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Many entomologists say that campaigns to eradicate the fire ant in the
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12 Jul 2006, 18:40
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Question Stats:
86% (00:54) correct 14% (01:10) wrong based on 765 sessions
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Many entomologists say that campaigns to eradicate the fire ant in the United States have failed because the chemicals that were used were effective only in wiping out the ant's natural enemies, which made it easier for them to spread.
(A) which made it easier for them (B) which makes it easier for it (C) thus making it easier for them (D) thus making it easier for the ant (E) thereby, it was made easier for the ant
The campaigns backfired, many entomologists say, because the efforts to kill invicta with the chemicals chlordane, heptachlor, dieldrin and mirex were effective only in wiping out the ant's natural enemies, principally other ant species, and parasites, thus making it easier for the ant to spread.
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12 Oct 2016, 03:17
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By elimination A. which made it easier for them – which, incorrect modifier. them is plural, cannot be used to refer singular noun (ant species) B. which makes it easier for it – which, incorrect modifier. it is singular (referring to ant species), correct but antecedent is ambiguous C. thus making it easier for them – them is plural, cannot be used to refer singular noun (ant species) D. thus making it easier for the ant - correct E. thereby, it was made easier for the ant – passive voice. it has no antecedent ("it" acts as a subject and not having a clear antecedent is worrisome)
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15 Dec 2012, 12:03
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fire ant : singular
thus we can safely eliminate options that comtain THEM...... A & C disappears.
2nd : what is WHICH doing here......to whom is WHICH clinging to?........if it is parasitic to natural enemies then it doesn't makes any sense ....B gone with the wind.
Bxn D & E: keeping aside grammar rules...just relying on intuition
D : X happened...........THUS Y
E : X happened............THEREBY.....it was made easier for the ant
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16 Jul 2016, 16:21
Many entomologists say that campaigns to eradicate the fire ant in the United States have failed because the chemicals that were used were effective only in wiping out the ant's natural enemies, which made it easier for them to spread.
A. which made it easier for them pronoun issue
B. which makes it easier for it pronoun issue
C. thus making it easier for them pronoun issue
D. thus making it easier for the ant correct choice
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22 Nov 2017, 11:25
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Many entomologists say that campaigns to eradicate the fire ant in the United States have failed because the chemicals that were used were effective only in wiping out the ant's natural enemies, which made it easier for them to spread.
A. which made it easier for them - which incorrectly refers to enemies ; them is plural and can refer to enemies or chemicals , but it should refer to fire ant B. which makes it easier for it - same as A C. thus making it easier for them - them is plural and thus can't refer to fire ant D. thus making it easier for the ant - Correct E. thereby, it was made easier for the ant
Answer D
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03 Dec 2017, 09:34
gezus wrote:
Many entomologists say that campaigns to eradicate the fire ant in the United States have failed because the chemicals that were used were effective only in wiping out the ant's natural enemies, which made it easier for them to spread.
A. which made it easier for them B. which makes it easier for it C. thus making it easier for them D. thus making it easier for the ant E. thereby, it was made easier for the ant
A) Which is used incorrectly and the use of them makes the meaning of the sentence confusing. What does them refer to? Also, the verb tense agreement between wiping out and made is incorrect. B) Which is used incorrectly and I think there is a pronoun issue with it. Wiping out and makes don't match. C) wiping out and making match but the fire ant is singular so them is the incorrect pronoun because it is plural. D)wiping out and making match, and the ant is singular so makes the meaning of the sentence correct--> best choice for answer E) wiping out and was made don't match and the sentence meaning is ambiguous
Can you explain what is "it" referring to ? A few folks on this thread said it is referring to "to spread". Can you explain this concept?
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21 Mar 2018, 02:27
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pikolo2510 wrote:
Can you explain what is "it" referring to ? A few folks on this thread said it is referring to "to spread". Can you explain this concept?
Hi pikolo2510, That is correct. it is indeed referring to to spread.
For example:
It takes great courage to prevail amidst uncertainty.
it refers to a phrase (to prevail amidst uncertainty) that appears later in the sentence. The sentence basically is:
It (to prevail amidst uncertainty) takes great courage.
An official example:
Although some philosophers and thinkers had suggested that Earth revolved round the sun, it was not until seventeenth century that Galileo firmly established this fact.
Here, it refers to a clause (that Galileo firmly established this fact) that appears later in the sentence.
p.s. Our book EducationAisle Sentence Correction Nirvana discusses these cases of pronoun usage, their application and examples in significant detail. If someone is interested, PM me your email-id; I can mail the corresponding section. This scenario represents one of the two prominent
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30 Mar 2018, 09:20
gezus wrote:
Many entomologists say that campaigns to eradicate the fire ant in the United States have failed because the chemicals that were used were effective only in wiping out the ant's natural enemies, which made it easier for them to spread.
A. which made it easier for them B. which makes it easier for it C. thus making it easier for them D. thus making it easier for the ant E. thereby, it was made easier for the ant
A. which made it easier for them
B. which makes it easier for it
C. thus making it easier for them
D. thus making it easier for the ant
E. thereby, it was made easier for the ant
Hence (D)
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In option C, is it correct if we replace them with it, since that will clear out the singular-plural issue. Also by logic will 'it' refer to ant and not its natural enemies ? What if the 'enemies' is replaced by enemy and sentence says:
Many entomologists say that campaigns to eradicate the fire ant in the United States have failed because the chemicals that were used were effective only in wiping out the ant's natural enemy, which made it easier for it to spread.
Will the above sentence be correct ?
I am having a problem in identifying pronoun antecedants
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29 Sep 2019, 22:25
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Sid wrote
Quote:
Hi daagh,
In option C, is it correct if we replace them with it, since that will clear out the singular-plural issue. Also by logic will 'it' refer to ant and not its natural enemies ? What if the 'enemies' is replaced by enemy and sentence says:
Many entomologists say that campaigns to eradicate the fire ant in the United States have failed because the chemicals that were used were effective only in wiping out the ant's natural enemy, which made it easier for it to spread.
Will the above sentence be correct ?
I am having a problem in identifying pronoun antecedants
Many entomologists say that campaigns to eradicate the fire ant in the United States have failed because the chemicals that were used were effective only in wiping out the ant's natural enemies, which made it easier for them to spread.
A. which made it easier for them B. which makes it easier for it C. thus making it easier for them D. thus making it easier for the ant E. thereby, it was made easier for the ant
Both your suggestions may not pass. In the case of the first suggestion, the rules are clear that a given pronoun should refer to just one noun only. 'It' to be a placeholder or dummy in one place and to refer to the fire ant in another place is not correct grammatically.
Your second suggestion is also out of scope because a fire ant has several natural enemies not just one as you suggest. The plural 'enemies' is indispensible in the context.
However, what is the point in trying to meddle with a non-underlined part and change the entire focus of the given question? There is a beautiful correct answer in C and we should simply take it and go to the next question.
If someone is habituated to this kind of mis-practice, then it may be fatal on the Test day.
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86% (00:54) correct 
