In a typical relay race, the baton is passed from one runner to the ne

Question

In a typical relay race, the baton is passed from one runner to the next on the same team, and  each team wants its last runner to finish before any other team's can do so.

A. each team wants its last runner to finish before any other team's can do so
B. every team wants their last runner to finish before each other team's last runner can do so
C. all teams want their last runners to finish before the last runners of every team can finish
D. every team wants its last runner to finish before the last runners of all teams can finish
E. each team wants their last runner to finish before the last runner of any other team can finish

AshutoshB · Answer

C and D logic error
B and E uses plural their 
A is answer

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karthikkaushik91 · Answer

A implies that team can do so. I think it's E

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AshutoshB · Answer

A implies that team can do so. I think it's E

its TEAM'S (POSSESIVE FORM)

chesstitans · Answer

it is A my friend. "any other " is the key word
 karthikkaushik91 , does it make sense to you?

techiesam · Answer

+1 A

A. each team wants its last runner to finish before any other team's can do so- Looks perfect hold .
B.  every team  wants  their  last runner to finish before each other team's last runner can do so- every team-their  wrong SV agreement
C. all teams want their last runners to finish before the last runners of  every team  can finish- This sentence is logically wrong.The use of every implies that any team wants its last runner to finish before the last runner of its own team.  This sentence would be correct if every other team were used instead of every team  
D. every team wants its last runner to finish before the last runners of all teams can finish- same error as C 
E. each team wants their last runner to finish before the last runner of any other team can finish -  each team-their  wrong SV agreement

aragonn · Answer

Magoosh Official Explanation:

Split #1: to compare one of a group to the whole group, we need the word "other". The answer choices omitting "other" make the logical mistake discuss in this post; these choices, (C) & (D), are incorrect.

Split #2: "each team" and "every team" are singular, so we need the singular pronoun "its", not the plural pronoun "their". Choices (B) & (E) make this mistake and are incorrect.

Split #3: repeated words in comparisons. The first part talk about one team's "last runner", so we can compare this to another team's last runner, or we can just compare it to "another team's". The possessive alone is sufficient to denote the second term of the comparison.

Split #4: repeating a predicate. When the same action is repeated in a sentence, we can repeat the same verb "… before any other team's can finish" or we can use the generic substitute "… before any other team's can do so." Either is correct.

Because of these splits, choice (A) is the only possible answer.

shobhitkh · Answer

Hi  VeritasKarishma , can you please provide explanation on the answer to the above question? I am confused between using its/their. which one should come and why?

KarishmaB · Answer

Whether you use "its" or "their" depends on whether the subject is singular or plural. 
If the subject is each team/every team, the pronoun used will be "its". If the subject is "all teams", we will use "their".

A. each team wants its last runner to finish before any other team's can do so

each - its - correct

B. every team wants their last runner to finish before each other team's last runner can do so

every - their - wrong

C. all teams want their last runners to finish before the last runners of every team can finish

all - their - correct. But "last runners of every team" is incorrect. It should be "last runner of any other team". 
You compare the last runner of your team to last runners of other teams, not last runners of all teams since you cannot include your own team in the comparison.

D. every team wants its last runner to finish before the last runners of all teams can finish
Same problem as (C).

E. each team wants their last runner to finish before the last runner of any other team can finish

each - their - wrong

Answer (A)

hiranmay · Answer

chesstitans 
Kindly correct the option-A:  team's  --> teams (remove the team  '  s)

Bunuel · Answer

I think "team's" is correct there.

pallavichsk · Answer

Is it not teams' in the first option?

G-Man · Answer

From the answer options, it is clear that pronoun is one filtering criterion.

Team is a collective noun and takes a singular pronoun. Using this, we can narrow it down to A & D.

D- Logic issue (  last runner of  all the teams  can finish  )

Answer: A

In a typical relay race, the baton is passed from one runner to the ne

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GMAT Sentence Correction (SC - EA only) Questions

In a typical relay race, the baton is passed from one runner to the ne

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