GMAT CLUB OLYMPICS: Thanks to NASA’s highly capable Mars orbiters, the

Question

Thanks to NASA’s highly capable Mars orbiters, the agency had more information regarding potential landing sites for the 2011 Mars Mission than  they had in their prior missions .

A. they had in their prior missions
B. their prior missions had had
C. they had for prior mission
D. in their prior missions
E. for any prior missions

Bunuel · Accepted Answer

Explanation: 
 
Pronouns + Tenses + Redundancy/Awkwardness
 
• Collective nouns (such as “agency” in this sentence) are always singular.
• When the chronology is clear because of terms such as before/after/when/earlier/later…or because of a clear mention of dates, the use of past perfect tense is not required, though not incorrect either.
 
A. This answer choice incorrectly refers to the singular noun “agency” with the plural pronoun “they”; please remember, collective nouns (such as “agency” in this sentence) are always singular. 
 
B. This answer choice incorrectly refers to the singular noun “agency” with the plural pronoun “their”; please remember, collective nouns (such as “agency” in this sentence) are always singular. Further, Option B needlessly uses the past perfect tense verb “had had”, rendering it needlessly wordy and awkward; this usage is unnecessary, as the word “prior” clearly denotes the order of events.
 
C. This answer choice incorrectly refers to the singular noun “agency” with the plural pronoun “they”; please remember, collective nouns (such as “agency” in this sentence) are always singular.

D. This answer choice incorrectly refers to the singular noun “agency” with the plural pronoun “their”; please remember, collective nouns (such as “agency” in this sentence) are always singular.
 
 E. Correct.  This answer choice avoids the pronoun error seen in Options A, B, C, and E, as it employs no pronouns. Further, Option E is free of any awkwardness or redundancy.
 
 E is the best answer choice.

zhanbo · Answer

My answer is  (E) .

(ABCD) all involves pronoun "they" or "their.“ Logically, the pronouns refer to the agency NASA. Yet the agency NASA is singular noun.

In (E), "for any prior missions" is parallel with "for the 2011 Mars Mission". It is decent without using "they" or "their".

MV94 · Answer

Unless I'm missing something obvious, this seems like a fairly straight forward question.

The agency (ie NASA) is singular, and as such cannot have a plural referent. It looks to me like A - D use plural referents. Hence  E  is the answer IMO.

SohGMAT2020 · Answer

Thanks to NASA’s highly capable Mars orbiters, the agency had more information regarding potential landing sites for the 2011 Mars Mission than they had in their prior missions.

A. they had in their prior missions : Agency is singular, hence they and their are incorrect : Eliminate A
B. their prior missions had had : Agency is singular, hence they is incorrect : Eliminate B
C. they had for prior mission :Agency is singular, hence they is incorrect : Eliminate C
D. in their prior missions : their is plural but agency is singular, also "in their prior mission" is not parallel to "for the 2011 Mars Mission". Eliminate D
 E. for any prior missions . This one looks good and is parallel. Hence Correct

DHRJ0032 · Answer

the agency is singular.
all options but E use "they"

E is the clear winner

cs15811581 · Answer

Pronoun error:  THEY in the underlined portion wrongly points to the singular agency.

All the options except E carry this error. Only E corrects it by removing the pronoun.

E

VerbalBot · Answer

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