Last visit was: 21 Apr 2026, 09:36 It is currently 21 Apr 2026, 09:36
Home
Messages
Tests
Schools
Events
Close
GMAT Club Daily Prep
Thank you for using the timer - this advanced tool can estimate your performance and suggest more practice questions. We have subscribed you to Daily Prep Questions via email.

Customized
for You

we will pick new questions that match your level based on your Timer History

Track
Your Progress

every week, we’ll send you an estimated GMAT score based on your performance

Practice
Pays

we will pick new questions that match your level based on your Timer History
Not interested in getting valuable practice questions and articles delivered to your email? No problem, unsubscribe here.
Go to My Error Log Learn more
Close
Request Expert Reply
Confirm Cancel
Back to Forum
Create Topic
505-555 (Easy)|   Pronouns|      
User avatar
rishit1080
User avatar
Joined: 19 Oct 2016
Last visit: 07 Apr 2017
Posts: 55
Own Kudos:
86
 [2]
Given Kudos: 29
Location: India
Concentration: Marketing, Leadership
Schools: IIMA  (I)
GMAT 1: 580 Q46 V24
GMAT 2: 540 Q39 V25
GMAT 3: 660 Q48 V34
GPA: 3.15
WE:Psychology and Counseling (Healthcare/Pharmaceuticals)
Schools: IIMA  (I)
GMAT 3: 660 Q48 V34
Posts: 55
Kudos: 86
 [2]
Factories in southern states like Georgia and Mississippi employed mor 27 Oct 2016, 08:43
Kudos
Add Kudos
2
Bookmarks
Bookmark this Post
00:00
Start Timer
Pause Timer
Resume Timer
Show Answer
Hide
Show
History
E
Be sure to select an answer first to save it in the Error Log before revealing the correct answer (OA)!

Difficulty:

15% (low)

Question Stats:

76% (01:26) correct 24% (01:28) wrong based on 197 sessions

History

Date
Time
Result
Not Attempted Yet
Factories in southern states like Georgia and Mississippi employed more than 300,000 workers in the late nineteenth century, but they were driven out of business by increasing federal taxes as well as a labor supply that migrated north in the hope of finding better wages.


A. Factories in southern states like Georgia and Mississippi employed more than 300,000 workers in the late nineteenth century, but they

B. More than 300,000 workers had been employed by factories in southern states such as Georgia and Mississippi in the late nineteenth century, but they

C. In the late nineteenth century, more than 300,000 workers were employed by factories in southern states such as Georgia and Mississippi, but they

D. More than 300,000 workers had been employed by factories in southern states like Georgia and Mississippi in the late nineteenth century, but these factories

E. Factories in southern states such as Georgia and Mississippi employed more than 300,000 workers in the late nineteenth century, but these factories
ShowHide Answer
Official Answer
E
User avatar
AnotherGmater
User avatar
Joined: 15 Feb 2016
Last visit: 21 Dec 2018
Posts: 27
Own Kudos:
6
 [1]
Given Kudos: 21
Schools: Booth PT '21 (A)
GMAT 1: 710 Q47 V40
GMAT 2: 620 Q49 V21
GPA: 2.9
Products:
My Reviews
Schools: Booth PT '21 (A)
GMAT 2: 620 Q49 V21
Posts: 27
Kudos: 6
 [1]
Factories in southern states like Georgia and Mississippi employed mor 27 Oct 2016, 09:17
1
Kudos
Add Kudos
Bookmarks
Bookmark this Post
A and D are out, because both are using "Like" where "Such as" is needed.
B and C are out, because of the pronoun error "but they"; here "they" is referring to Workers not Factories.
E fixes all the above issues.
User avatar
Abhishek009
User avatar
Board of Directors
Joined: 11 Jun 2011
Last visit: 17 Dec 2025
Posts: 5,904
Own Kudos:
5,446
Given Kudos: 463
Status:QA & VA Forum Moderator
Location: India
GPA: 3.5
WE:Business Development (Commercial Banking)
Posts: 5,904
Kudos: 5,446
Factories in southern states like Georgia and Mississippi employed mor 27 Oct 2016, 12:18
Kudos
Add Kudos
Bookmarks
Bookmark this Post
rishit1080
Factories in southern states like Georgia and Mississippi employed more than 300,000 workers in the late nineteenth century, but they were driven out of business by increasing federal taxes as well as a labor supply that migrated north in the hope of finding better wages.

A.Factories in southern states like Georgia and Mississippi employed more than 300,000 workers in the late nineteenth century, but they

B. More than 300,000 workers had been employed by factories in southern states such as Georgia and Mississippi in the late nineteenth century, but they

C. In the late nineteenth century, more than 300,000 workers were employed by factories in southern states such as Georgia and Mississippi, but they

D. More than 300,000 workers had been employed by factories in southern states like Georgia and Mississippi in the late nineteenth century, but these factories

E. Factories in southern states such as Georgia and Mississippi employed more than 300,000 workers in the late nineteenth century, but these factories
Show more

Answer will be (E) , for the highlighted errors in the other options...
avatar
akashbolster
avatar
Joined: 28 May 2014
Last visit: 08 Feb 2018
Posts: 22
Own Kudos:
42
Given Kudos: 83
Schools: ISB '17 NUS '17
Schools: ISB '17 NUS '17
Posts: 22
Kudos: 42
Factories in southern states like Georgia and Mississippi employed mor 04 Oct 2017, 13:13
Kudos
Add Kudos
Bookmarks
Bookmark this Post
In Option D is "had been" right? because here we are talking about earlier event.
User avatar
tarunanandani
User avatar
Joined: 01 Apr 2018
Last visit: 09 Jul 2019
Posts: 99
Own Kudos:
225
Given Kudos: 86
Location: India
Schools: INSEAD Jan '20
GMAT 1: 650 Q49 V30
GPA: 3.9
Schools: INSEAD Jan '20
GMAT 1: 650 Q49 V30
Posts: 99
Kudos: 225
Factories in southern states like Georgia and Mississippi employed mor 04 Nov 2018, 00:11
Kudos
Add Kudos
Bookmarks
Bookmark this Post
AkshdeepS
Factories in southern states like Georgia and Mississippi employed more than 300,000 workers in the late nineteenth century, but they were driven out of business by increasing federal taxes as well as a labor supply that migrated north in the hope of finding better wages.

1. Factories in southern states like Georgia and Mississippi employed more than 300,000 workers in the late nineteenth century, but they

2. More than 300,000 workers had been employed by factories in southern states such as Georgia and Mississippi in the late nineteenth century, but they

3. In the late nineteenth century, more than 300,000 workers were employed by factories in southern states such as Georgia and Mississippi, but they

4. More than 300,000 workers had been employed by factories in southern states like Georgia and Mississippi in the late nineteenth century, but these factories

5. Factories in southern states such as Georgia and Mississippi employed more than 300,000 workers in the late nineteenth century, but these factories
Show more

+1 for E.
The errors are highlighted in red. Options B and C have pronoun, 'they', ambiguity. Options A and D incorrectly use 'like' for examples.
User avatar
surendrasaini1
User avatar
Joined: 15 Feb 2017
Last visit: 08 Jan 2026
Posts: 242
Own Kudos:
126
Given Kudos: 50
Location: India
Schools: Stern '26
Schools: Stern '26
Posts: 242
Kudos: 126
Factories in southern states like Georgia and Mississippi employed mor 04 Nov 2018, 02:29
Kudos
Add Kudos
Bookmarks
Bookmark this Post
Factories in southern states like Georgia and Mississippi employed more than 300,000 workers in the late nineteenth century, but they[/u] were driven out of business by increasing federal taxes as well as a labor supply that migrated north in the hope of finding better wages.

1. Factories in southern states like Georgia and Mississippi employed more than 300,000 workers in the late nineteenth century, but they(use of like is incorrect)

2. More than 300,000 workers had been employed by factories in southern states such as Georgia and Mississippi in the late nineteenth century, but they(wrong verb tense,passive construction,pronoun they reference is not clear)

3. In the late nineteenth century, more than 300,000 workers were employed by factories in southern states such as Georgia and Mississippi, but they(passive construction)

4. More than 300,000 workers had been employed by factories in southern states like Georgia and Mississippi in the late nineteenth century, but these factories(use of like is incorrect)

5. Factories in southern states such as Georgia and Mississippi employed more than 300,000 workers in the late nineteenth century, but these factories(correct)

I will go with option no 5

Thanks



Sent from my Lenovo K33a42 using GMAT Club Forum mobile app
User avatar
aragonn
User avatar
Retired Moderator
Joined: 23 Sep 2015
Last visit: 30 Sep 2019
Posts: 1,170
Own Kudos:
5,939
 [1]
Given Kudos: 416
Products:
My Reviews
Posts: 1,170
Kudos: 5,939
 [1]
Factories in southern states like Georgia and Mississippi employed mor 16 Nov 2018, 07:32
1
Kudos
Add Kudos
Bookmarks
Bookmark this Post
rishit1080
Factories in southern states like Georgia and Mississippi employed more than 300,000 workers in the late nineteenth century, but they were driven out of business by increasing federal taxes as well as a labor supply that migrated north in the hope of finding better wages.


A. Factories in southern states like Georgia and Mississippi employed more than 300,000 workers in the late nineteenth century, but they

B. More than 300,000 workers had been employed by factories in southern states such as Georgia and Mississippi in the late nineteenth century, but they

C. In the late nineteenth century, more than 300,000 workers were employed by factories in southern states such as Georgia and Mississippi, but they

D. More than 300,000 workers had been employed by factories in southern states like Georgia and Mississippi in the late nineteenth century, but these factories

E. Factories in southern states such as Georgia and Mississippi employed more than 300,000 workers in the late nineteenth century, but these factories
Show more

Question Explanation:


Since the underlined portion of the sentence contains the pronoun they, check that it agrees unambiguously with its referent. The plural pronoun they could refer to factories, states, or workers. This is a pronoun ambiguity error, so eliminate choice A and look for any obvious repeaters. Choices B and C are obvious repeaters because they both contain the plural pronoun they, so eliminate choices B and C. Now, evaluate the remaining answer choices individually, looking for reasons to eliminate each.

Choice D fixes the original pronoun ambiguity error by replacing the pronoun they with the phrase these factories, but the use of the word like suggests that the factories were located in states similar to Georgia and Mississippi, not states actually including Georgia and Mississippi. This is an idiom error, since such as is the correct idiom to mean for example. Also, this choice changes the subject of the sentence from factories to more than 300,000 workers, thus changing the meaning of the sentence. Eliminate choice D. Choice E fixes the original pronoun ambiguity error by replacing the pronoun they with the phrase these factories, and introduces no new errors, so keep choice E.

Alternatively, if it is difficult to spot the grammar rule the sentence is testing, another strategy is to identify an error from the answers by looking for either a 2/3 split or differences among the answers. Because three of the answer choices end with but they and two answer choices end with but these factories, this difference is an indication to look for pronoun ambiguity errors.

Choice A: No. The plural pronoun they could refer to factories, states, or workers. Pronoun ambiguity.

Choice B: No. The plural pronoun they could refer to factories, states, or workers. Pronoun ambiguity.

Choice C: No. The plural pronoun they could refer to factories, states, or workers. Pronoun ambiguity.


Choice D: No. Like is incorrectly used instead of such as. Idiom.

Choice E: Correct.

The correct answer is choice E.
User avatar
VerbalBot
User avatar
Non-Human User
Joined: 01 Oct 2013
Last visit: 04 Jan 2021
Posts: 19,403
Own Kudos:
1,009
Posts: 19,403
Kudos: 1,009
Factories in southern states like Georgia and Mississippi employed mor 04 Jun 2020, 03:30
Kudos
Add Kudos
Bookmarks
Bookmark this Post
Automated notice from GMAT Club VerbalBot:

A member just gave Kudos to this thread, showing it’s still useful. I’ve bumped it to the top so more people can benefit. Feel free to add your own questions or solutions.

This post was generated automatically.
Moderators:
GMATNinja
GMAT Club Verbal Expert
7391 posts
AbhishekP220108
495 posts
bhanu29
358 posts