V04-06

Question

James Cameron, in his movie scenes, meticulously integrating them with his state of the art special effect sequences,  banked on his exceptional cinematography skills and understanding of innovative new technologies.

A. James Cameron, in his movie scenes, meticulously integrating them with his state of the art special effects sequences,
B. In his movie scenes, meticulously integrating them with his state of the art special effects sequences, James Cameron
C. In his movie scenes, which he meticulously integrated with his state of the art special effects sequences, James Cameron
D. Meticulously integrated with his state of the art special effects sequences, James Cameron, in his movie scenes
E. James Cameron, in his movie scenes, meticulously integrated them with his state of the art special effect sequences and

Bunuel · Answer

Official Solution:

James Cameron, in his movie scenes, meticulously integrating them with his state of the art special effect sequences,  banked on his exceptional cinematography skills and understanding of innovative new technologies.

A. James Cameron, in his movie scenes, meticulously integrating them with his state of the art special effects sequences,
B. In his movie scenes, meticulously integrating them with his state of the art special effects sequences, James Cameron
C. In his movie scenes, which he meticulously integrated with his state of the art special effects sequences, James Cameron
D. Meticulously integrated with his state of the art special effects sequences, James Cameron, in his movie scenes
E. James Cameron, in his movie scenes, meticulously integrated them with his state of the art special effect sequences and

A. Positioning of the prepositional phrase “in his movie scenes” and the present participle modifier “meticulously integrating them with his state of the art special effects sequences” is incorrect. Moreover the pronoun “them” is ambiguous. Because of the structure, “them” seems to refer to something else other than movie scenes. This construction does not make it clear that James Cameron integrated movie scenes with special effect sequences.
 
B. Positioning of the prepositional phrase “in his movie scenes” and the present participle modifier “meticulously integrating them with his state of the art special effects sequences” is incorrect. Moreover the pronoun “them” is ambiguous. Because of the structure, “them” seems to refer to something else other than movie scenes. This construction does not make it clear that James Cameron integrated movie scenes with special effect sequences.
 
 C. CORRECT.  The ambiguity described in A and B above is eliminated. The relative clause “which….” correctly refers to the noun “scenes”, in addition eliminating the ambiguous pronoun “them”. The construction makes it clear that James Cameron integrated movie scenes with special effect sequences.
 
The pronouns “he” and “his” correctly refer to “James Cameron”. It is not an uncommon practice in GMAT to introduce a pronoun before its antecedent noun. Moreover it is allowed to use a possessive pronoun (his) for a subject noun (James Cameron).
 
D. This option wrongly implies that James Cameron was integrated with the special effects. The required meaning is that the movie scenes were integrated with special effects. 
 
E. The pronoun “them” is ambiguous. The simplified structure of this option is as follows:
 
 James Cameron integrated them in his movie scenes.  
 
Because of the structure, “them” seems to refer to something else other than movie scenes.

Answer: C

Nevernevergiveup · Answer

James did two things
1. He relied or depended upon his  exceptional cinematography skills and 
understanding of innovative new technologies. 
2. Depending on his skills, he integrated his movie scenes with special effects.

banked is in past tense. so integration must be a past event and needs to be mentioned as integrated.
A and B can be eliminated by this rule.
D changes the meaning of the sentence as if James is integrated with his art sequences and  in his movie scenes  modifier is misplaced.
Depending on his skills, he integrated his movie scenes with special effects but conjunction  and   in option E gives the meaning as if integrating and banking upon skills are two parallel actions thereby deviating the intended meaning.

rahul786 · Answer

The pronoun his doesn't have an antecedent. Hence C option is wrong, E though corrects the mistake

sayantanc2k · Answer

"James Cameron" is the unambiguous antecedent of "his" in option C. A pronoun may come before the antecedent - such construction is alright.

felippemed · Answer

Hi  Bunuel  and everyone,

I felt uncomfortable with "he" in this part. It seemed to me that it didn't have an antecedent.

I am confused because I keep asking myself who is  "he" ?

A better construction shouldn't have James Cameron instead of "he" at the very beggining?

sayantanc2k · Answer

Option C is alright. It is not very uncommon in GMAT that the pronoun precedes the noun it refers to.

Pankaj0901 · Answer

AndrewN  - Request you to please explain why option E is wrong.

AndrewN · Answer

Hello,  Pankaj0901 . I knew this question had a familiar feel to it: I tracked down its official counterpart,  here . Compare the two side by side. First, the OG version:

Since this question is virtually the same as the other, I will refer you to  my response  to that official question. Regarding choice (E), I said the following:

I hope that helps with your query. Thank you for thinking to ask.

- Andrew

Bunuel · Answer

The question or/and solution has been revised and edited. Thank you  sayantanc2k  !!!

ShaunakSawant · Answer

why cant them refer to movie scenes?

V04-06

Prep Toolkit

Top 5 GMAT Debrief Videos

615 to 715 in 15 Days (Ria's Strategies)

More than Quant/Verbal Abilities: Speed vs. Accuracy

745 with Only Self-Prep and GMAT Club

From 555 to 765: 210-point Improvement

Perfect 805 Score Debrief by Julia

My Rewards