Talented Workers (A) CORRECT
(B) Pronoun (them, themselves)
(C) Pronoun (themselves); Sentence Structure (and)
(D) Sentence Structure / Parallelism (and)
(E) Pronoun (themselves); Sentence Structure / Parallelism (and)
First glanceThe word
benefits is the same in all five choices, but notice that some have a comma after and some do not. Something is going on with sentence structure. The two options are
benefits,
letting (signaling a
comma -ing modifier) and
benefits and (signaling a parallel sentence structure).
Issues(1) Pronoun: them; themselvesA glance down the end of the choices reveals a split:
them or
themselves?
Answer (B) also has two pronouns: both
them and
themselves. Start there. Logically, the pronoun
them should refer to the benefits and the pronoun
themselves should refer to the employees. Putting the two almost-identical pronouns so close to each other, though, creates an ambiguity; the reader has to think about which pronoun refers to which noun. In general, it’s not a good idea to use the same (or almost the same) pronoun to refer to two different nouns in the same sentence; it’s too confusing. Eliminate (B).
Now, what about
them vs.
themselves in the other choices? Both are intended to refer to employees, but they aren’t interchangeable.
Them is a “straight” plural pronoun used as an object in sentences, while
themselves is reflexive; reflexive pronouns are used in two more specific situations.
Object form: She made macaroni and cheese for
them.
Reflexive form #1 (refer back to earlier pronoun): They made macaroni and cheese for
themselves. (
Themselves refers back—reflexively—to the first pronoun,
they.)
Reflexive form #2 (for emphasis): They ate the macaroni and cheese
themselves after the kids binged on candy all afternoon. (You could remove the word
themselves and the sentence would still make sense; you’re just emphasizing that
they themselves ended up eating the mac and cheese.)
In the given sentence,
themselves is not referring back to an earlier pronoun; rather, it’s referring to the noun
employees. It is also not used for emphasis; you can’t remove it and still have the sentence make sense, as in the example above. Eliminate choices (B), (C), and (E) for faulty use of a reflexive pronoun.
(2) Sentence Structure: and
Parallelism: andThe initial split in the answers is between
benefits,
letting and
benefits and. What’s the difference?
Benefits, letting is a comma –ing modifier structure. The letting modifier refers back to the main clause (the main subject and verb of the sentence). By contrast,
benefits and is a parallel structure. What do you think about these two sentences:
Some companies have good benefits and employ lots of people.
Some companies have good benefits, employing lots of people.
The two structures mirror the structures in this problem—with one big difference. In the two sentences above, the
benefits and structure is correct, not the
benefits, employing structure. Why? Both pieces of information are about the companies, but the two pieces of information are separate from each other. It isn’t the case that, because these companies have good benefits, they therefore employ lots of people.
Contrast that with the meaning of the sentence in this problem. In this case, the fact that
the companies are offering a wider range of benefits is exactly what then allows the companies to
let employees pick which benefits they want. In other words, the two pieces of information are related, so you do want a comma –ing structure to connect them:
some companies are offering (lots of) benefits, letting employees pick which ones they want. Eliminate choices (C), (D), and (E) for faulty meaning.
Answers (D) and (E) also change the form of the verb to
let rather than
letting, setting up the parallel structure
some companies are offering…and let… While it isn’t absolutely required to put two parallel verbs into the same tense in all circumstances, it is the case that, if the two verbs are talking about events taking place simultaneously, it’s generally preferable to keep the two verbs in the same tense. Answer (C) is okay but eliminate answers (D) and (E) for switching tense even though the events are taking place simultaneously.
The Correct AnswerCorrect answer (A) uses the regular object pronoun
them to refer to employees. It also uses a
comma –ing modifier structure to properly signal the connection between
offering a wider range of benefits and letting employees pick those most important to them.