Skywalker18 wrote:
AbdurRakib wrote:
Most of the country’s biggest daily newspapers had lower circulation in the six months from October 1995 through March 1996 than a similar period a year earlier.
(A) a similar period
(B) a similar period’s
(C) in a similar period
(D) that in a similar period
(E) that of a similar period
In D and E, does the pronoun "that" refers to lower circulation or circulation?
Also, in general, can a pronoun selectively refer ONLY to a noun or does it have to refer to entire noun phrase that includes adjectives?
AjiteshArun ,
GMATNinja ,
MagooshExpert ,
GMATGuruNY ,
VeritasKarishma ,
DmitryFarber ,
ChiranjeevSingh ,
RonPurewal ,
VeritasPrepBrian , other experts -please enlighten
Hi
Skywalker18We use that/those to
mimic some noun in the sentence. We use it/they to
refer back to nouns. So, when we use that/those, we mimic ONLY the noun and NOT anything that modifies this noun; HOWEVER, with it/they we DO include the modifiers of the noun while referring back.
Take a look at the following simple sentences to understand this concept a bit further:
The dress in the cupboard is prettier than that on the floor.In the above sentence, the pronoun "that" just mimics the noun (the dress). That's all. The description of the dress (in the cupboard) is not referred to as it does not make any sense. There are two separate dresses - one is in the cupboard, and the other is on the floor. Please note that in the above sentence, the description "on the floor" is important for us to fully understand the meaning of "that". In other words, when pronouns such as "that/those" are used in the above way, they must be followed by their own description.
However, if we use the pronoun "it", we have to refer back to the exact same item. This means, "it" refers back to not only the noun but also the description of the noun.
The dress gifted to me by my mother is heavier than I expected it to be.In the above sentence, the pronoun "it" refers back to the noun (the dress) AND its description/modifier (gifted to me by my mother). This makes sense because, "it" talks about the exact same item talked earlier.
You can apply the above knowledge to the following
OG (
OG VR2) question:
Lacking information about energy use, people tend to
overestimate the amount of energy used by
equipment,
such as lights, that are visible and must be turned on
and off and underestimate that used by unobtrusive
equipment, such as water heaters.
(A) equipment, such as lights, that are visible and
must be turned on and off and underestimate
that(B) equipment, such as lights, that are visible and
must be turned on and off and underestimate
it when
(C) equipment, such as lights, that is visible and must
be turned on and off and underestimate
it when
(D) visible equipment, such as lights, that must be
turned on and off and underestimate
that(E) visible equipment, such as lights, that must be
turned on and off and underestimate
it when
In choices B, C, and E above, the pronoun "it" not only refers to the noun "the amount of energy" but also to its further description/modifier "used by...". However, in choices A and D, the highlighted pronoun "that" refers only to the noun "the amount of energy" and NOT its modifier "used by...".
(The OA for the above question is
as the other remaining choice runs in to problem with SVA and parallelism. )
So, as you can see, what exactly these pronouns stand for depends on whether you use a personal pronoun (it/they etc.) or a new copy one (that/those).
Hope the above analysis helps the broader concept you wanted to know!
Cheers!
NS