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The eyes of the elephant seal adapt to darkness more quickly than any
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15 Jun 2016, 11:55
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Question Stats:
76% (01:23) correct 24% (01:32) wrong based on 3690 sessions
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The eyes of the elephant seal adapt to darkness more quickly than any other animal yet tested, thus allowing it to hunt efficiently under the gloomy conditions at its feeding depths of between 300 and 700 meters.
(A) The eyes of the elephant seal adapt to darkness more quickly than any other animal yet tested, thus allowing it
(B) The eyes of the elephant seal adapt to darkness more quickly than any other animal yet tested, allowing them
(C) The eyes of the elephant seal adapt to darkness more quickly than do those of any other animal yet tested, allowing it
(D) Because they adapt to darkness more quickly than any other animal yet tested, the eyes of the elephant seal allow it
(E) Because the eyes of the elephant seal adapt to darkness more quickly than do those of any other animal yet tested, it allows them
IN BRIEF 31 July 1999 Deep-diving seals are quick-change champions
THE eyes of elephant seals adapt to darkness more quickly than those of any other animal tested, allowing them to hunt in the gloomy depths.
David Levenson and Ronald Schusterman of the University of California at Santa Cruz put a trained elephant seal into a light-proof box. By touching a ball to receive a fish reward, their subject could indicate whether it could see a series of dim flashes of light. The animal’s eyes reached maximum sensitivity within 6 minutes—the same time it takes the seals to reach their feeding depth of between 300 and 700 metres.
As the researchers will report in a forthcoming issue of Marine Mammal Science, the eyes of a shallow-diving harbour seal or a human took roughly 20 minutes to adjust to the darkness.
Elephant Seal
(A) Comparison (X more than Y);
(B) Comparison (X more than Y); Pronoun (them)
(C) CORRECT
(D) Comparison (X more than Y);
(E) Pronoun (it; them)
First glance
The opening split is between “The eyes” and “Because.” There isn’t a great clue here, though because does indicate some kind of cause-effect relationship, so check whether this meaning is appropriate for the sentence.
Issues
(1) Comparison: X more than Y
The words more than are a comparison marker; check the X and Y elements to ensure that they follow comparison rules.
The original sentence compares the eyes of the elephant seal to any other animal yet tested. It’s not appropriate to compare one animal’s eyes to another entire animal. Compare eyes to eyes or whole animals to whole animals. Scan the other choices to see whether any repeat this error. Note that in (D), the pronoun they refers to eyes. Eliminate answers (A), (B), and (D) for a bad comparison.
(2) Pronoun: them; it
The end of each answer switches between it and them. Which is correct?
In the original sentence, it properly refers to the elephant seal; the reference is logical and the two match in number (singular). Answers (C) and (D) also use this form.
Answers (B) and (E) switch to them. The plural them cannot refer to the singular elephant seal. Them could possibly refer to the plural eyes, but eyes don’t hunt efficiently; animals do. Eliminate (B) and (E).
Note that (E) has a second pronoun error: it allows them. What allows the elephant seal to hunt efficiently? The fact that its eyes adapt to darkness very quickly. A pronoun cannot refer to something that isn’t explicitly written in the sentence; there is no noun phrase in the sentence similar to the fact that… for the pronoun they to refer to. Adapt is a verb; a pronoun cannot refer to a verb.
The Correct Answer
Correct answer (C) compares the eyes of the elephant seal to those (the eyes) of any other animal yet tested. This choice also properly uses the singular pronoun it to refer to the singular noun elephant seal.
Re: The eyes of the elephant seal adapt to darkness more quickly than any
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12 Aug 2016, 11:22
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"The eyes of the elephant seal adapt to darkness more quickly than do those of any other animal yet tested, allowing it to hunt efficiently."
Logic is the cornerstone of SC, especially pronoun reference. “It” in this context will not refer to any other animal because there are over one million animal species on the earth. Which one shall we take? - The point here is that if we take ‘it’ to refer to the eyes, then we end up meaning that the Seal’s adaptation allows the eyes to hunt efficiently, which is illogical. For all that, we know that the eyes do not hunt but the animal does. Hence, “it” decisively refers to the Seal.
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Re: The eyes of the elephant seal adapt to darkness more quickly than any
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16 Jun 2016, 02:45
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AbdurRakib wrote:
The eyes of the elephant seal adapt to darkness more quickly than any other animal yet tested, thus allowing it to hunt efficiently under the gloomy conditions at its feeding depths of between 300 and 700 meters.
A) The eyes of the elephant seal adapt to darkness more quickly than any other animal yet tested, thus allowing it B) The eyes of the elephant seal adapt to darkness more quickly than any other animal yet tested, allowing them C) The eyes of the elephant seal adapt to darkness more quickly than do those of any other animal yet tested, allowing it D) Because they adapt to darkness more quickly than any other animal yet tested, the eyes of the elephant seal allow it E) Because the eyes of the elephant seal adapt to darkness more quickly than do those of any other animal yet tested, it allows them
In answer choices a,b, and d eyes of the elephant seal is incorrectly compared to any other animal. e is out because of usage of them(plural) is incorrectly referring to elephant seal (singular) c is the answer as it is correctly comparing the eyes with those of any other animal.
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16 Jun 2016, 11:45
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AbdurRakib wrote:
The eyes of the elephant seal adapt to darkness more quickly than any other animal yet tested, thus allowing it to hunt efficiently under the gloomy conditions at its feeding depths of between 300 and 700 meters.
A) The eyes of the elephant seal adapt to darkness more quickly than any other animal yet tested, thus allowing it B) The eyes of the elephant seal adapt to darkness more quickly than any other animal yet tested, allowing them C) The eyes of the elephant seal adapt to darkness more quickly than do those of any other animal yet tested, allowing it D) Because they adapt to darkness more quickly than any other animal yet tested, the eyes of the elephant seal allow it E) Because the eyes of the elephant seal adapt to darkness more quickly than do those of any other animal yet tested, it allows them
The eyes of the elephant seal adapt to darkness more quickly than do those of any other animal yet tested, allowing it to hunt efficiently under the gloomy conditions at its feeding depths of between 300 and 700 meters.
The green part here -
CLAUSE + COMMA + VERB ING MODIFIER
can have 2 roles to play -
1. Presenting additional informations about the preceding clause. 2. Presents results of preceding clause..
Here results of adaptation ( hunting efficiently under the gloomy conditions )is the result of the adaptation of the eyes.. Hence IMHO (C) _________________
Thanks and Regards
Abhishek....
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Re: The eyes of the elephant seal adapt to darkness more quickly than any
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13 Jul 2016, 13:32
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I agree C is the correct and best answer, but isn't the "it" in allowing "it" somewhat ambiguous? It's still the best choice by far, but it seems like "it" could also refer to any other animal? A lot of the new OG 2017 SC questions have some pretty weird stuff going on.
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14 Jul 2016, 15:47
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AnishG wrote:
Uh, I don't understand this. I was down to (C) and (E) as they're the only options that have a parallel comparison, and I eliminated (C) because:
"The eyes of the elephant seal adapt to darkness more quickly than do those of any other animal yet tested, allowing it to hunt efficiently.."
Here, doesn't "it" seem to refer to "the eyes of the elephant"?
'it' is singular so cannot refer to eyes which is plural. However I felt the it here was still ambiguous because it could refer to elephant seal or any other animal
Pronoun ambig is a last resort though, as proper grammar takes precedence
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14 Aug 2016, 03:35
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daagh wrote:
"The eyes of the elephant seal adapt to darkness more quickly than do those of any other animal yet tested, allowing it to hunt efficiently."
Logic is the cornerstone of SC, especially pronoun reference. “It” in this context will not refer to any other animal because there are over one million animal species on the earth. Which one shall we take? - The point here is that if we take ‘it’ to refer to the eyes, then we end up meaning that the Seal’s adaptation allows the eyes to hunt efficiently, which is illogical. For all that, we know that the eyes do not hunt but the animal does. Hence, “it” decisively refers to the Seal.
But wouldn't that make almost every pronoun correct? When do I know if "logical" pronoun works and doesn't? The "seal" never appeared as a subject or an object in this sentence. For example:
The legacy of Obama is X and he is my best friend
I always thought "he" in this case CANNOT refer to Obama and will leave this pronoun without proper antecedent.
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14 Aug 2016, 14:41
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Quote:
Tae808 wrote
But wouldn't that make almost every pronoun correct? When do I know if "logical" pronoun works and doesn't? The "seal" never appeared as a subject or an object in this sentence. For example:
The legacy of Obama is X and he is my best friend
I always thought "he" in this case CANNOT refer to Obama and will leave this pronoun without proper antecedent.
Please help.
Ok. We will try to use some other noun than Obama to refer to he and see how it works out.
The legacy of Obama is X and (he) Putin is my best friend. What is the point in this sentence? Does this sentence give a complete sense? Unless you indicate who that he is, the sentence remains infructious. On the contrary, if ‘he’ is seen to refer to Obama, then the semblance of disconnect and discreteness disappears in the context.
In that same fashion, try to ascribe the pronoun ‘it’ to any other animal, say a lion, and see what is the connect between the eyes of the Seal and a lion hunting efficiently. After all, there is a law of proximity in the antecedence of a pronoun and the nearest noun, even it be an object, can be referred to by the pronoun. Here it may be noted the elephant seal is the object of the preposition ‘of’
Basically, a pronoun stands for a noun already extant in the clause as the name defines, and therefore, there can never be a stand-alone pronoun in formal writing.
Finally, will you say that Tom had a pint of beer to quench his (Dick’s) thirst? Why would the seal adapt swiftly to darkness to make some other animal hunt efficiently? Pl. ponder
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Re: The eyes of the elephant seal adapt to darkness more quickly than any
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16 Aug 2016, 07:58
daagh wrote:
Quote:
Tae808 wrote
But wouldn't that make almost every pronoun correct? When do I know if "logical" pronoun works and doesn't? The "seal" never appeared as a subject or an object in this sentence. For example:
The legacy of Obama is X and he is my best friend
I always thought "he" in this case CANNOT refer to Obama and will leave this pronoun without proper antecedent.
Please help.
Ok. We will try to use some other noun than Obama to refer to he and see how it works out.
The legacy of Obama is X and (he) Putin is my best friend. What is the point in this sentence? Does this sentence give a complete sense? Unless you indicate who that he is, the sentence remains infructious. On the contrary, if ‘he’ is seen to refer to Obama, then the semblance of disconnect and discreteness disappears in the context.
In that same fashion, try to ascribe the pronoun ‘it’ to any other animal, say a lion, and see what is the connect between the eyes of the Seal and a lion hunting efficiently. After all, there is a law of proximity in the antecedence of a pronoun and the nearest noun, even it be an object, can be referred to by the pronoun. Here it may be noted the elephant seal is the object of the preposition ‘of’
Basically, a pronoun stands for a noun already extant in the clause as the name defines, and therefore, there can never be a stand-alone pronoun in formal writing.
Finally, will you say that Tom had a pint of beer to quench his (Dick’s) thirst? Why would the seal adapt swiftly to darkness to make some other animal hunt efficiently? Pl. ponder
Re: The eyes of the elephant seal adapt to darkness more quickly than any
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13 Sep 2016, 03:04
AbdurRakib wrote:
The eyes of the elephant seal adapt to darkness more quickly than any other animal yet tested, thus allowing it to hunt efficiently under the gloomy conditions at its feeding depths of between 300 and 700 meters.
A) The eyes of the elephant seal adapt to darkness more quickly than any other animal yet tested, thus allowing it B) The eyes of the elephant seal adapt to darkness more quickly than any other animal yet tested, allowing them C) The eyes of the elephant seal adapt to darkness more quickly than do those of any other animal yet tested, allowing it D) Because they adapt to darkness more quickly than any other animal yet tested, the eyes of the elephant seal allow it E) Because the eyes of the elephant seal adapt to darkness more quickly than do those of any other animal yet tested, it allows them
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20 Sep 2016, 12:52
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1
The eyes of the elephant seal adapt to darkness more quickly than any other animal yet tested, thus allowing it to hunt efficiently under the gloomy conditions at its feeding depths of between 300 and 700 meters.
A) The eyes of the elephant seal adapt to darkness more quickly than any other animal yet tested, thus allowing it B) The eyes of the elephant seal adapt to darkness more quickly than any other animal yet tested, allowing them C) The eyes of the elephant seal adapt to darkness more quickly than do those of any other animal yet tested, allowing it D) Because they adapt to darkness more quickly than any other animal yet tested, the eyes of the elephant seal allow it E) Because the eyes of the elephant seal adapt to darkness more quickly than do those of any other animal yet tested, it allows them
A, B and D - Illogical comparison - the eyes of the elephant seal compared to any other animal. E- Pronoun issue - them can't refer to singular the elephant seal . Also the pronoun "it" - is trying to refer to the eyes .
Answer c
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Re: The eyes of the elephant seal adapt to darkness more quickly than any
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18 Jun 2017, 19:08
If we compare options, we can see ‘more than’. We have comparison here. In option A, ‘the eyes of the elephant’ are compared to ‘any other animal’. Wrong comparison. Eliminate In option B, ‘the eyes of the elephant’ are compared to ‘any other animal’. Wrong comparison. Eliminate In option D, ‘they’ refers to ‘the eyes’. Again ‘the eyes of the elephant’ are compared to ‘any other animal’. Wrong comparison. Eliminate In E, comparison is correct but towards the end of the option, ‘it’ refers to ‘the eyes’ . Singular pronoun cannot refer to plural noun. Eliminate.
Option C is correct.
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Re: The eyes of the elephant seal adapt to darkness more quickly than any
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13 Oct 2017, 14:26
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I'm still not understanding answer choice C. A pronoun can't refer to a noun in a prepositional phrase. Is answer choice C an exception to this rule? "It" is referring to "the elephant seal", but how is this acceptable?
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02 Nov 2017, 04:22
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Sentence Analysis The sentence says that the eyes of the elephant sealadapt to darkness more quickly than the eyes of any other animal. The sentence then presents a result of this fact using a verb-ing modifier.
There is one error in the sentence: it compares ‘the eyes of the elephant seal’ with ‘any other animal’, essentially comparing eyes with an animal.
Option Analysis (A) Incorrect. For the error mentioned above.
(B) Incorrect. Same comparison error as in the original sentence. In this option, ‘them’ is replaced with ‘it’, this changes the intended meaning.
(C) Correct. This option corrects the only error in the original sentence.
(D) Incorrect. Same comparison error as in the original sentence.
(E) Incorrect. ‘it’ does not have an antecedent; logically, ‘it’ cannot refer to ‘elephant seal’ since elephant seal doesn’t allow the eyes to hunt efficiently.
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12 Apr 2018, 02:50
In the OA (c), the Ving modifier "allowing it......300 and 700 meters." must make sense with the subject of the preceding clause which is "eyes". However, "it"does not agree with the subject of the preceding clause "eyes". Please explain??
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12 Apr 2018, 03:44
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gmatacer40 wrote:
In the OA (c), the Ving modifier "allowing it......300 and 700 meters." must make sense with the subject of the preceding clause which is "eyes". However, "it"does not agree with the subject of the preceding clause "eyes". Please explain??
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76% (01:23) correct 
