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18 Jun 2015, 09:39
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States protect retirement benefits for existing workers so they will pay them for past promises for years to come.
I know ' they will pay them' is not clear when I read it.
but when I analyse the sentnece, it seems like only states can pay workers as it doesn't make sense if worker pay workers or states pay states.
so in a way, there is no ambiguity. can someone kindly help?
I know ' they will pay them' is not clear when I read it.
but when I analyse the sentnece, it seems like only states can pay workers as it doesn't make sense if worker pay workers or states pay states.
so in a way, there is no ambiguity. can someone kindly help?
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18 Jun 2015, 15:56
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When it comes to pronouns really if there is any ambiguity as to what the pronoun refers to and if another answer choice removes that ambiguity, the option that removes the ambiguity will always be preferable on the GMAT. So the way the above sentence reads is just ambiguous and would definitely be incorrect as written on the GMAT - you don't really need to go deeper than that. But if you wanted a more specific reason, I suppose it could be the workers who are paying the states instead of the states that are paying the workers!
19 Jun 2015, 01:10
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It could also be the state that is paying the retirement benefits, so the sentence is very ambiguous. When we use a noun after "pay", we can be describing whom we pay:
I pay the government
or what we pay:
I pay taxes
The correct answers to GMAT SC questions are always perfectly precise. If a word like "them" might refer to two different (plural) things in the sentence, then you need to find an answer choice that removes that ambiguity, even if only one interpretation seems logical to you. It's only when no answer choice resolves the ambiguity that you should leave the 'them' as is (that only rarely happens though).
I pay the government
or what we pay:
I pay taxes
The correct answers to GMAT SC questions are always perfectly precise. If a word like "them" might refer to two different (plural) things in the sentence, then you need to find an answer choice that removes that ambiguity, even if only one interpretation seems logical to you. It's only when no answer choice resolves the ambiguity that you should leave the 'them' as is (that only rarely happens though).
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 Verbal Questions 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!
