GittinGud
Doesn't "Although they were sold over the counter at the turn of the century" modify "the government" in option E? Experts please help. Thanks!
That's something that we have to be careful about when we don't have a subject in the dependent clause after the
although (the subject is not explicitly included).
Although sold..., the government... ← This is incorrect, as it implies that the
government is
sold.
When we do include a subject, then the earlier advice doesn't apply.
Although it was not the most important thing in his life, the test taker nevertheless studied hard for the GMAT. ← This one is fine. The
it refers to
the GMAT.
If we use a pronoun that makes sense with the subject of the independent clause then we have a major problem.
Although they are not very accurate, applicants nevertheless must take standardized tests. ← We would really not want to mark this option, as it seems to be telling us that test takers are not very accurate. That's not the intended meaning.
In option E, we know
the government is singular (
prohibits), so the
they at the beginning of the sentence is not a major problem.