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In England the well-dressed gentleman of the eighteenth century protec 05 Dec 2018, 07:24
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83% (01:07) correct 17% (01:13) wrong based on 1438 sessions

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In England the well-dressed gentleman of the eighteenth century protected their clothing while having their wig powdered by poking their head through a device that resembled the stocks.

(A) gentleman of the eighteenth century protected their clothing while having their wig powdered by poking their head
(B) gentleman of the eighteenth century protected his clothing while having his wig powdered by poking his head
(C) gentleman of the eighteenth century protected their clothing while having their wigs powdered by poking their heads
(D) gentlemen of the eighteenth century protected his clothing while having his wig powdered by poking his head
(E) gentlemen of the eighteenth century protected their clothing while having his wig powdered by poking his head


Project SC Butler: Day 29: Sentence Correction (SC1)


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B
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In England the well-dressed gentleman of the eighteenth century protec 05 Dec 2018, 09:00
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aragonn

Project SC Butler: Day 29: Sentence Correction (SC1)


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In England the well-dressed gentleman of the eighteenth century protected their clothing while having their wig powdered by poking their head through a device that resembled the stocks.

(A) gentleman of the eighteenth century protected their clothing while having their wig powdered by poking their head
(B) gentleman of the eighteenth century protected his clothing while having his wig powdered by poking his head
(C) gentleman of the eighteenth century protected their clothing while having their wigs powdered by poking their heads
(D) gentlemen of the eighteenth century protected his clothing while having his wig powdered by poking his head
(E) gentlemen of the eighteenth century protected their clothing while having his wig powdered by poking his head


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B uses the proper pronoun.
Others have highlighted errors.
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In England the well-dressed gentleman of the eighteenth century protec 05 Dec 2018, 09:18
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aragonn

Project SC Butler: Day 29: Sentence Correction (SC1)


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In England the well-dressed gentleman of the eighteenth century protected their clothing while having their wig powdered by poking their head through a device that resembled the stocks.

(A) gentleman of the eighteenth century protected their clothing while having their wig powdered by poking their head
(B) gentleman of the eighteenth century protected his clothing while having his wig powdered by poking his head
(C) gentleman of the eighteenth century protected their clothing while having their wigs powdered by poking their heads
(D) gentlemen of the eighteenth century protected his clothing while having his wig powdered by poking his head
(E) gentlemen of the eighteenth century protected their clothing while having his wig powdered by poking his head


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In B pronouns are consistent :

gentleman of the eighteenth century protected his clothing while having his wig powdered by poking his head.

In rest of the options, pronouns' numbers are not in agreement.

regards,
Arup
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In England the well-dressed gentleman of the eighteenth century protec 05 Dec 2018, 12:22
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aragonn

Project SC Butler: Day 29: Sentence Correction (SC1)



In England the well-dressed gentleman of the eighteenth century protected their clothing while having their wig powdered by poking their head through a device that resembled the stocks.

(A) gentleman of the eighteenth century protected their clothing while having their wig powdered by poking their head
(B) gentleman of the eighteenth century protected his clothing while having his wig powdered by poking his head
(C) gentleman of the eighteenth century protected their clothing while having their wigs powdered by poking their heads
(D) gentlemen of the eighteenth century protected his clothing while having his wig powdered by poking his head
(E) gentlemen of the eighteenth century protected their clothing while having his wig powdered by poking his head

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The typical scanning for splits and elimination strategy makes this question extremely simple to answer in least time.

Meaning analysis


Gentleman (or Gentlemen) of the 18th century protected his/their clothing by poking his/their head through a device that resembled the stocks. The protection for their clothing was required when someone powdered their wig.

Meaning not really required here, as we notice it is a simple case of singular/plural noun/pronoun error.

Scan 1:

Gentleman v/s Gentlemen (3:2 split). Wherever plural "gentlemen" is used, the corresponding pronouns should be "...their clothing", "...their wigs", and "their heads".
Basis this, eliminate D and E.

Scan 2:

Conversely, wherever singular "gentleman" is used, the corresponding pronouns should be "...his clothing", "...his wig", and "his head".
Basis this, eliminate A and C.

What are we left with?

Voila! B! "gentleman" .... "his clothing" ...."his wig" ...."his head". All singular. Correct option.
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In England the well-dressed gentleman of the eighteenth century protec Updated on: 05 Dec 2018, 13:16
Originally posted by rohit8865 on 05 Dec 2018, 12:35.
Last edited by rohit8865 on 05 Dec 2018, 13:16, edited 2 times in total.
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aragonn

Project SC Butler: Day 29: Sentence Correction (SC1)


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In England the well-dressed gentleman of the eighteenth century protected their clothing while having their wig powdered by poking their head through a device that resembled the stocks.

(A) gentleman of the eighteenth century protected their clothing while having their wig powdered by poking their head
(B) gentleman of the eighteenth century protected his clothing while having his wig powdered by poking his head
(C) gentleman of the eighteenth century protected their clothing while having their wigs powdered by poking their head
(D) gentlemen of the eighteenth century protected his clothing while having his wig powdered by poking his head
(E) gentlemen of the eighteenth century protected their clothing while having his wig powdered by poking his head


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IMO ans B for the highlighted error shown above
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In England the well-dressed gentleman of the eighteenth century protec 05 Dec 2018, 13:07
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aragonn

Project SC Butler: Day 29: Sentence Correction (SC1)


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In England the well-dressed gentleman of the eighteenth century protected their clothing while having their wig powdered by poking their head through a device that resembled the stocks.

(A) gentleman of the eighteenth century protected their clothing while having their wig powdered by poking their head
(B) gentleman of the eighteenth century protected his clothing while having his wig powdered by poking his head
(C) gentleman of the eighteenth century protected their clothing while having their wigs powdered by poking their heads
(D) gentlemen of the eighteenth century protected his clothing while having his wig powdered by poking his head
(E) gentlemen of the eighteenth century protected their clothing while having his wig powdered by poking his head


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This question has the error of using a wrong pronoun and also using a singular noun where a plural noun is necessary.
The subject of the given sentence is ‘well dressed-gentleman’, which is a singular noun.

So, the use of the plural pronoun in the phrase ‘their wig’ is grammatically wrong. In addition, the phrases ‘their wig’ and ‘their head’ implies that many of them together had only one wig and only one head, which is absurd. So, (A) is wrong.

(C) also incorporates the first error identified above, and can be eliminated.

(D) and (E) both have the same error in reverse, with the plural noun ‘gentlemen’ being represented by the singular pronoun ‘his’ in the latter part of the sentence.

(B) corrects these errors and results in a clear and grammatical statement. Therefore (B) should be the answer.
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In England the well-dressed gentleman of the eighteenth century protec 06 Dec 2018, 08:06
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aragonn

Project SC Butler: Day 29: Sentence Correction (SC1)


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In England the well-dressed gentleman of the eighteenth century protected their clothing while having their wig powdered by poking their head through a device that resembled the stocks.

(A) gentleman of the eighteenth century protected their clothing while having their wig powdered by poking their head
(B) gentleman of the eighteenth century protected his clothing while having his wig powdered by poking his head
(C) gentleman of the eighteenth century protected their clothing while having their wigs powdered by poking their heads
(D) gentlemen of the eighteenth century protected his clothing while having his wig powdered by poking his head
(E) gentlemen of the eighteenth century protected their clothing while having his wig powdered by poking his head


The best/excellent answers get kudos, which will be awarded after the answer is revealed.
There may be no best/excellent answers, or a there may be a few excellent answers!
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Official Explanation:


In A, C, D, and E, pronouns do not agree with the nouns to which they refer. In A and C, the plural their refers incorrectly to the singular gentleman, while in D and E, the singular his refers incorrectly to the plural gentlemen. Only in B do all the pronouns agree with all the nouns. Choice B is the best answer.
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In England the well-dressed gentleman of the eighteenth century protec 06 Dec 2018, 19:19
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A) gentleman of the eighteenth century protected their clothing while having their wig powdered by poking their head
(B) gentleman of the eighteenth century protected his clothing while having his wig powdered by poking his head
(C) gentleman of the eighteenth century protected their clothing while having their wigs powdered by poking their heads
(D) gentlemen of the eighteenth century protected his clothing while having his wig powdered by poking his head
(E) gentlemen of the eighteenth century protected their clothing while having his wig powdered by poking his head

What is the difference between B and D?
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In England the well-dressed gentleman of the eighteenth century protec 09 Dec 2018, 04:38
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In England the well-dressed gentleman of the eighteenth century protected their clothing while having their wig powdered by poking their head through a device that resembled the stocks.

(A) gentleman of the eighteenth century protected their clothing while having their wig powdered by poking their head
(B) gentleman of the eighteenth century protected his clothing while having his wig powdered by poking his head
(C) gentleman of the eighteenth century protected their clothing while having their wigs powdered by poking their heads
(D) gentlemen of the eighteenth century protected his clothing while having his wig powdered by poking his head
(E) gentlemen of the eighteenth century protected their clothing while having his wig powdered by poking his head

Fairly easy pronoun question.
Ans: (B)
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In England the well-dressed gentleman of the eighteenth century protec 09 Dec 2018, 04:40
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A) gentleman of the eighteenth century protected their clothing while having their wig powdered by poking their head
(B) gentleman of the eighteenth century protected his clothing while having his wig powdered by poking his head
(C) gentleman of the eighteenth century protected their clothing while having their wigs powdered by poking their heads
(D) gentlemen of the eighteenth century protected his clothing while having his wig powdered by poking his head
(E) gentlemen of the eighteenth century protected their clothing while having his wig powdered by poking his head

What is the difference between B and D?
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gentleman =/= gentlemen

One is a singular subject, the other is plural.
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In England the well-dressed gentleman of the eighteenth century protec 13 Oct 2020, 06:53
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In England the well-dressed gentleman of the eighteenth century protected their clothing while having their wig powdered by poking their head through a device that resembled the stocks.

(A) gentleman of the eighteenth century protected their clothing while having their wig powdered by poking their head
(B) gentleman of the eighteenth century protected his clothing while having his wig powdered by poking his head
(C) gentleman of the eighteenth century protected their clothing while having their wigs powdered by poking their heads
(D) gentlemen of the eighteenth century protected his clothing while having his wig powdered by poking his head
(E) gentlemen of the eighteenth century protected their clothing while having his wig powdered by poking his head

Hence, B is the correct answer choice.
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In England the well-dressed gentleman of the eighteenth century protec 07 Jan 2023, 13:14
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Gentleman/men.... their/his...
Deciding factor

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