Since 1992, in an attempt to build up the Atlantic salmon population

Since 1992, in an attempt to build up the Atlantic salmon population in each of the seven rivers in which salmon still spawn, state officials in Maine have stocked them with fry raised in hatcheries from eggs produced by wild fish found in that particular river.
(A) them (B) the river (C) the rivers (D) each river (E) that river


As a solver when one observes the underlined part and the options one should realize that this question is to check one’s ability to choose a Singular Noun or Plural Noun and use of correct referral for the underlined part.

SO Let’s break the sentence in parts: Observe contextually what message it wants to covey as well as observe the parallel construction of the two parts.

Sentence PART 1: Since 1992, in an attempt to build up the Atlantic salmon population in each of the seven rivers in which salmon still spawn
Sentence PART 2: state officials in Maine have stocked them with fry raised in hatcheries from eggs produced by wild fish found in that particular river.

PART 1 message is about – attempt to build ……. salmon population ………in each of seven rivers
PART 2 message is about – officials have stocked ………... (what ??) …with fry …produced by …fish found in that particular river.

1) The phrase that particular river in PART 2 gives us an observational clue that we are speaking about a singular RIVER hence options A and C have to be immediately removed. ( THAT particular river needs a singular ANTECEDENT )
2) For students whose Grammar rules are in place would remove options A & C by observing the singular phrase in each of seven rivers in sentence PART 1, thus PART 2 would need a singular noun.

Now let us see option B, D and E

1) By using logic we can contextually understand the message the writer wants to convey is not specific to one particular river but for all the 7 RIVERS mentioned (each of the seven rivers), thus using this logic we can remove options B (the river - specific article THE ) and E(that river - no prior reference for THAT can be seen)

2) By using grammar rules of PARALLELISM or PARALLEL CONSTRUCTION we can easily select option D because our sentence PART 1 is about the attempt for EACH of the 7 rivers SO the officials have to stock EACH of THEM or EACH RIVER.

HENCE CORRECT ANSWER IS - OPTION D

A easy question where we could see how 'logic and grammar rules combined' can be used to select a correct response.

Hey there
Let me try and help you

If you understand this question from the meaning standpoint, it will become very clear.

Since 1992, in an attempt to build up the Atlantic salmon population in each of the seven rivers in which salmon still spawn, state officials in Maine have stocked them with fry raised in hatcheries from eggs produced by wild fish found in that particular river

In order to increase the Atlantic salmon population in all the seven rivers where salmon still exists, the state officials acted in a certain way. What did they do. They stocked fry in all the rivers.
Notice the phrase in red here. The officials stocked each of the seven rivers with fry which was raised in hateries from the eggs that were given by fishes present in each of the seven rivers.
Hence each river will have a different type of fry depending upon the fish in that particular river. Choice D is correct.
The use of 'the rivers' in place of them will be incorrect because of the red highlighted part in the given sentence.

Yes, this is the same that I observed each to each.
Kudos to you!!

Posted from my mobile device

Since 1992, in an attempt to build up the Atlantic salmon population in each of the seven rivers in which salmon still spawn, state officials in Maine have stocked them with fry raised in hatcheries from eggs produced by wild fish found in that particular river.

In the non-underlined portion of the sentence, we have 'each of the seven rivers' and 'that particular river'. The only answer that would logically make sense is if we are specifying each river.

(A) them
(B) the river
(C) the rivers
(D) each river
(E) that river

The non-underlined portion of the sentence said singular particular river. So, the answer must be singular "each river"

A. "Them" is ambiguous whether it's referring to officials.
B. "The river" indicates a particular river. But the sentence is about several rivers.
C. "The rivers'' is not parallel with each river.
D. THIS IS THE CORRECT ANSWER.
E. "That river'' indicating a particular river.

The answer is D.

wouldn't 'each river' mean all the rivers?

Posted from my mobile device

A) The earlier part of the sentence uses the
phrase each of the seven rivers, so the
plural them is inappropriate.
B)The phrase the river is singular but can refer
only to a particular river, whereas each refers
to the individual rivers in the group of
seven.
C)The plural the rivers does not match
the singular each in the earlier part of
the sentence.
D) Correct. The phrase each river is consistent
with the earlier reference to "each of the . ))
seven rivers.
E) Although that river is singular, it can only
refer to a particular river, but no particular
river is referred to in the earlier part of the
sentence.

Hi anurag2018,

This is a very late reply, but in case it helps: Each river does refer to all seven rivers, but it identifies them separately. In other words, we're left with a singular noun.

Here's a different take on this, just in case someone is planning to make this part of their approach:

1. Pronoun ambiguity is not an absolute error...

2. But the GMAT can and does test pronoun ambiguity. We can't always use common sense to say that a pronoun is not ambiguous.

For C, the use of "the" makes it clear that we are talking about the same rivers which were mentioned before. I guess between C & D, D preferred option as it is more elaborative in nature as it identifies each river separately. This becomes important as the sentence ends with "in that particular river."

Correct Option D

Since 1992,
in an attempt to build up the Atlantic salmon population in
- each of the seven rivers in which salmon still spawn,
state officials in Maine have stocked
- each river with fry raised in hatcheries from eggs produced by wild fish found in that particular river

Option A: Them - Wrong
Pronoun Them is ambiguous, to what it is refer to, either it is the State officials who has stocked, or salmon which is stocked or the eggs of wild fish.

Option B: the river - Wrong
Sentence demands singular Subject "river" but the intended meaning of sentence is to each of seven rivers where salmon still spawn, the official have taken stock at each seven rivers, not only just the one river.

Option C : the rivers - Wrong
rivers is plural, which logically refer to group of 7 river mentioned, but again the meaning error occurs, which logically need to correct by placing singular river, as the official have stocked at each individual river, not the rivers

Option D: each river - Correct
Clear information, parallelism with each of the rivers, describes as singular, and makes intended meaning clear.

Option E: that river - Wrong
Utilisation of that to introduce river can be avoided, as that is used to provide essential information of the sentence.

hello experts, AjiteshArun AndrewN MartyTargetTestPrep
when I read it for the first time, I thought "them" is referring to selmon, which is same for singular or plural. I though logically them can stand for salmon.
I think "them" is ok. its the meaning which becomes senseless.

another thing, stock
when we say officials stocked each rivers,
does it mean an increase in the numbers of rivers (obviously not in this one) or something in the rivers.
I do get the context but am not clear.

Can you please help me to understand the meaning of stocked with few examples?
It could be a silly doubt but Its a non native issue and google wasn't supportive

"Stocked" means "filled a place with things intended for future use" or "stored things."

In the context of fish and bodies of water, "stocked" means "filled the water with fish."

So, "them" in the (A) version cannot refer to "salmon," since state officials would not have stocked salmon with salmon.

but, aren't they "fry", which are from wild fish. officials have stocked salmon with fry. makes sense.
sorry I don't know much about fish. I'm vegetarian.

Hello, dcoolguy. I am a little late to answering your initial query, but as for this one, fry are young fish, so it would not make sense to say that salmon were stocked (or, more appropriately, stuffed) with fry. That would be kind of morbid, not to mention cruel. Regarding being a vegetarian, I doubt most meat eaters or even pescatarians would know the word fry as anything but a French fry or a verb. It is not a common word. While I am on the subject of uncommon words, the verb to stock has a limited use in everyday English. You hear it in phrases such as stock the shelves (at a store of some sort), stock the toilet paper, or to restock something (if that item was sold out). However, on the whole, the sentence is not what I would call a hot conversational topic, even if I did read an article recently about how Maine is the last US state on the east coast in which wild Atlantic salmon still spawn year after year.

- Andrew

Hi dcoolguy,

To add to the responses you've already received, we should also keep what the nonunderlined portion says in mind.

They're trying to increase the salmon population in "each of the seven rivers", so it makes sense to say that they've stocked each river with {fish}.

"Each of the rivers..."

"Each river"

Am I the only one that thinks answer choice D is blatantly redundant?

Hello AIS562,

We hope this finds you well.

To answer your query, Option D is not redundant, as both phrases play a distinct role in the sentence; the phrase "each of the seven rivers" conveys that the attempt to build up the Atlantic salmon population applied to each of the seven rivers in which salmon still spawn, and the phrase "each river" conveys that the state officials stocked each of these rivers with the fry.

We hope this helps.
All the best!
Experts' Global Team