lakshya14 wrote:
There are 2 pronouns in (B) which change the subjects which is totally wrong on GMAT.
aygulismayilova wrote:
Hi,
I got confused, please clarify me if possible.
In the correct answer choice they refer back to entrepreneurs, while their refer back to companies. As far as I know, this kind of answers are wrong on GMAT, because personal pronouns and possessive case should refer back to same noun.
Thanks in advance
There are very few "rules" to GMAT SC that apply to every single question without fail -- after all, it is mostly a reasoning test, not a do-you-know-the-rules test.
In this question, we have four answer choices in which "their" refers to
the entrepreneurs, while "they" refers to
companies. So, we need to determine two things:
1) Does this issue make the sentence so illogical or confusing that we can eliminate these four answer choices based on the pronouns? If so, then our job is done, and the remaining answer choice must be correct.
2) But wait... are there other issues with the remaining answer choice? If so, these other issues may be WORSE than a bit of confusion in the pronouns.
Let's investigate 1) first: is it really so egregious to have "their" refer to
the entrepreneurs and "they" refer to
companies?
Here's the first pronoun in a stripped down version of (B):
Quote:
"[...] new entrepreneurs may need to find resourceful ways [...] to make their companies seem larger..."
This first pronoun clearly refers back to "entrepreneurs," no issues there.
And here's the second pronoun:
Quote:
"[...] to make their companies seem larger and more firmly established than they may actually be."
Again, we're looking for a referent for "they," and "companies" makes perfect sense. It is also the closest plural noun to the pronoun, so the reader doesn't have to work too hard to conclude that "they" refers to companies.
Is it
awesome that the two pronouns refer back to different nouns? Maybe not. But it's also not the worst thing in the world -- the sentence makes sense, and the reader doesn't need to reach too far to comprehend the author's intended meaning.
So, let's move onto question 2) : are there other issues with the remaining answer choice?
(D) is the only option that does not have the pronoun issue:
Quote:
(D) Especially in the early years, new entrepreneurs may need to find resourceful ways, like renting temporary office space or using answering services, so that the companies seem larger and more firmly established than they may actually be.
I'll steal from our previous explanation of (D) to explore the issues here:
If we read the sentence without the modifiers, it becomes "New entrepreneurs may need to find resourceful ways, so that the companies seem larger and more firmly established than they may actually be." Huh? "So that" implies a reason for having performed an action. So the sentence seems to explain a reason for the entrepreneurs "to find new ways." What on earth does that mean? Find new ways to do what? This is why we can eliminate (D) -- it doesn't make any sense.
(B) on the other hand, conveys what the entrepreneurs are finding new ways to do. They're finding new ways "to make their companies seem larger."
The meaning issue on (D) is worse than the mild confusion caused by the pronouns in the rest of the options. Eliminate (D).
I hope that helps!
_________________
GMAT/GRE/EA tutors @
www.gmatninja.com (
hiring!) |
YouTube |
Articles |
IG Beginners' Guides:
RC |
CR |
SC |
Complete Resource Compilations:
RC |
CR |
SC YouTube LIVE webinars:
all videos by topic +
24-hour marathon for UkraineQuestion Explanation Collections:
RC |
CR |
SC