During gladiator matches, the unfair match-up between a prisoner with

For option E, the pronoun 'it' has no referent. Logically it should refer to rampaging bull and not rampaging bull's rage.
It is the bull that is pierced not its rage.

Great comparison question.

I went with answer E because the comparison is between the rage of the bull and this is an action therefore eliminated A, B, C for the use of 'like'

Then between D and E, I went with E because 'when' is a better modifier to use for a time than 'by'.

Therefore went with answer choice E. Please do correct me if I am wrong

Kevalkhanna I have the same question as you do.. The usage of IT, referring to an action is controversial.

Verbal gurus, can someone help here? chetan2u WaterFlowsUp daagh

I believe the question is from 4th Edition MGMAT book.

But as mentioned in the post, pronoun it in option E won't be able to modify bull since it is in possessive form.

Expert opinion?

Yes, I am in agreement with you. Daagh Sir has explained the concept in his post above:
please-solve-during-gladiators-221890.html#p1718931

Hi sayantanc2k,
Yeah,I agree with all of you about this pronoun issue.
But Ron said this rule is no longer valid !!??? Is it so?

p.s. Please refer to the following link :
https://www.manhattanprep.com/gmat/foru ... 33558.html

Hm, that's interesting! Ron obviously knows his stuff, but I'm deeply skeptical than anything has actually changed. I think Ron is suggesting that the GMAT has somehow updated the way it handles certain SC rules, but I'd be surprised if that were actually true. Perhaps Ron and MGMAT have some insider knowledge that I lack, but it's rare that the GMAT fundamentally shifts the way it tests SC rules. If they've ever tested the rule (as explained above by @daagh), I can't imagine why they would suddenly stop -- and I also can't imagine that they'd tell us if they did.

But I'd love to be wrong! If anybody has some other evidence on this, let me know.

I also went through the most recent editions of the OG and Verbal Guide, and I can't find a single violation of the rule. At least six questions have answer choices with non-possessive pronouns that could plausibly refer back to possessive antecedents; none of those answer choices are correct. (See OG 2017 #687, 734, 776; Verbal Guide 2017 #260, 262, 278.) So at the very least, I can't find any evidence that the GMAT is willing to break the rule.

And at the same time: I also can't find any explicit mentions of the rule in any official GMAT explanations. That doesn't mean much, of course: we all know that the OG explanations aren't always all that clear. ("D is awkward and wordy." Gee, thanks, OG! ) And it's also possible that I just didn't look in the right place -- maybe there's an official reference to the rule somewhere else. If any of you can find one, I'd love to hear about it!

Bottom line: I can't find any official violations of the rule, and I can point to quite a few questions where it seems to help eliminate a few answer choices. So unless somebody can come up with some more specific evidence, I'd stick with the rule for now.

daagh

Very important analysis. I understood all of this except the last line.
I see there is a possessive error, bull's + it. Am I missing something?

Mahmud
I meant this original question and its choice E, where there is no such possessive pronoun error.

During an ice age, the buildup of ice at the poles and the drop in water levels near the equator speed up the Earth’s rotation, like a spinning figure skater whose speed increases when her arms are drawn in.

(A) like a spinning figure skater whose speed increases when her arms are drawn in
(B) like the increased speed of a figure skater when her arms are drawn in
(C) like a figure skater who increases speed while spinning with her arms drawn in
(D) just as a spinning figure skater who increases speed by drawing in her arms
(E) just as a spinning figure skater increases speed by drawing in her arms

(E) just as a spinning figure skater increases speed by drawing in her arms -- skater question ( the original)
(E) just as a rampaging bull’s rage increases when it is pierced with swords - gladiator question.
You can see how the E choice in the original differs from the topic on hand.

MANHATTAN REVIEW OFFICIAL EXPLANATION:

This question has to do with differentiating whether you are comparing two actions or two things. You would say, for example, the frenzied man is like the raging bull. But you would have to say: the man can be whipped into frenzy just as a rampaging bull can be whipped into a further state of rage. When you compare two actions, you need to use as, not like. That leaves two possible choices: D and E. Choice D is incorrect, however, because it implies that the bull is piercing itself with swords. Choice E is the correct answer

Bunuel

In option E, could you please explain the reference of pronoun it? Rampaging bull's is in possessive form. Grammatically, it can't refer to a possessive.

Your thoughts on this please. It seems A is much better option among the answer choices.

Hello ViharSaladi,

We hope this finds you well.

To answer your query, the error of referring to a possessive noun with a subject pronoun is no longer tested by the GMAT.

We hope this helps.
All the best!
Experts' Global Team