No two quarries are alike, and it requires a degree of study

Question

No two quarries are alike, and it requires  a degree of study to interpret what went on in the past.

(A) No two quarries are alike, and it requires 
(B) Two quarries are not alike, and either requires 
(C) Neither two quarries are alike, and each requires 
(D) No two quarries are alike, and each requires 
(E) No two quarries are alike, and either requires

Why is the usage of  either   in this ques wrong?

ramgmat · Answer

'Either' implies that either of the two requires a degree of study. You can either study this or that. 
'Each' implies each of the whole. Hence it can be said that each of the two which means both require a degree of study. 
The sentence talks about the study of both hence only 'each' applies more in this context.

parasarora1310 · Answer

D 
No two quarries are alike is correct
In A however: 'it' reference in not clear

geturdream · Answer

Both  Two quarries are not  and  Neither two quarries  are wrong
So it leaves A, D and E. 
Here we are trying to say both the quarries require a degree of study.... not any of them. so each is appropriate.

So D is correct

seekmba · Answer

What is the source of this question. All options are weird. "two quarries" is plural whereas 'each' and 'it' are singular in options A and D.

TommyWallach · Answer

Hey All,

I got asked to take this one on by private message, so here I am!

No two quarries are alike, and it requires a degree of study to interpret what went on in the past.

(A) No two quarries are alike, and it requires
PROBLEM: I want to make very clear that the issue here is NOT a pronoun issue. You're allowed to use "it" like this, with no antecedent, at the beginning of clauses. For example, "It is really hot out today." The problem is more that the logic of the sentence is totally unclear. If we don't refer to the quarries in the second half of the sentence, it becomes unclear what exactly we're trying to "interpret" about "the past."

(B) Two quarries are not alike, and either requires
PROBLEM: "Two quarries are not alike" changes the meaning, making it sound like there are just two quarries we're discussing, instead of making a general point. Using "either" makes it sound like there are only two quarries, when instead we're trying to make a general point about quarries.

(C) Neither two quarries are alike, and each requires
PROBLEM: "Neither two quarries are alike" is gibberish.

(D) No two quarries are alike, and each requires
ANSWER: "Each" is an adjective/pronoun that is used to refer to each of two or more things INDIVIDUALLY. Though "each" itself is singular, we OFTEN use it to refer to plural nouns. "Each of my uncles is crazy." Think of it having an understood "one" after it whenever its used on its own.

(E) No two quarries are alike, and either requires 
PROBLEM: Using "either" makes it sound like there are only two quarries, when instead we're trying to make a general point about quarries.

Hope that helps!

-t

seekmba · Answer

great explained Tommy. Thanks a lot.

Zatarra · Answer

Hi tommy, the above question has lead to a bit of confusion regarding the usage of either and neither when or/nor is not present.
Can you elaborate on the bolded part above that i have quoted.
 is there a grammatical problem / or a meaning problem with the foll. question.
 Neither two quarries are alike, and each requires... If you were to correct this usage of neither ,how would you do so?

No two quarries are alike, and either requires

Whats wrong with either?
Because "no two quarries " already tells us about that any 2 quarries in general are being discussed?

Zatarra · Answer

Boss OA has been given,Experts have declared their verdicts .

mithilesh · Answer

Can you please provide few more examples on the use of "It", without antecedent. and which other pronouns are used without antecedent?

Its a bit, tricky...

I negated Option A, as the pronoun "it" is not having any antecedent or clear reference in the sentence.

Can anybody please explain?

kissthegmat · Answer

Thanks Tommy for the great explanation.

TommyWallach · Answer

Hey Munda and Mithilesh,

Either/Neither refer to two specific things:

A and B are both great, and either (one) will work for our purpose.
Though A and B are both great, neither (one) will work for our purpose.

We don't want to refer to two specific things here. Also, using "neither" in a sentence without "nor" doesn't work unless you've already described them previously in the sentence (as in my example above). You can't say "Neither option is good" to begin a sentence if you don't know what options there are. This is what happens in answer choice C. It sounds like the sentence is referring to something that's already been discussed, only nothing has.

In E, it says "no two quarries are alike, and either..."

The either means "either (one)," but we haven't referred to any two SPECIFIC quarries. We just made a general statement (idiomatic), that no two quarries are alike. This is speaking about ALL quarries in the universe, not a specific two.

The "it" is allowed at the beginning of sentences and clauses. This is called a dummy pronoun, and is best explained by Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dummy_pronoun

Here are a couple more examples:

"Though I'm tired, it'll be worth it if I keep working."

"It's a mad world."

There is no antecedent...we're just making a general statement.

Hope that helps!

-t

Zatarra · Answer

This is something new that i have learnt today about the either... element.Your explanation was awesome

craky · Answer

Thanks Tommy. I also picked A, now I understand why it was wrong.

imania · Answer

I went for D,
you gotta be careful about the meaning!

No two quarries are alike, and it requires a degree of study

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