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Hi GMATNinja,
is option D wrong because it uses specially instead of especially?
i don't think Capability of the respiratory system is making this option incorrect. am i right?

Regards,
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Question: Sulfur dioxide, a major contributor to acid rain, is an especially serious pollutant because it diminishes the respiratory system's ability to deal with all other pollutants.
A. an especially serious pollutant because it diminishes the respiratory system’s ability to deal
B. an especially serious pollutant because of diminishing the respiratory system’s capability of dealing
C. an especially serious pollutant because it diminishes the capability of the respiratory system in dealing
D. a specially serious pollutant because it diminishes the capability of the respiratory system to deal
E. a specially serious pollutant because of diminishing the respiratory system’s ability to deal


Determine whether a PRONOUN is ambiguous or not? (by the 'Ron Purewal')


Note: The content/knowledge was not produced by me; it was merely assimilated from Ron's sessions. ( Please visit https://www.manhattangmat.com/thursdays-with-ron.cfm for more such lessons). I have just compiled various notes , for my convenience,from his videos. (I am just playing a plagiarist).

Ambiguous Pronoun :

(As explained by Aristotle SC grail) Sometimes, a sentence is structured in a way that a pronoun can refer to more than one noun, and as a result the reader is confused about the author‘s intentions - what the pronoun is referring to.

John encouraged Jerry to start a pest control business
because he felt that the residents of the city would be
willing to pay for the same.

Who does 'he‘ refer to, John or Jerry?

John encouraged Jerry to start a pest control business
because John felt that the residents of the city would be
willing to pay for the same.


In this session(please see the attachment), Ron stated that Pronoun ambiguity is NOT an "absolute" rule. He further explained how to determine whether a pronoun is ambiguous or not.

I didn't understand Ron's point #2 & #3, that are,

GMAT will tolerate pronoun ambiguity if
2. the PRONOUN is PARALLEL to the INTENDED NOUN
3. the PRONOUN is NOT PARALLEL to the other NOUNS (s)

He said: in the first clause:
Sulphur Dioxide is the subject ; acid rain is the object of preposition
In the second clause: ’it’ is the subject; 'diminishes' is the verb;
Hence satisfies #2 condition - CAN ANYONE EXPLAIN HOW?
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goutamread
Question: Sulfur dioxide, a major contributor to acid rain, is an especially serious pollutant because it diminishes the respiratory system's ability to deal with all other pollutants.
A. an especially serious pollutant because it diminishes the respiratory system’s ability to deal
B. an especially serious pollutant because of diminishing the respiratory system’s capability of dealing
C. an especially serious pollutant because it diminishes the capability of the respiratory system in dealing
D. a specially serious pollutant because it diminishes the capability of the respiratory system to deal
E. a specially serious pollutant because of diminishing the respiratory system’s ability to deal


Determine whether a PRONOUN is ambiguous or not? (by the 'Ron Purewal')


Note: The content/knowledge was not produced by me; it was merely assimilated from Ron's sessions. ( Please visit https://www.manhattangmat.com/thursdays-with-ron.cfm for more such lessons). I have just compiled various notes , for my convenience,from his videos. (I am just playing a plagiarist).

Ambiguous Pronoun :

(As explained by Aristotle SC grail) Sometimes, a sentence is structured in a way that a pronoun can refer to more than one noun, and as a result the reader is confused about the author‘s intentions - what the pronoun is referring to.

John encouraged Jerry to start a pest control business
because he felt that the residents of the city would be
willing to pay for the same.

Who does 'he‘ refer to, John or Jerry?

John encouraged Jerry to start a pest control business
because John felt that the residents of the city would be
willing to pay for the same.


In this session(please see the attachment), Ron stated that Pronoun ambiguity is NOT an "absolute" rule. He further explained how to determine whether a pronoun is ambiguous or not.

I didn't understand Ron's point #2 & #3, that are,

GMAT will tolerate pronoun ambiguity if
2. the PRONOUN is PARALLEL to the INTENDED NOUN
3. the PRONOUN is NOT PARALLEL to the other NOUNS (s)

He said: in the first clause:
Sulphur Dioxide is the subject ; acid rain is the object of preposition
In the second clause: ’it’ is the subject; 'diminishes' is the verb;
Hence satisfies #2 condition - CAN ANYONE EXPLAIN HOW?
Unfortunately there are no black and white rules governing pronoun ambiguity. All we know for sure is that pronoun ambiguity is sometimes okay, so you always want to look for other decision points and see if the meaning is clearer in some answer choices than others.

That said, I think you might be referring to the following scenario: if the subject of the second clause is a pronoun, it CAN refer back to the subject of the first clause -- even if there are a ton of other potential referents in the sentence. For more on that, check out this post (and the video referenced in that post).

I hope that helps a bit!
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[quote="saurya_s"]Sulfur dioxide, a major contributor to acid rain, is an especially serious pollutant because it diminishes the respiratory system's ability to deal with all other pollutants.

(A) an especially serious pollutant because it diminishes the respiratory system's ability to deal

(B) an especially serious pollutant because of diminishing the respiratory system's capability of dealing

(C) an especially serious pollutant because it diminishes the capability of the respiratory system in dealing

(D) a specially serious pollutant because it diminishes the capability of the respiratory system to deal

(E) a specially serious pollutant because of diminishing the respiratory system's ability to deal

This question is based on Diction and Idiomatic Usage.

A vertical scan of the first word of every option shows us that Options A, B, and C start with ‘especially’ and Options D and E start with ‘specially’. These words are used interchangeably in some contexts and are very close in meaning.
E.g.: During this pandemic, people with diabetes and a heart condition have been told to stay away from crowded places, especially/specially movie theatres and malls.

However, there is a difference in meaning between the two words and they are used differently in most contexts. ‘Especially’ means particularly or markedly. ‘Specially’ means having a specific purpose.

In this sentence, we need the meaning of particularly or markedly because it describes how serious a pollutant sulfur dioxide is. On this basis, we can rule out Options D and E.

Option B is not very clear because of the participle phrase in the middle – diminishing the respiratory system’s capability of dealing.
The phrase ‘capability of dealing with’ is not as graceful as the phrase ‘capability to deal with’.
On the basis of these two errors, we can rule out Option B.

There are inappropriate word and idiomatic usages in Option C. The phrase ‘capability to deal with’ is more appropriate than ‘capability of the respiratory system in dealing with’.
The options also give us a choice between the words ‘ability’ and ‘capability’.
The dictionary defines ‘ability’ as the power to do or act physically, mentally, legally etc.
The word ‘capability’, on the other hand, is used to convey the meaning of potential or qualities that can be used or developed.
In this sentence, the word ‘ability’ is more appropriate.

Therefore, Option C, which contains the word 'capability' can be ruled out.

A is the most appropriate option.

Jayanthi Kumar.
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Hi experts,

I can't seem to definitively rule out C. On test day, I would more than likely choose A since it's more direct. But how would you confidently rule out C?

In the below, there seems to be some discussion around the difference between "capability" and "ability." But is there something more definitive?
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samgyupsal
Hi experts,

I can't seem to definitively rule out C. On test day, I would more than likely choose A since it's more direct. But how would you confidently rule out C?

In the below, there seems to be some discussion around the difference between "capability" and "ability." But is there something more definitive?
(C) an especially serious pollutant because it diminishes the capability of the respiratory system in dealing with all other pollutants.

While "capability" is the wrong word to use in this context, there is another issue.

Notice that the (C) version says, "it diminishes the capability of the respiratory system in dealing with all other pollutants.

"capability in dealing with" does not make sense.

What does that mean exactly? How is the capability "in" dealing with pollutants? It wouldn't be.

So, there is a clear meaning issue in this version.
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Can somebody please explain why capability of the respiratory system is wrong?

(PS it came down to A and C and i just sort of chose A. No reason since I was confused between the two)

Need a line of reasoning.

Thanks in advance
Nik
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saurya_s
Sulfur dioxide, a major contributor to acid rain, is an especially serious pollutant because it diminishes the respiratory system's ability to deal with all other pollutants.

(A) an especially serious pollutant because it diminishes the respiratory system's ability to deal

(B) an especially serious pollutant because of diminishing the respiratory system's capability of dealing

(C) an especially serious pollutant because it diminishes the capability of the respiratory system in dealing

(D) a specially serious pollutant because it diminishes the capability of the respiratory system to deal

(E) a specially serious pollutant because of diminishing the respiratory system's ability to deal


I was between choice A and D. At the end I chose D based based on the grammatical rule that says that you can't use a possessive with inanimate objects. Bad idea and apparently there is no such rule, so lesson learned.
Also, specially means "for a special purpose" (e.g. I organized a party specially for her birthday), and especially means "to an increased degree" (e.g. Especially toxic pollutants)
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saurya_s
Sulfur dioxide, a major contributor to acid rain, is an especially serious pollutant because it diminishes the respiratory system's ability to deal with all other pollutants.

(A) an especially serious pollutant because it diminishes the respiratory system's ability to deal

(B) an especially serious pollutant because of diminishing the respiratory system's capability of dealing

(C) an especially serious pollutant because it diminishes the capability of the respiratory system in dealing

(D) a specially serious pollutant because it diminishes the capability of the respiratory system to deal

(E) a specially serious pollutant because of diminishing the respiratory system's ability to deal


Between "because it diminishes" and "because of diminishing", go for the finite form (because it diminishes), not for the nonfinite one (because of diminishing)

Between C and A, go for the simpler form (the respiratory system's ability to deal).
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