So the sentence says 'these works do not discuss the contributions of women EMPLOYED BY MANUFACTURERS'...isnt this a prepositional phrase?

Please could someone correct my logic?
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Hi clover1987, couple of points:

i) There is no rule that relative pronouns (who in this case) cannot refer to noun inside a prepositional phrase

ii) The construct employed by manufacturers and utility companies as product demonstrators and publicists is a participial phrase (not a prepositional phrase).
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Although a number of excellent studies narrate the development of dome 05 Jul 2021, 14:04
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Two questions please:

1. I chose B, but couldn't "who" technically refer to the manufacturers and utility companies, since those entities are capable of "promoting new and unfamiliar technology". Or does it ALWAYS have to refer to a person / people? I guess in the case of non-persons "that" would work better..

2. In the correct answer A, what is the "who" referring to? Is it "publicists", "demonstrators AND publicists", or "women"?

many thanks
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Although a number of excellent studies narrate the development of dome 22 Jun 2022, 20:50
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Dear experts,

Sure the "who" modifier itself can elimiate all incorrect choices, but if we read option A closely, it says "...discuss the [contributions] of women(modifier).... as [product demonstrators and publicists], I am sure the subject in this sub-clause is contributions, not women.

What in the world!?? how can contributions be product demonstrators? How is this logical? shouldn't human beings (women) be discussed as demonstrators and publicists?
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Although a number of excellent studies narrate the development of dome 24 Jun 2022, 00:28
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Jezza

The usage of WHO makes it refer to WOMEN or PRODUCT DEMONSTRATORS and PUBLICISTS. THE COMMA helps promote the former subject WOMEN, however, by "creating" a bit of a distance with the latter.

On the GMAT, WHO cannot refer to CONTRIBUTIONS.
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Although a number of excellent studies narrate the development of dome 29 Jun 2022, 01:54
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How do I ascertain 'who' refers back to what? eg. How do I check that 'who' in option A refer backs to 'women' and not 'manufacturers and utility companies'? This will also help me know how the 'who' B does not refer to 'women' or 'oduct demonstrators and publicists'
Hi ADS2021, who can only refer to persons and so, can never refer to manufacturers and utility companies.
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In your book, it says for pronouns -> First check logically what that pronoun should refer to and then see if that reference make sense.

In option D, "who" cannot refer to products, so the next nearest noun is 'demonstrators & publicists' - then wouldn't this also make it a correct answer?
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Although a number of excellent studies narrate the development of dome 30 Jun 2022, 11:36
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anbknaga

When we use "who," "which," or "that" to create a modifier, proximity matters. Typically these relative pronouns will modify the immediately preceding noun, and in this case the Official Guide cites this placement as the reason to eliminate D. True, there is some leeway to refer back to an earlier noun, and the GMAT does not enforce this "touch rule" uniformly. So what can we do? The safest policy is to tread carefully when trying to apply a modifier to anything other than the preceding noun. Generally, if this is what's intended, we'll know because the question doesn't give us an option to "fix" it. In this case, there's an answer that puts "who" next to "demonstrators and publicists," so we're better off with A.
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Although a number of excellent studies narrate the development of dome 30 Jun 2022, 11:38
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I should add that there are other reasons to discard D, as others pointed out. The placement of "their" doesn't make it 100% clear that this refers to the companies and not the workers, and "employed to be" is unidiomatic.
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Although a number of excellent studies narrate the development of dome 11 Jul 2022, 07:01
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Although a number of excellent studies narrate the development of domestic technology and its impact on housewifery, these works do not discuss the contributions of the women employed by manufacturers and utility companies as product demonstrators and publicists, who initially promoted new and unfamiliar technology to female consumers.

the women employed 'by the manufacturers' [A,D,E] vs 'to be product demonstrators by manufacturers' [B, C]: If we delay the prepositional phrase 'by the manufactures' a lot of other nouns come in between that cause the question are the women employed by the manufacturers or the demonstrators by the manufacturers. As the modifier by the manufacturer conveys key info about which women it it preferred it stay near it. Unless ADE have seriously big oopsies we'll keep those as on top. COme to B, C only if A, D, E are for sure wrong.

(A) by manufacturers and utility companies as product demonstrators and publicists, - the women employed by manufactures as product (role) publicists, who... That's alright.

(B) to be product demonstrators and publicists by manufacturers and utility companies,

(C) to demonstrate and publicize their products by manufacturers and utility companies

(D) by manufacturers and utility companies to be demonstrators and publicists of their products- This was alright until it says 'of products' because the next word is ,who! Indeed Who are these products that come where they aren't needed. Who is for people.

(E) by manufacturers and utility companies to demonstrate and publicize their products- Again, WHO are these products! and also their products? the women's? or the manufacturer's?
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Although a number of excellent studies narrate the development of dome 19 Jul 2022, 08:22
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Hi ,

What is the correct idiom according to GMAT

employed as / employed to?

thanks
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Although a number of excellent studies narrate the development of dome 14 Apr 2023, 03:37
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Hey there,
Can someone please explain why "who" refers to "products" in E and D? As we know, "who" can only refer to people, and "employed by manufacturers and utility companies" acts as a modifier for "women." So I thought the only possible antecedent for "who" is "women" in E and "publicists" in D. How can we conclude that "who" in both E and D refers to "products?"
I appreciate any help you can provide.
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Although a number of excellent studies narrate the development of dome 15 Apr 2023, 21:04
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It's not that "who" should correctly refer to "products," but rather that this is what the placement suggests. The fact that "who" is meant for people is just one more reason to avoid D and E. See my comments above for more detail, but basically, when we see "noun + WHO," the norm is for WHO to modify that noun (or noun phrase). If that isn't the intention (as it isn't here), it's better to avoid that usage for the sake of clarity.
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Although a number of excellent studies narrate the development of dome 15 Oct 2023, 07:48
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DmitryFarber
It's not that "who" should correctly refer to "products," but rather that this is what the placement suggests. The fact that "who" is meant for people is just one more reason to avoid D and E. See my comments above for more detail, but basically, when we see "noun + WHO," the norm is for WHO to modify that noun (or noun phrase). If that isn't the intention (as it isn't here), it's better to avoid that usage for the sake of clarity.
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Hey DmitryFarber in option A "who" is referring to product demonstrators and publicists. Since "women" are eemployed as product demonstrators and publicists can we infer that "who" is indirectly referring to women? Is the reasoning correct.

Thanks in advance
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Although a number of excellent studies narrate the development of dome 29 Nov 2025, 07:56
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