That the murder of Colin Sweeney is unlikely to be seen as an accident

That the murder of Colin Sweeney is unlikely to be seen as an accident by the jury that cannot be confidently stated: the defense presented compelling testimony from the victim's ex-wife stating he was prone to fainting spells and could have easily fallen from the boat without being pushed by someone else.

A. That the murder of Colin Sweeney is unlikely to be seen as an accident by the jury that cannot be confidently stated:
The double that expresses a construction that should not be paused, but we have got the double colomn, and this makes it awkard. The second that is targeting the jury, but it is not the jury that cannot be confidently stated, but the fact that the murder is unlikely to be seen as an accident.

B. That the murder of Colin Sweeney is unlikely to be seen as an accident by the jury that cannot be stated confidently:
Similar to A, the double that is awkard.

C. It cannot be confidently stated that it is unlikely to be seen as an accident by the jury the murder of Colin Sweeney:
Awkard. The first part of the sentence does not provide any subject that is unlikely to be seen as an accidente. The murder of CS is absuderly positioned at the end.

D. It cannot be confidently stated that the murder of Colin Sweeney is unlikely to be seen as an accident by the jury:
Correct one! Here the murder of CS is perfectly modified by the fact "that it cannot be confidently stated". Is unlikely to be seen perfectly targets the murder of CS.

E. The fact that the murder of Colin Sweeney is unlikely to be seen as an accident by the jury that cannot be confidently stated:
Similar to A, the double that ruins the sentence. Here the jury cannot be confidently stated, and even if grammatically it could work, it is senseless.

D is correct

All the options revolve around about what is confidentially stated,

Options A,B,C and E incorrectly refers to the jury who are confidentially stated instead of the murder being confidentially stated, so option D is correct and Concise.

Posted from my mobile device

Hi everyone. Probably I'm being paranoiac after so many SC. Is possible to understand that the jury committed the "accident"? I suppose I'm wrong but I had that doubt when I was reading the alternatives.

Thank you!

Can someone explain.
What "IT" in option "d". Refer to ?

Posted from my mobile device

Hi rinkumaa4, this is one of those rare cases where the antecedent (whatever it refers to) appears after the pronoun it.

D says:

It cannot be confidently stated that the murder of Colin Sweeney is unlikely to be seen as an accident by the jury.

Here, it refers to that the murder of Colin Sweeney is unlikely to be seen as an accident by the jury.

Basically the sentence is:

It (that the murder of Colin Sweeney is unlikely to be seen as an accident by the jury) cannot be confidently stated.

p.s. Our book EducationAisle Sentence Correction Nirvana discusses this usage of it, its application and examples in significant detail. If you or someone is interested, PM me your email-id; I can mail the corresponding section.

Hello from the GMAT Club VerbalBot!

Thanks to another GMAT Club member, I have just discovered this valuable topic, yet it had no discussion for over a year. I am now bumping it up - doing my job. I think you may find it valuable (esp those replies with Kudos).

Want to see all other topics I dig out? Follow me (click follow button on profile). You will receive a summary of all topics I bump in your profile area as well as via email.