artiom01 wrote:
Actually, I think its in (A) is nowhere ambiguous because:
1) it follows 'only one' (not reasonable enough)
2) the -ing modifier gives a reason why the satellite could not be photographed; (B) cuts out this feature
3) if having refers to only one, it is illogical that its refers to Saturn
I think those reasons combined are enough to eliminate any doubts about what its refers to.
Would be pleased if someone would give an opinion regarding this.
Hello
artiom01, how are you?
thank you for your question, it is absolutely reasonable.
Let's try to get to the bottom of the truth
artiom01 wrote:
Actually, I think its in (A) is nowhere ambiguous because:
1) it follows 'only one' (not reasonable enough)
Simple example:
The Moon goes around the Earth, while The Earth goes atround the Sun; it is celestial body.Pronoun ambiguity take place when pronoun has several logical antecedents, it doesn't matter where the antecedent located, it can be anywhere in the sentence.
'it' - singular
The Moon, the Earth, and the Sun - singular
The Moon is celestial body -
makes sence The Earth is celestial body -
makes sence The Sun is celestial body -
makes sence Hence we have pronoun ambiguity in this sentence,
'it' has three logical antecedents.
The Moon goes around the Earth, while The Earth goes around the Sun; it is inhabited by people.'it' - singular
The Moon, the Earth, and the Sun - singular
The Moon is inhabited by people - we know this is not 'truth' -
doesn't make sence The Earth is inhabited by people -
makes sence The Sun is inhabited by people - it is 'impossible' -
doesn't make sence In this sentence 'it' logically refers to only one word "The Earth" there is no pronoun ambiguity.
Our sentence:
Of the seventeen moons of Saturn, only one, having its atmosphere opaque to visible light, could not be photographed by Voyager1.'its' - singular
Saturn, onle one - singular
Saturn has atmosphere opaque to visible light -
makes sence One of Saturn moon has atmosphere opaque to visible light -
makes sence Hence we have pronoun ambiguity in this sentence,
'its' has two logical antecedents.
artiom01 wrote:
2) the -ing modifier gives a reason why the satellite could not be photographed; (B) cuts out this feature
3) if having refers to only one, it is illogical that its refers to Saturn
v-ing modifier preceded by comma (e-gmat):- can modify preceeding clause and must make sence with the subject of the sentence;
- explicit 'how' aspect of the preceeding clause;
- explicit 'result' and 'reason' of the preceeding clause.
mikemcgarry wrote:
First of all, let's use proper terminology. You are asking about
participles and
participial phrases. You can read a little more here:
https://magoosh.com/gmat/2012/participle ... -the-gmat/https://magoosh.com/gmat/2012/the-ing-form-of-a-verb/Second, those two rules --- throw them in the trash. I'm sorry to say this, but they are useless. Participial phrases are the most versatile modifiers in the English language. A participial phrase can modify
(a) a noun (in which case it often will "touch" the noun)
(b) a verb (in which can it will answer a "how" question about the verb)
(c) a whole phrase or clause
There is no formula for deciding what the participial is doing, because it can do so many different things. You have to rely on meaning. In fact, because participles can do so many different things, the GMAT absolutely loves them. The GMAT loves writing SC sentences in which blind adherence to the rules of grammar is not enough --- sentence in which you must engage the unique meaning. The man, seeing the fallen tree in the road ahead, ….
'seeing' plays the role of the adjective, it describes the man.
Of the seventeen moons of Saturn, only one, having its atmosphere opaque to visible light, could not be photographed by Voyager1.'having' describes 'only one' and gives additional information.
artiom01 wrote:
2) the -ing modifier gives a reason why the satellite could not be photographed; (B) cuts out this feature
as the author states general facts about Saturn and its moons, there is no meaning change in B.
janeyeo wrote:
Of the seventeen moons of Saturn, only one, having its atmosphere opaque to visible light, could not be photographed by Voyager1.
(A) Of the seventeen moons of Saturn, only one, having its atmosphere
(B) Of the seventeen moons of Saturn, only one, which has an atmosphere
(B) is just more clearly explaining author's idea
We never look for one good answer choice, ALWAYS four wrong, sometimes wright answer sounds crap but it is grammatically and logically conveys intended meaning, and it is enough to choose it.artiom01 wrote:
3) if having refers to only one, it is illogical that its refers to Saturn
I like this question, and it seems quite reasonable to me...
--------
Hello
generis, how are you?
if you have some time, could you please share your thoughts?
Of the seventeen moons of Saturn, only one, having its atmosphere opaque to visible light, could not be photographed by Voyager1.We know that 'having' refers to 'one' hence can we consider that 'it's' also unambiguously refers to 'one' ?
p.s. generis is my general reasoning on this thread valid enough?
close
06 Feb 2019, 05:18
45%
(medium)
43%
(01:13)
wrong 
