Upon returning from an expedition to a remote region of Brazil, a grou

Question

Upon returning from an expedition to a remote region of Brazil, a group of researchers announced that they unexpectedly discovered several species of lizards that have limbs with no locomotive function,  and they are much more rudimentary and purposeless than those of any similar type of lizard that previously was  discovered in South America.

(A) and they are much more rudimentary and purposeless than those of any similar lizard type that previously was

(B) and that they were much more rudimentary and purposeless than any similar lizard type previously
 
(C) and the limbs are much more rudimentary and purposeless than any similar lizard types that previously were

(D) limbs that are much more rudimentary and purposeless than those of any similar lizard type previously

(E) limbs much more rudimentary and purposeless than any similar lizard types that previously were

I picked (A). A pronoun always refers to the closest noun as its antecedent and this is "the limbs" which is the correct comparison they are trying to draw. Knewton, however, claims that this is an ambiguous pronoun reference. It could refer to the researchers, limbs, or lizards. I mean sure all 3 are plural nouns in the sentence, but the latter part of the sentence draws a comparison to the limbs which would make the current structure perfectly correct!

Is it just a structural element of the GMAT that it likes to have the noun clarified?

Is it just a structural element of the GMAT that it likes to have the noun clarified?

Aj85 · Answer

Hello dynamite, this is definitely a case of ambiguous pronoun reference. remember that classic sentence in manhattan sc guide ? "Eva exercised daily with Jasmine so that SHE would stay in good shape." who will remain in good shape, eva or jasmine ? similarly in the sentence you posted the pronoun 'they' is ambiguous. Gmat does asks us to make sure pronoun refers to last noun, but it also asks us to avoid any ambiguity in the sentence. Also, I think when the word 'they' has more than 1 referent - 'lizards -living beings" and inanimate object 'limbs',-' they' will not refer to inanimate object.

LifeChanger · Answer

Upon returning from an expedition to a remote region of Brazil, a group of researchers announced that they unexpectedly discovered several species of lizards that have limbs with no locomotive function, and they are much more rudimentary and purposeless than those of any similar type of lizard that previously was discovered in South America.

(A) and  they  are much more rudimentary and purposeless than those of any similar lizard type that previously was

(B) and that  they  were much more rudimentary and purposeless than any similar lizard type previously

(C) and the limbs are much more rudimentary and purposeless than any similar lizard types that previously were - Limbs and Lizards are incorrectly compared ; Also, i think 'that' is supposed to be present after parallelism marker 'AND'

(D) limbs that are much more rudimentary and purposeless than those of any similar lizard type previously

(E) limbs much more rudimentary and purposeless than any similar lizard types that previously were - Limbs and Lizards are incorrectly compared

mayur666 · Answer

Isn't there any modifier error in D and E, as the word 'limbs' comes right after the comma.
Can someone pls explain the structure of this sentence.

Caesar · Answer

(A) and they are much more rudimentary and purposeless than those of any similar lizard type that previously was :  Incorrect as they can refer to species or limbs..

(B) and that they were much more rudimentary and purposeless than any similar lizard type previously:  Incorrect: same as (A)

(C) and the limbs are much more rudimentary and purposeless than any similar lizard types that previously were: Incorrect: Wrong Comparison, limbs are compared to lizard types

(D) limbs that are much more rudimentary and purposeless than those of any similar lizard type previously :  Correct, Limbs of a lizard species are compared to limbs of other similar lizard species' limbs.

(E) limbs much more rudimentary and purposeless than any similar lizard types that previously were:  Incorrect :Again Wrong comparison

ramannanda9 · Answer

Do you mean it as a run on sentence ?

mayur666 · Answer

No. Actually I was not able to understand what exactly the modifier 'limbs that are much more rudimentary and purposeless than those of any similar lizard type previously .... ' modifies.

Is it an appositive modifier?

If so isn't it supposed to come right after the noun it modifies?

jaituteja · Answer

Can someone help with option B??

in otpion B,, "they" could refer to researchers,limbs or lizards.

Now, it logically makes sense to connect they with lizards because the comparision is made with lizard.
So, B should be correct?

Can someone help>>!!!

THanks,
Jai

pqhai · Answer

Hi Jai

Although your thought of comparison is correct, the parallelism problem makes B a wrong option.
When you see "and" <== parallel marker, you should find a parallel structure right away.

Let check parallel structure of option B:

.......a group of researchers  announced that  they unexpectedly....................,  and that  they.......................

Because of "THAT" ==> "they" seems to refer "researchers", not "lizards". That's why B is wrong.

Hope it's clear.

shelrod007 · Answer

'they does not seem to have a clear anteceedant ' hence A , B are out .

In C and E limbs should be compared with limbs of other lizzard types hence out .

This leaves us with D

shekharkataria · Answer

Upon returning from an expedition to a remote region of Brazil, a group of researchers announced that they unexpectedly discovered several species of lizards that have limbs with no locomotive function,   and they are much more rudimentary and purposeless than those of any similar type of lizard that previously was   discovered in South America.

(A) and they are much more rudimentary and purposeless than those of any similar lizard type that previously was

(B) and that they were much more rudimentary and purposeless than any similar lizard type previously

(C) and the limbs are much more rudimentary and purposeless than any similar lizard types that previously were

(D) limbs that are much more rudimentary and purposeless than those of any similar lizard type previously

(E) limbs much more rudimentary and purposeless than any similar lizard types that previously were

Hi Guys, 
I answered this question correctly. However, i have doubts in the pronoun usage.

Upon returning from an expedition to a remote region of Brazil, a group of researchers announced that  they ( Clearly refers to researhers  unexpectedly discovered several species of lizards that have limbs with no locomotive function, and  they ( Can refer to researchers, speices of lizards, limbs )  are much more rudimentary and purposeless than those of any similar type of lizard that previously was discovered in South America.

My Doubt : I have read somewhere that if a certain pronoun has been used to refer to an antecedent, then the same noun in the sentence again cannot refer to any other antecedent. Going by this, the second they in the above sentence refers to RESEARCHERS, which would be wrong for sure.

Guys, correct me if I am wrong. If yes then please provide some official GMAT examples of the pronoun usage such as in the above question.

Appreciate your help. 
Thanks

daagh · Answer

The issue is more problematic than what is apparent. First, A group of researchers is singular and the first ‘they’ itself is suffering subject-pronoun mismatch. But by logic, the second ‘they’ is passable; After all one does not expect the researchers to be more rudimentary and purposeless; In the same vein, the lizards may be rudimentary but the limbs cannot be more purposeless. So by POE we can take the second ‘they’ to refer to limbs. But more problematic is the comparison

(A) and they are much more rudimentary and purposeless than those of any similar lizard type that previously was --- if we take the second they to refer to limbs and then take--those-- to refer to also limbs, then the comparison is ok; but what about the subject- pronoun disagreement in the non-underlined part?

(B) and that they were much more rudimentary and purposeless than any similar lizard type previously---   straight out due to wrong comparison
  
(C) and the limbs are much more rudimentary and purposeless than any similar lizard types that previously were--- same as B

(D) limbs that are much more rudimentary and purposeless than those of any similar lizard type previously –  seems somewhat the best of the lot

(E) limbs much more rudimentary and purposeless than any similar lizard types that previously were --- same as B and C

I would rather ignore this topic

rezaulnsu · Answer

Here we need to identify parallel parts properly since it is open parallel with marker 'and'.
A: Two things to point out. First, to whom 'they' refers to? Not clear antecedent. Second, placement of 'previously' was wrong. It should be just before discovered. The same is true for C and E.
So, the answer must be either B or D.
B has improper parallel parts and they should not refer to researchers.
D is correct since it has no ambiguity and proper parallel parts starting with 'limbs'(lizards that have limbs with no locomotive function,and limbs that are much more rudimentary....previously..).
B,C, and E are also guilty because of improper comparison between limbs and lizards.

saadsaab19 · Answer

I picked B, I made the same mistake of confusing if "they" refers to limbs or lizards. Pure comparison mistake. Thank you for explanation guys. I see why D is the right answer.

thakurarun85 · Answer

Yes this is an acceptable modifier. It is called RESUMPTIVE MODIFIER.

Upon returning from an expedition to a remote region of Brazil, a grou

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Upon returning from an expedition to a remote region of Brazil, a grou

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