In England the well-dressed gentleman of the eighteenth century protec

Question

In England the well-dressed  gentleman of the eighteenth century protected their clothing while having their wig powdered by poking their head  through a device that resembled the stocks.

(A) gentleman of the eighteenth century protected their clothing while having their wig powdered by poking their head
(B) gentleman of the eighteenth century protected his clothing while having his wig powdered by poking his head
(C) gentleman of the eighteenth century protected their clothing while having their wigs powdered by poking their heads
(D) gentlemen of the eighteenth century protected his clothing while having his wig powdered by poking his head
(E) gentlemen of the eighteenth century protected their clothing while having his wig powdered by poking his head

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Chethan92 · Answer

B uses the proper pronoun.
Others have highlighted errors.

ArupRS · Answer

In B pronouns are consistent :

gentleman  of the eighteenth century protected  his  clothing while having  his  wig powdered by poking  his  head.

In rest of the options, pronouns' numbers are not in agreement.

regards,
Arup

Darshi04 · Answer

The typical  scanning for splits  and  elimination strategy  makes this question extremely simple to answer in least time.

Meaning analysis 
Gentleman (or Gentlemen) of the 18th century protected his/their clothing by poking his/their head through a device that resembled the stocks. The protection for their clothing was required when someone powdered their wig.

Meaning not really required here, as we notice it is a simple case of singular/plural noun/pronoun error.

Scan 1:  Gentleman v/s Gentlemen (3:2 split). Wherever plural "gentlemen" is used, the corresponding pronouns should be "...their clothing", "...their wigs", and "their heads".
Basis this, eliminate D and E.

Scan 2:  Conversely, wherever singular "gentleman" is used, the corresponding pronouns should be "...his clothing", "...his wig", and "his head".
Basis this, eliminate A and C.

What are we left with?

Voila! B! "gentleman" .... "his clothing" ...."his wig" ...."his head". All singular. Correct option.

rohit8865 · Answer

IMO ans B for the highlighted error shown above

Prateekj05 · Answer

This question has the  error of using a wrong pronoun  and also  using a singular noun where a plural noun is necessary.  
The subject of the given sentence is  ‘well dressed-gentleman’  , which is a singular noun .

So, the  use of the plural pronoun in the phrase ‘their wig’ is grammatically wrong.  In addition, the phrases  ‘their wig’ and ‘their head’  implies that many of them together had only one wig and only one head, which is absurd. So, (A) is wrong.

(C) also incorporates the first error identified above, and can be eliminated.

(D) and (E) both have the same error in reverse, with the  plural noun ‘gentlemen’ being represented by the singular pronoun ‘his’  in the latter part of the sentence.

(B) corrects these errors and results in a clear and grammatical statement.  Therefore (B) should be the answer.

aragonn · Answer

Official Explanation: 
In A, C, D, and E, pronouns do not agree with the nouns to which they refer. In A and C, the plural their refers incorrectly to the singular gentleman, while in D and E, the singular his refers incorrectly to the plural gentlemen. Only in B do all the pronouns agree with all the nouns. Choice B is the best answer.

iscbruc14 · Answer

A) gentleman of the eighteenth century protected their clothing while having their wig powdered by poking their head
 (B) gentleman of the eighteenth century protected his clothing while having his wig powdered by poking his head 
(C) gentleman of the eighteenth century protected their clothing while having their wigs powdered by poking their heads
 (D) gentlemen of the eighteenth century protected his clothing while having his wig powdered by poking his head 
(E) gentlemen of the eighteenth century protected their clothing while having his wig powdered by poking his head

What is the difference between B and D?

lary301254M7 · Answer

In England the well-dressed gentleman of the eighteenth century protected their clothing while having their wig powdered by poking their head through a device that resembled the stocks.

(A)  gentleman  of the eighteenth century protected  their  clothing while having  their  wig powdered by poking their head
(B)  gentleman  of the eighteenth century protected  his  clothing while having  his  wig powdered by poking his head
(C)  gentleman  of the eighteenth century protected  their  clothing while having  their  wigs powdered by poking their heads
(D)  gentlemen  of the eighteenth century protected  his  clothing while having  his  wig powdered by poking his head
(E)  gentlemen  of the eighteenth century protected  their  clothing while having  his  wig powdered by poking his head

Fairly easy pronoun question. 
Ans: (B)

lary301254M7 · Answer

gentlem a n =/= gentlem e n

One is a singular subject, the other is plural.

sumisachan · Answer

In England the well-dressed  gentleman of the eighteenth century protected their clothing while having their wig powdered by poking their head  through a device that resembled the stocks.

(A) gentle man  of the eighteenth century protected  their  clothing while having  their  wig powdered by poking  their  head
(B) gentle man  of the eighteenth century protected  his  clothing while having  his  wig powdered by poking  his  head
(C) gentle man  of the eighteenth century protected  their  clothing while having  their  wigs powdered by poking  their  heads
(D) gentle men  of the eighteenth century protected  his  clothing while having  his  wig powdered by poking  his  head
(E) gentle men  of the eighteenth century protected  their  clothing while having  his  wig powdered by poking  his  head

Hence, B is the correct answer choice.

Adnani · Answer

Gentleman/men.... their/his...
Deciding factor

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In England the well-dressed gentleman of the eighteenth century protec

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GMAT Sentence Correction (SC - EA only) Questions

In England the well-dressed gentleman of the eighteenth century protec

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