Left-handed people display quite a different pattern of

Question

Left-handed people display  quite a different pattern of brain organization from right-handers .

(A) quite a different pattern of brain organization from right-handers
(B) quite a different pattern from right-handers of brain organization
(C) a pattern quite different from the brain organization of right-handers
(D) a pattern of brain organization that is quite different from right-handers'
(E) a pattern of brain organization quite different from that of right-handers

What's wrong with d?

VikashAlex · Accepted Answer

Hi,
To know why D is wrong lets discuss a bit about pronoun ambiguity. A pronoun is a word that replaces a noun...means any noun (but has to follow the same number as of noun). A pronoun can refer to any noun i.e nouns in different clause , noun in prepositional phrase , noun preceding to pronoun , noun after the pronoun...e.t.c. To check right pronoun we put all the possible noun in place of that pronoun and think which noun is logically fit. If one noun is logically fit with grammatically correct then the pronoun refers to that particular noun. If more than 1 noun are logically fit then we say there is pronoun ambiguity. And if there is not a single noun to which pronoun refers logically then its missing the antecedent and hence makes grammatically wrong.

Now lets discuss a bit about 'that'. 'that' is a pronoun that could act as a connector between two clause or could act as a subject, which is basically a pronoun, for the followed clause. 'that' is a relative pronoun that refers to preceding noun and may refer a bit far away noun as well if that noun is modified with prepositional phrase.

In this option D..'that' word is not acting as a connector between two clause rather it is acting as a subject of the clause " is quite different ......'. Here, since 'that' is acting as a subject (means as a pronoun), 'that' must refer to a preceding noun. The preceding noun could be either 'brain organization' or 'a pattern'. Because 'a pattern' is modified by prepositional phrase 'of brain organization' , 'that' could refer to 'a pattern'. Now to check which makes logically sound read the option by replacing 'that' with both the noun.
Lets check for 'a pattern'...then it would be ...----a pattern is quite different from right-handers' ----. Makes logically sound.
Now, lets check for 'brain organization'.....----- brain organization is quite different from right-handers' ------ Makes logically sound.

As we have seen that 'that' has two logically sounded noun, it confuses and makes pronoun ambiguity error.  Thus, this option is incorrect due to pronoun ambiguity error.

+1 kudos if it helped you

daagh · Answer

It may be noted that the relative pronoun 'that' is 99% used as a restrictive pronoun that modifies the noun that is just in front. Here the noun is the organization. The pronoun ' that' does refer to the organization. So there is no ambiguity about what 'that' refers to. It is this unambiguity about the 'that', which is the undoing of choice D, because we don’t need ‘that’ to refer to organization but to a pattern and hence D is clearly out. 
E, on the other hand, prudently avoids the restrictive ‘that’ and is clearly one-up over D.

Sarang · Answer

To me, both E and D are potential candidates. However I would reject D for below reason-

from right handers' does not clear out the comparison between patterns whereas in E, use of a "from that of" makes the comparison clear.

kraizada84 · Answer

Left-handed people display  quite a different pattern of brain organization from right-handers.

(D) a pattern of brain organization  that  is quite different from right-handers'
(E) a pattern of brain organization quite different from that of right-handers

question compares the pattern of BO of left handers and right handers, use of word "that" conveys that the BO is different but we need the patterns. hence its wrong.

thangvietname · Answer

willing to know why d is wrong

this question is from gmatpaper, so, we should study carefully

Anestists · Answer

There is a comparison here:

The pattern of brain organization of Left-handed people with the pattern of brain organization of Right-handed people.

The only answer which does that is choice (E). -->  a pattern  of brain organization quite different from  that of  right-handers.

Answer (D) is wrong, for it compares the pattern of left - handed people with right-handers. and not their pattern.

Cheers!

RiseAndShinee · Answer

Unable to understand why D is wrong.

RiseAndShinee · Answer

VeritasKarishma  &  egmat  Could you please explain what is wrong with D?

milanshivhare007 · Answer

The reason for disqualifying D seems to be ambiguity of pronoun 'that'. Wouldn't the same apply to option E then? Here also use of 'that' as a pronoun can be taken as ambiguous ? Kindly explain!

EducationAisle · Answer

Not really. D is missing on  parallelism , since there is nothing parallel to  right-handers' , on the left hand side.

So, a construct similar to the one below, would be more palatable:

left-handers' pattern of brain organization is quite different from right-handers'.

By the way,  that  in D is used as a  relative  pronoun while in E as a  demonstrative  pronoun.

p.s. Our book    EducationAisle Sentence Correction Nirvana    discusses  various usages of "that" , their application and examples in significant detail. If you or someone is interested, PM me your email-id; I can mail the corresponding section.

jaisonsunny77 · Answer

Left-handed people display  quite a different pattern of brain organization from right-handers.
   
(A) quite a different pattern of brain organization from right-handers  -  (A) implies that ''right-handers'' belong to ''organization''. This implication does not make sense.   
(B) quite a different pattern from right-handers of brain organization  -  has the same error as described in (A).  
 (C) a pattern quite different from the brain organization of right-handers  -  has a comparison error; (C) compares ''a pattern'' to ''brain organization''. 
 (D) a pattern of brain organization that is quite different from right-handers'  -  the object of the possessive noun ''right hander's '' cannot be identified unambiguously.  
 (E) a pattern of brain organization quite different from that of right-handers - has no error. Hence,  (E) is the right answer choice.

KarishmaB · Answer

(E) is way better than (D).

In (D), I am unhappy with "... a pattern of brain organization that is ..."
Seems like the 'that clause' is modifying brain organization, not 'pattern'. But actually it is the pattern that is different. 
Also, parallelism isn't great in (D). It needed to be "... left handers' pattern of ... is quite different from right handers'..."

AliciaSierra · Answer

generis ,

Hello generis, Could help with this question.

In E option, THAT is referring to what ?
Is "that of" referring to-->a Pattern
Is "that of" referring to --> brain organization
Is "that of" referring to -->a pattern of brain organization

pk6969 · Answer

Can anyone help in eliminating A? In A we are simply comparing right handers with left handers with respect to pattern of brain organization.
 Ram displays quite a different behaviour from sham. I don't think anything is wrong with this sentence. Please help.

svasan05 · Answer

Hi

What are we comparing here? We are comparing the pattern of brain recognition displayed by left handers to the pattern of brain recognition displayed by right handers.

Let us examine option (A): Left-handed people display quite a different pattern of brain organization  from right-handers .

This is of the form, "X is different from right handers", whereas I need X to be different from the pattern of brain recognition displayed by right handers. The two items being compared are not parallel and hence option (A) is incorrect.

Hope this helps.

Hoozan · Answer

Please could you explain why the parallelism in (D) is not great? I see a simple noun "a pattern of..." compared to a possessive noun "right handers'. Isn't it true that a simple noun can be compared to a possessive noun? As highlighted in this OG question https://gmatclub.com/forum/because-fish ... 65362.html

KarishmaB · Answer

In this question, I have a cleaner option and that makes all the difference. I have option (E) which has better parallelism. That is the reason I do not recommend studying for SC using stand alone cases and sentences. Whether something is correct or not depends on what else I have available. I look for the best option; it needn't be the only grammatically correct option. In fact, there are only a few things with black and white rules for what is correct and what is not.

P.S. - Whenever you put up a query, please do tag me. I often miss replies without mentions.

Ananabanana · Answer

Hi EducationAisle , Finally a clear explanation for what makes a deal between D and E. Thank you

Do we have a rule for what "that" modifies, as a relative pronounce? Per my understanding, "that" can modify "a pattern" or " brain organization" or "a pattern of brain organization", whatever makes logical sense. So even in D "that" somehow causes a pronounce ambiguity, right?

EducationAisle · Answer

You are on the spot there.

The usage of  that  as a relative pronoun is quite "flexible" in this regard, since  that  can modify the noun/noun-phrase whichever makes logical sense.

Hence, I would not consider the usage of "that" in option D ambiguous.

p.s. Our book    EducationAisle Sentence Correction Nirvana    discusses  modifier issues of "that" , their application and examples in significant detail. If you or someone is interested, PM me your email-id; I can mail the corresponding section.

Left-handed people display quite a different pattern of

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Left-handed people display quite a different pattern of

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