Japan received huge sums of capital from the United States after the

Question

Japan received huge sums of capital from the United States after the Second World War, using it to help build  a modern industrial system.

(A) Japan received huge sums of capital from the United States after the Second World War, using it to help build

(B) Japan received huge sums of capital from the United States after the Second World War and used it to help in building

(C) Japan used the huge sums of capital it received from the United States after the Second World War to help build

(D) Japan's huge sums of capital received from the United States after the Second World War were used to help it in building

(E) Receiving huge sums of capital from the United States after the Second World War, Japan used it to help build

VeritasPrepRon · Accepted Answer

Hi TiredOfStudying (hilarious name, btw). Yes the whole question here is the pronoun "it". The antecedent of "it" is ambiguous as it could be the money, Japan or the US. Answer choices A, B, D and E all have the confusing pronoun while C succinctly sums up the sentence nicely.

With pronouns, if you can find an answer choice that eliminates ambiguity by removing the pronoun entirely, it's likely your best bet.

Hope this helps!
-Ron

yangsta8 · Answer

I’m choosing C as well.

(A) Japan received huge sums of capital from the United States after the Second World War, using it to help build
I think “using it” here can be ambiguous but im not sure.
(B) Japan received huge sums of capital from the United States after the Second World War and used it to help in building
“It” is ambiguous
(C) Japan used the huge sums of capital it received from the United States after the Second World War to help build
 Correct. 
(D) Japan’s huge sums of capital received from the United States after the Second World War were used to help it in building
This is wrong in meaning. It implies the huge sums already belonged to Japan.
(E) Receiving huge sums of capital from the United States after the Second World War, Japan used it to help build
Ambiguous pronoun “it”.

TiredOfStudying · Answer

Anyone? I also go for C. Isn't "Huge sums of capital" plural? therefore you can't really say "used it"

arichinna · Answer

Tested concepts: Pronoun ambiguity and Modifiers

In all the choices other than "C", "it" can refer to either huge sums of capital or the United States.   The only answer choice that is unambiguous is "C"

AliciaSierra · Answer

"Japan used capital to help build a modern industrial system"-- correctly conveys by option "C"

hiranmay · Answer

J apan received huge  sums  of capital from the United States after the Second World War, using it to help build  a modern industrial system.

(A) Japan received huge sums of capital from the United States after the Second World War, using  it  to help build --> "sums" is plural
(B) Japan received huge sums of capital from the United States after the Second World War and used  it  to help in building --> same as A
(C) Japan used the huge sums of capital it received from the United States after the Second World War to help build -->  correct 
(D)  Japan's  huge sums of capital received from the United States after the Second World War were used to help  it  in building --> "it" can't refer back to possessive "Japan's" ( according to GMAT )
(E) Receiving huge sums of capital from the United States after the Second World War, Japan used  it  to help build --> same as A

09173140521 · Answer

I have problem with "C" answer ( it is true that all other answer choices are incorrect). BUT in C

(C) Japan used the huge sums of capital it received from the United States after the Second World War to help build.

when I read answer "c",it is a little bit awkward and ungrammatical to me ....could someone explain why pronoun (it) is too much close to antecedent (capital) ?????

chowdhurysakib71 · Answer

But C also has 'it' which can refer back to both Japan and Capital. I am very much confused about pronoun ambiguit.

Posted from my mobile device

VerbalBot · Answer

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Japan received huge sums of capital from the United States after the

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Japan received huge sums of capital from the United States after the

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