The Directors met with the entire accounting department but were not a

Question

Hi All !

Sharing some SCs from a recent mock test (thought that u may or may not get the same q when you take the same mock and that it'd be a good practice for all... ). Please post some explanation with the answers.

RaviChandra · Answer

The Directors met with the entire accounting department but were not able to resolve many of the issues presented; clearly, they needed to be reorganized

A.The Directors met with the entire accounting department but were not able to resolve many of the issues presented; clearly, they needed to be reorganized

B.The Directors met with the entire accounting department but were not able to resolve their many issues; clearly,they needed to be reorganized

C.The entire accounting department met with the Directors but were not able to resolve many of the issues presented; clearly,they needed to be reorganized

D.The entire accounting department met with the Directors but was not able to resolve many of the issues presented; clearly,they needed to be reorganized

E.The Directors met with the entire accounting department but were not able to resolve many of the issues presented;clearly,the department needed to be reorganized

RaviChandra · Answer

A&E are clear but i think

in option A
The Directors met with the entire accounting department but were not able to resolve many of the issues presented; clearly,  they  needed to be reorganized

they refers to Directors but not Accounting Department. Accounting Department is singular so i don`t think there will be a prob please correct me if wrong.

ill choose A

sriharimurthy · Answer

I would probably go with E. the problem i had with A is that 'they' could refer to issues as well.. Its not very clear. E seems to be the most clear option in my opinion.

Hunt · Answer

IMO E, pronoun they is ambiguous....

gmattokyo · Answer

OA:  E

Original, not clear who or what is to be organized.
As many pointed out, pronoun "they" could refer to either the directors or the accounting department.
C incorrectly uses "were". "was" would have been proper here.

Ibnbatuta · Answer

Tell me the answer to this question ??

Q. Regina returned the dress to the store,  which was torn at the seams  ??

According to me which was torn at the seams is a essential modifier as it is identifying the dress ,so the answer should be

Regina returned the dress that was torn at one of the seams to the store.

sridhar · Answer

Hi All.
I have a doubt on this. IMO its A.

The phrase "clearly they needed to be reorganized" modifies department or the Directors? I feel this phrase modifies the directors because it is the directors who are unable to resolve the issue and they need to be reorganized .. 
But in E, it mentions the department needed to be reorganized which IMO is wrong..

What do you guys think ?

psychomath · Answer

@ Sridhar - The department is reorganized and not the directors and moreover when u use 'they' the pronoun in ambiguous - u aren't sure abt the reference it makes!!
Hope its clear!

aim730 · Answer

E for me as well....
C and D wrong it seems that whole account department went to meet the directors and account department was not able to solve the problem
B and A they appears to be ambiguous.

Entire Accounting Department is a group so it can for that we can use a singular so 'they' can refer only to Directors....!!!!

sikalvag · Answer

in 'A' "they" can also refer to issues, so chose 'E'.
Correct me if i am wrong.

tingle15 · Answer

The reason is absolutely right. The correct answer is E

samsmalldog · Answer

Interesting question.

The Directors met with the entire accounting department but were not able to resolve many of the issues presented; clearly, they needed to be reorganized

A.The Directors met with the entire accounting department but were not able to resolve many of the issues presented; clearly,  they  needed to be reorganized

"they" makes "the Directors" reorganized, changes the meaning of the sentence and makes it illogical.

B.The Directors met with the entire accounting department but were not able to resolve  their many issues ; clearly, they  needed to be reorganized

Awkward & the problem of "they" same as A

C.The entire accounting department met with the Directors but  were  not able to resolve many of the issues presented; clearly, they  needed to be reorganized

Well, "were" here is wrong, should be used singular first. The second problem is that "they" here should be singular too.

D.The entire accounting department met with the Directors but was not able to resolve many of the issues presented; clearly, they  needed to be reorganized

Again,"they" here is wrong.

E.The Directors met with the entire accounting department but were not able to resolve many of the issues presented;clearly,the department needed to be reorganized

Correct.

BTW, I'm not sure whether if changes the word in C & D by singular, the option would be correct. Still needs discussion.

ARS1988 · Answer

I also go for E.Pronoun ambiguity is cleared.

The Directors met with the entire accounting department but were not a

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