Although it is conceivable that certain electronic devices implanted

Question

Although it is conceivable that certain electronic devices implanted in the brain may someday correct blindness caused by nerve damage, there is now no clear evidence  of their ability to do it .

A. of their ability to do it
B. of their doing that
C. that they can do so
D. that they might one day be able to do it
E. to do so

Although it is conceivable that certain electronic devices implanted in the brain may someday correct blindness caused by nerve damage, there is now no clear evidence  of their ability to do it .
a) of their ability to do it
 b) of their doing that 
 c) that they can do so 
d) that they might one day be able to do it
e) to do so

I selected (b) but it seems the correct answer is (c). Can somebody please help me understand why (c) is correct and why others are wrong?

Thanks.

nverma · Answer

In the sentences such as mentioned above "to do so" is almost always correct than "to do it". May be you can remember this rule.

brentbrent · Answer

Q.Although it is conceivable that certain electronic devices implanted in the brain may some day correct blindness ...... there is now no clear evidence...
We need a 'that' at the end of evidence to introduce the clause that will follow, leaving us with c and d. C is correct

looking at b. Although it is conceivable that certain electronic devices implanted in the brain may some day correct blindness... there is now no clear evidence  of their doing that 
by adding 'doing' we are changing the tense and the meaning. The sentence means to say that there is no evidence that X can cure Y. Answer B says that there is no evidence that they are curing y right now. (it is also a bit wordy)

hope that is clear.

bizaru · Answer

From my memory, I think after ‘evidence’ there should be ‘that S+V’
Thus, a, b and e are wrong.
Between C and D, it can not refer back to the electronic devices may correct blindness.
Thus it is C

Please next time, do not show the answer. Thanks.

saxenashobhit · Answer

Can somoone help me identify subject in this sentence.

Although "it is" - What should it point to?
In answer choice - " that they" - What does they point to - electronic device?

daagh · Answer

In such instances, in which it is difficult to spot the subject and the rest of the stuff, we should flip the sentence or in other words, re-write the sentence in the normal fashion. As such we can re-write the given sentence as below.

That certain electronic devices implanted in the brain may someday correct blindness caused by nerve damage is conceivable, although there is now no clear evidence of their ability to do it.

Now the subject and verb will unfold. The entire phrase starting with - That certain electronic devices implanted in the brain may someday correct blindness caused by nerve damage  – is the subject while the verb is the word –  is  –

Now you may see that in  although it is ,  it  should point to the subject that I mentioned above.

“That they"-  they  in this case stands for  certain electronic devices . , as you have rightly pointed out.

imania · Answer

At present we have no evidence of life on other planets.
vs
Do you have evidence that this treatment works?

both EVIDENCE OF & EVIDENCE THAT are idiomatic but their usage differ!
hope this helps :D

daagh · Answer

The problem in D is not the conjunction  that , but the pronoun  it . What does it stand for? Logically it should stand for the  correction of the blindness  but there is no such explicit antecedence in the sentence.  May some day correct blindness  is a verbal phrase and can not be replaced by a pronoun. Hence D is wrong.  To do so  rather brings out the intent explicitly

vinzycoolfire · Answer

C. but not sure why others are wrong. i chose it coz it "sounded" right. pkit can u explain plz?

PTK · Answer

Lets wait for others to respond, and then I will provide my explanations.

daagh · Answer

Convinced that we need to have a subject pronoun such as ' they ' to represent the electronic devices rather than the possessive and adjective ‘ their ’, we can narrow down to choices C and D. In D however, the pronoun ‘ it ’ can not justifiably and logically stand for blindness. Hence C is the choice

tirupatibalaji · Answer

I will go for C.

(a) is wrong because the use of "it" is incorrect, as "it" is a pronoun which can only tie back to noun but not Verb. Hence (A) is wrong. 
Secondly use of "of their ability" is ambiguous and awkward. 
And in answer (C) this mistake has been eradicated.

craky · Answer

One more C.

Although it is conceivable that certain electronic devices implanted in the brain  may someday correct blindness  caused by nerve damage, there is now no clear evidence  of their ability to do it .

A of their ability to  do it 
B of their  doing that  
C that they can  do so 
D that they might one day be able to  do it 
E  to do so

stunn3r · Answer

Hi,

There is a "it" in starting of the sentence, second "it" will point to whatever first it is pointing to i.e. "correction of blindness." and I dont feel D is wordy and I feel its the better answer .. Please someone chime in

Here is the question:

Although it is conceivable that certain electronic devices implanted in the brain may someday correct blindness caused by nerve damage, there is now no clear evidence  of their ability to do it. 
a) of their ability to do it
b) of their doing that
c) that they can do so
d) that they might one day be able to do it
e) to do so

jlgdr · Answer

Hi Sausha80, Thanks a lot for your question. However, I suggest you make use of a spoiler in the future for comments such as this I selected (b) but it seems the correct answer is (c). Can somebody please help me understand why (c) is correct and why others are wrong? , or you can also try and posting in it in a different reply. Doing so will allow people to get a better training for the exam Thanks Cheers J

Bunuel · Answer

KAPLAN OFFICIAL EXPLANATION:

C.

On a question as short as this, you don’t have to worry as much about scanning for differences. Just read quickly through the answer choices and you should be able to “hear” which one’s best. In (C), “doing so” is an academic sounding but correct usage which can pop up on the GMAT.Watch out for it and other bookish-sounding phrases typical of GMAT style. If you can’t use your ear for correct English, use logic and process of elimination. (E) is short. That might be a reason to prefer it. But if you plug (E) in, you see it makes the sentence say that “evidence” is doing something. In (A) , (B) and (D),“it” and “that” are ambiguous. That is, they don’t clearly refer to one and only one noun.

VerbalBot · Answer

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Although it is conceivable that certain electronic devices implanted

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Although it is conceivable that certain electronic devices implanted

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