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trungnguyenn
Joined: 21 Mar 2017
Last visit: 12 Dec 2018
Posts: 26
Location: Viet Nam
Concentration: Finance, International Business
WE:General Management (Pharmaceuticals and Biotech)
Posts: 26
Be sure to select an answer first to save it in the Error Log before revealing the correct answer (OA)!
Difficulty:
75%
(hard)
Question Stats:
40% (01:37) correct
60%
(01:40)
wrong
based on 406
sessions
History
Date
Time
Result
Not Attempted Yet
Dengue fever, a viral disease, is common in humid, tropical climates, and it has become more prevalent as flooding has expanded the habitat of the mosquitoes that are the virus's carriers for much of its life cycle.
A. the mosquitoes that are the virus's carriers for much of its life cycle
B. the mosquitoes that are the virus's carriers in much of their life cycle
C. mosquitoes which become the virus's carriers for much of its life cycles
D. mosquitoes which become the carriers of the virus during the virus's life cycles
E. virus's carriers, mosquitoes which become their carriers during their life cycles
A. the mosquitoes that are the virus's carriers for much of its life cycle
B. the mosquitoes that are the virus's carriers in much of their life cycle
C. mosquitoes which become the virus's carriers for much of its life cycles
D. mosquitoes which become the carriers of the virus during the virus's life cycles
E. virus's carriers, mosquitoes which become their carriers during their life cycles
GMAT Focus 1: 745 Q86 V90 DI85 
Posts: 3,003
The pronoun "its" correctly refers to "virus's." A possessive pronoun can definitely refer back to a possessive noun. Some people may be worrying about the "possessive poison" rule here, but it doesn't apply here, and in any case, we've backed off of teaching that rule because the GMAT doesn't always follow it!
(For those who are curious, the "rule" says that you can't use a regular, non-possessive pronoun to refer to a possessive noun. For instance, if I said "Kim's brother borrowed her car," an adherent of the rule would say that "her" has no antecedent. In the case of this SC question, however, the point is moot, since we are replacing a possessive with a possessive.)
_________________
(For those who are curious, the "rule" says that you can't use a regular, non-possessive pronoun to refer to a possessive noun. For instance, if I said "Kim's brother borrowed her car," an adherent of the rule would say that "her" has no antecedent. In the case of this SC question, however, the point is moot, since we are replacing a possessive with a possessive.)
_________________
Manhattan Prep Instructor from 2009-2025
General Discussion
Not sure if the OA is correct.
The pronoun "its" cannot refer to possessive "virus's", and it is illogical to say that "its" refers to "Dengue fever". "Dengue fever's lifecycle" does not make any sense. Ideally it should be Virus's lifecycle.
_________________
The pronoun "its" cannot refer to possessive "virus's", and it is illogical to say that "its" refers to "Dengue fever". "Dengue fever's lifecycle" does not make any sense. Ideally it should be Virus's lifecycle.
_________________
I went for B as i thought that their represents virus's lifecycle but OA displays otherwise.
trungnguyenn
What is the source of the question?
_________________
nileshm
Current Student
Joined: 01 Oct 2017
Last visit: 13 Jan 2022
Posts: 15
Location: India
Concentration: Finance, Marketing
Schools: BITSoM '23 (M)
GMAT 1: 700 Q44 V41
saswata4s
Shouldn't 'its' actually refer to the mosquitoes instead of virus since virus's have no definite lifecycle?
It's logical to say that mosquitoes carry the virus for most of the time before dying. Option B seems a little better in that respect.
When nothing goes right, remember that a²+b²=c²
nileshm
This reasoning is not correct. "Mosquitoes" is plural and hence "Its" can not refer to mosquitoes.
If you check the options, they either say "Mosquitoes are the virus's carriers" or "become the virus's carriers"
_________________
Mosquitos and carriers are plural so its is wrong. What is the source of this question?
trungnguyenn
Joined: 21 Mar 2017
Last visit: 12 Dec 2018
Posts: 26
Location: Viet Nam
Concentration: Finance, International Business
WE:General Management (Pharmaceuticals and Biotech)
Posts: 26
Updated on: 30 Oct 2017, 05:37
Originally posted by trungnguyenn on 18 Oct 2017, 22:32.
Last edited by trungnguyenn on 30 Oct 2017, 05:37, edited 1 time in total.
Last edited by trungnguyenn on 30 Oct 2017, 05:37, edited 1 time in total.
I got the question from Ready4GMAT app.
It reasoned that “its” could actually refer to possessive “virus’s”. Wait for expert explanation.
Sent from my iPhone using GMAT Club Forum
It reasoned that “its” could actually refer to possessive “virus’s”. Wait for expert explanation.
Sent from my iPhone using GMAT Club Forum
nileshm
Current Student
Joined: 01 Oct 2017
Last visit: 13 Jan 2022
Posts: 15
Location: India
Concentration: Finance, Marketing
Schools: BITSoM '23 (M)
GMAT 1: 700 Q44 V41
saswata4s
Makes sense. Thanks for explaining!
A possessive pronoun, such as its, can refer to a possessive. This question is quite confusing. Experts, please help!
I cannot understand the usage of 'its' in this question. Please explain.
Posts: 14
trungnguyenn
vWhy is it " for much of its cycle" but not "in"?
DmitryFarber Thanks a lot! It is clear now that a possessive pronoun can correctly refer back to a possessive noun.
GMAT Focus 1: 745 Q86 V90 DI85
Posts: 3,003
By the way, here's a good current example of an official question that uses a possessive antecedent for a regular pronoun: https://gmatclub.com/forum/sc-og-208881.html
_________________
_________________
Manhattan Prep Instructor from 2009-2025
GMAT Focus 1: 745 Q86 V90 DI85
Posts: 3,003
minhnhat3009, it's kind of a subtle difference, so I could dodge the issue by saying "it's just an idiom to learn." But let's look at some examples (all correct):
Funk music was popular in the 1970's.
Funk music was popular for many years.
Securing new patents was the company's highest priority in its early years.
For a 10-year period, securing patents was the company's highest priority.
What's the difference? "In" situates the action in time. When did it happen? Often, the action happened only at that time, but that doesn't have to be true. For instance, I could say "Funk music was popular in the 1970's, and it is popular again today."
"For" explains how long something lasts. So if I were to say "In a 10-year period," that would mean that X happened at some point in there. By contrast, "For a 10-year period" means that X happened for the entire 10 years.
Getting back to our original, we want to say that mosquitoes carry for the virus throughout much of its life cycle. "For" is appropriate, because we are talking about how long this lasts (for much of the virus's life cycle).
_________________
Funk music was popular in the 1970's.
Funk music was popular for many years.
Securing new patents was the company's highest priority in its early years.
For a 10-year period, securing patents was the company's highest priority.
What's the difference? "In" situates the action in time. When did it happen? Often, the action happened only at that time, but that doesn't have to be true. For instance, I could say "Funk music was popular in the 1970's, and it is popular again today."
"For" explains how long something lasts. So if I were to say "In a 10-year period," that would mean that X happened at some point in there. By contrast, "For a 10-year period" means that X happened for the entire 10 years.
Getting back to our original, we want to say that mosquitoes carry for the virus throughout much of its life cycle. "For" is appropriate, because we are talking about how long this lasts (for much of the virus's life cycle).
_________________
Manhattan Prep Instructor from 2009-2025
Dengue fever, a viral disease, is common in humid, tropical climates, and it has become more prevalent as flooding has expanded the habitat of the mosquitoes that are the virus's carriers for much of its life cycle.
A. the mosquitoes that are the virus's carriers for much of its life cycle..Correct
B. the mosquitoes that are the virus's carriers in much of their life cycle
C. mosquitoes which become the virus's carriers for much of its life cycles
D. mosquitoes which become the carriers of the virus during the virus's life cycles
E. virus's carriers, mosquitoes which become their carriers during their life cycles
3 second approach: since we are taking about a single virus, it should be life cycle. So CDE are out.
In B, "their" is a plural pronoun referring to single noun, virus. So out.
Correct answer is A
A. the mosquitoes that are the virus's carriers for much of its life cycle..Correct
B. the mosquitoes that are the virus's carriers in much of their life cycle
C. mosquitoes which become the virus's carriers for much of its life cycles
D. mosquitoes which become the carriers of the virus during the virus's life cycles
E. virus's carriers, mosquitoes which become their carriers during their life cycles
3 second approach: since we are taking about a single virus, it should be life cycle. So CDE are out.
In B, "their" is a plural pronoun referring to single noun, virus. So out.
Correct answer is A
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