Last visit was: 22 Apr 2026, 08:31 It is currently 22 Apr 2026, 08:31
Home
Messages
Tests
Schools
Events
Close
GMAT Club Daily Prep
Thank you for using the timer - this advanced tool can estimate your performance and suggest more practice questions. We have subscribed you to Daily Prep Questions via email.

Customized
for You

we will pick new questions that match your level based on your Timer History

Track
Your Progress

every week, we’ll send you an estimated GMAT score based on your performance

Practice
Pays

we will pick new questions that match your level based on your Timer History
Not interested in getting valuable practice questions and articles delivered to your email? No problem, unsubscribe here.
Go to My Error Log Learn more
Close
Request Expert Reply
Confirm Cancel
User avatar
jagveerbrar
User avatar
Joined: 25 Apr 2010
Last visit: 31 May 2012
Posts: 32
Own Kudos:
72
Given Kudos: 14
Posts: 32
Kudos: 72
Pronoun reference doubt 14 Dec 2010, 05:30
Kudos
Add Kudos
Bookmarks
Bookmark this Post
00:00
Start Timer
Pause Timer
Resume Timer
Show Answer
Hide
Show
History
N
Be sure to select an answer first to save it in the Error Log before revealing the correct answer (OA)!

Difficulty:

(N/A)

Question Stats:

0% (00:00) correct 0% (00:00) wrong based on 0 sessions

History

Date
Time
Result
Not Attempted Yet
Hi,
The following appeared in The Hindu today:
In an embarrassment to former Chief Justice of India K. G. Balakrishnan, Supreme Court Judge H. L. Gokhale on Tuesday contradicted his claim that he was not aware that it was former Union Telecom Minister A. Raja, who had tried to influence a Madras High Court judge in a criminal case.

My doubt is that in the underlined portion, whom is "he" referring to. Is suppose to Mr. K. G. Balakrishnan, but is it correctly represented here?
GMAT veterans, please help.

Jaggy



Archived Topic
Hi there,
This topic has been closed and archived due to inactivity or violation of community quality standards. No more replies are possible here.
Where to now? Join ongoing discussions on thousands of quality questions in our Sentence Correction (SC - EA only) Forum
Still interested in this question? Check out the "Best Topics" block below for a better discussion on this exact question, as well as several more related questions.
Thank you for understanding, and happy exploring!
User avatar
amit2k9
User avatar
Joined: 08 May 2009
Last visit: 18 Jun 2017
Posts: 535
Own Kudos:
646
Given Kudos: 10
Status:There is always something new !!
Affiliations: PMI,QAI Global,eXampleCG
Posts: 535
Kudos: 646
Pronoun reference doubt 14 Dec 2010, 06:44
Kudos
Add Kudos
Bookmarks
Bookmark this Post
jagveerbrar
Hi,
The following appeared in The Hindu today:
In an embarrassment to former Chief Justice of India K. G. Balakrishnan, Supreme Court Judge H. L. Gokhale on Tuesday contradicted his claim that he was not aware that it was former Union Telecom Minister A. Raja, who had tried to influence a Madras High Court judge in a criminal case.

My doubt is that in the underlined portion, whom is "he" referring to. Is suppose to Mr. K. G. Balakrishnan, but is it correctly represented here?
GMAT veterans, please help.

Jaggy
Show more

'he' in the second clause is referring to Mr Gokhale, clearly.
User avatar
daagh
User avatar
Major Poster
Joined: 19 Feb 2007
Last visit: 16 Oct 2020
Posts: 5,262
Own Kudos:
42,464
 [1]
Given Kudos: 422
Status: enjoying
Location: India
WE:Education (Education)
Expert
Expert reply
Posts: 5,262
Kudos: 42,464
 [1]
Pronoun reference doubt 14 Dec 2010, 07:41
1
Kudos
Add Kudos
Bookmarks
Bookmark this Post
A terrible muddle of ambiguity; actually the expanded séntence will read as follows.

In an embarrassment to former Chief Justice of India K. G. Balakrishnan, Supreme Court Judge H. L. Gokhale on Tuesday contradicted (his) Balakrishnan’s claim that (he)Balakrishnan was not aware that it was former Union Telecom Minister A. Raja, who had tried to influence a Madras High Court judge in a criminal case.

Plausibly who else can ' he or his’ stand for. It illogical to say that Gokhale contradicted Gokhale’s own claim that Gokhale was not aware that …………..

But the reporter has assumed that every one will understand who Balakrishnan or Gokhale are and what they have been saying in recent times.

A terrible muddle that is
User avatar
BKimball
User avatar
Manhattan Prep Instructor
Joined: 22 Sep 2010
Last visit: 16 Sep 2013
Posts: 167
Own Kudos:
870
 [1]
Given Kudos: 7
Schools:MBA, Thunderbird School of Global Management / BA, Wesleyan University
Posts: 167
Kudos: 870
 [1]
Pronoun reference doubt 14 Dec 2010, 08:08
1
Kudos
Add Kudos
Bookmarks
Bookmark this Post
Yet another example of a newspaper not following GMAT grammar rules...

It's great to keep up on world news - and this particular story is certainly news right now - and it's great to question what you are reading. That said, this is a classic example of "pronoun ambiguity." The reader can definitely infer who "he" refers to, but on the GMAT inferences must be reserved for Reading Comp. If you have to infer who a pronoun is referring to on SC, that's a wrong answer.
User avatar
jagveerbrar
User avatar
Joined: 25 Apr 2010
Last visit: 31 May 2012
Posts: 32
Own Kudos:
72
Given Kudos: 14
Posts: 32
Kudos: 72
Pronoun reference doubt 14 Dec 2010, 10:26
Kudos
Add Kudos
Bookmarks
Bookmark this Post
daagh
A terrible muddle of ambiguity; actually the expanded séntence will read as follows.

In an embarrassment to former Chief Justice of India K. G. Balakrishnan, Supreme Court Judge H. L. Gokhale on Tuesday contradicted (his) Balakrishnan’s claim that (he)Balakrishnan was not aware that it was former Union Telecom Minister A. Raja, who had tried to influence a Madras High Court judge in a criminal case.

Plausibly who else can ' he or his’ stand for. It illogical to say that Gokhale contradicted Gokhale’s own claim that Gokhale was not aware that …………..

But the reporter has assumed that every one will understand who Balakrishnan or Gokhale are and what they have been saying in recent times.

A terrible muddle that is
Show more

Thank you all for your responses :-)

I am still left with a little doubt. Is the following sentence correct now? Precisely, can we use 'he' instead of the third occurrence of 'Balakrishnan' or will it create ambiguity?
In an embarrassment to former Chief Justice of India K. G. Balakrishnan, Supreme Court Judge H. L. Gokhale on Tuesday contradicted Balakrishnan’s claim that he was not aware that it was former Union Telecom Minister A. Raja, who had tried to influence a Madras High Court judge in a criminal case.


TIA
Jaggy
User avatar
BKimball
User avatar
Manhattan Prep Instructor
Joined: 22 Sep 2010
Last visit: 16 Sep 2013
Posts: 167
Own Kudos:
870
Given Kudos: 7
Schools:MBA, Thunderbird School of Global Management / BA, Wesleyan University
Posts: 167
Kudos: 870
Pronoun reference doubt 14 Dec 2010, 18:14
Kudos
Add Kudos
Bookmarks
Bookmark this Post
Jaggy,

I think that the use of "he" here...

Quote:
In an embarrassment to former Chief Justice of India K. G. Balakrishnan, Supreme Court Judge H. L. Gokhale on Tuesday contradicted Balakrishnan’s claim that he was not aware that it was former Union Telecom Minister A. Raja, who had tried to influence a Madras High Court judge in a criminal case.
Show more

could still be considered ambiguous. No worries though; I highly doubt you'd be faced with this type of problem on the GMAT.

Think of a simpler example:

"H.L. contradicted K.G.'s claim that he was not aware of the game."

I wrote this sentence, and I'm still confused about who "he" refers to! :-)

Brett



Archived Topic
Hi there,
This topic has been closed and archived due to inactivity or violation of community quality standards. No more replies are possible here.
Where to now? Join ongoing discussions on thousands of quality questions in our Sentence Correction (SC - EA only) Forum
Still interested in this question? Check out the "Best Topics" block above for a better discussion on this exact question, as well as several more related questions.
Thank you for understanding, and happy exploring!
Moderators:
GMATNinja
GMAT Club Verbal Expert
7391 posts
AbhishekP220108
499 posts
bhanu29
358 posts