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29 Sep 2022, 10:36
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ExpertsGlobal5
ExpertsGlobal5
Thank you for your response
Could you pls explain more about...
1) What does the role of this here? What does "this" refer to?
2) What is the correct usage of "this" in GMAT?
29 Sep 2022, 13:07
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Tanchat
Hi Tanchat,
Here are my thoughts on this (original post here):
Generally, in English
The usage of this to refer to some person, event, or thing mentioned in the sentence (or even outside the sentence: Don't do this) is acceptable. Here are a few examples:
1. He studied at Stanford, and this allowed him to develop the network that he needed.
2. Companies in the area want MBAs; we know this because we've spoken with them.
3. Electric cars are generally quite expensive, but this is not.
4. You should take accounting and marketing as these are the most important for you. (these is the plural form)
Such usage is allowed in English, but may not be very precise. For example, in (3), the one after this is understood:
3a. Electric cars are generally quite expensive, but this one is not.
or
3b. Electric cars are generally quite expensive, but this electric car is not.
Similarly, in (4), the sentence assumes a word like subjects:
4a. You should take accounting and marketing as these subjects are the most important for you.
An interesting point here is that that and those are much more common than this and these in such constructions (something like 10:1 if I remember correctly). For example, we can generally expect people to prefer
1a. He studied at Stanford, and that allowed him to develop the network that he needed.
to
1b. He studied at Stanford, and this allowed him to develop the network that he needed.
and
4b. You should take accounting and marketing as those are the most important for you.
to
4c. You should take accounting and marketing as these are the most important for you.
Quote:
Perhaps the sentence is assuming a word like discovery here:
DNA evidence was recovered by scientists, who were able to deduce from this discovery that an epidemic of malaria struck in the empire’s waning days.
On the GMAT
Such usage is vague, but I would not go so far as to say that it is "unacceptably vague". It is, however, a very good sign that the option we're considering is incorrect. All in all, I'd advise you to use it as just that: a sign. Be aware of this concept, use it, but don't put it all the way up there with something like SVA.
29 Sep 2022, 23:23
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Tanchat
There are some other official problems in which standalone "this"/"that" refers to a whole phrase or clause from earlier in the sentence. Here's another one, for instance.
In this problem, there's a much more fundamental issue, a misattributed initial modifier, that's common to all four of the wrong answer choices. (Every choice begins with an initial description that quite clearly needs to describe "the AQ division" itself, but only in choice C does it actually modify that noun.)
You can take a lesson about priorities from this: Be sure to look for major, fundamental problems in the choices first before using rules of thumb.
