The Department of Agriculture slowly succeeded in convincing

Question

The Department of Agriculture slowly succeeded in  convincing farmers to try approaches other than the single-crop farming that they had used  for many years.

(A) convincing farmers to try approaches other than the single-crop farming that they had used
 (B) convincing farmers to try approaches other than the single-crop farming that they used
 (C) their attempt to convince farmers to try approaches other than the single-crop farming that they had used
 (D) their attempt to convince farmers to try approaches other than the single-crop farming that they used
 (E) convincing farmers to try approaches other than the single-crop farming that has been in use for many years

Source:Veritas Prep Quiz

Why not A ,how A symbolizes an ambiguous pronoun they,it logically refers back to farmers .
The explanation states that "they" in A is ambiguous.How in this world this is ambiguous.

dentobizz · Answer

Well, I did not not choose A because of tense error  they had used  past perfect tense is not required to indicate a event that started in the past and probably continues in the present ie single crop farming

TGC · Answer

The Department of Agriculture slowly  succeeded  in convincing farmers to try approaches other than the single-crop farming that they had used for many years.

When DOA already succeeded in convincing to try other approaches than how "single crop farming" should take has been?????

Rgds,
Saurabh

ConnectTheDots · Answer

When DOA was attempting to convince the farmers, the farmers were still using the conventional approach of farming. This conventional approach had started in the past and continued till the DOA succeeded in convincing the farmers, so the continuous forms must be used. But I think it should be "had been" instead of "has been".

TGC · Answer

When DOA was attempting to convince the farmers, the farmers were still using the conventional approach of farming. This conventional approach had started in the past and continued till the DOA succeeded in convincing the farmers, so the continuous forms must be used. But I think it should be "had been" instead of "has been".

The what is the issue with this one 
The Department of Agriculture slowly  succeeded  in convincing farmers to try approaches other than the single-crop farming that they  had used  for many years.

succeeded = Past tense
had used = Past Perfect

Plz correct me if I am wrong !!!!!

GGMU · Answer

The Department of Agriculture slowly succeeded in convincing farmers to try approaches other than the single-crop farming that they had used for many years.

convincing farmers to try approaches other than the single-crop farming that they had used wrong usage of  wrong usage of had 
convincing farmers to try approaches other than the single-crop farming that they used  wrong usage of simple past as the activity is still running in the present 
their attempt to convince farmers to try approaches other than the single-crop farming that they had used  wrong usage of had 
their attempt to convince farmers to try approaches other than the single-crop farming that they used wrong usage of simple past as the activity is still running in the present 
convincing farmers to try approaches other than the single-crop farming that has been in use for many years  Correct

anu8787 · Answer

I would go with E since A and B are using they which is ambiguous and C and D are nowhere in consideration. But, I would like to raise some concerns here.
1. The question stem does not has the error part underlined.
2. If we try to determine what the underlined part could be, from options A,B,C and D, then E has the error of repeating some part of the non underlined part.

Tsukishima1990 · Answer

Well, in my opinion, the answer A has a problem with pronoun.

“They” in the last part of the sentence has an ambiguity that could potentially refer to “the government” or “the farmers”, hence lacking clarity compared to the answer E

Posted from my mobile device

EducationAisle · Answer

they  can only refer to  plural  antecedents and hence,  cannot  refer to  the government/department .

Vivekksuri · Answer

I had eliminated all options that use ‘they’ as What ‘they’ is referring to remains ambiguous.. Is it the wrong approach?

Posted from my mobile device

EducationAisle · Answer

Hi Vivek, pronoun  ambiguity  should generally  never  be the  first  reason to eliminate any option.

p.s. Our book    EducationAisle Sentence Correction Nirvana    discusses  Past pronoun ambiguity , its application and examples in significant detail. If you or someone is interested, PM me your email-id; I can mail the corresponding section.

Akshi123 · Answer

All the options except E , have the wrong tense .

VerbalBot · Answer

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The Department of Agriculture slowly succeeded in convincing

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The Department of Agriculture slowly succeeded in convincing

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