Several recent studies suggest that a child born into a family whose

Question

Several recent studies suggest that  a child born into a family whose members have allergies will probably themselves develop allergies  following the onset of a minor viral infection.

(A) a child born into a family whose members have allergies will probably themselves develop allergies
(B) children born into families whose members have allergies will probably themselves develop allergies
(C) a child born into a family the members of which have allergies will probably develop an allergy
(D) in those families where members have allergies, children will probably develop allergies themselves
(E) children born into a family in which there are allergies will themselves probably develop an allergy

Tracy95 · Answer

(A)  a child  born into a family whose members have allergies will probably  themselves  develop allergies 
=> mismatch as "a child" is a singular noun while "themselves" is a plural reflexive pronoun

(B) children born into families whose members have allergies will probably themselves develop allergies
=> correct use of relative pronoun "whose" and reflexive pronoun "themselves" which refers to "children"

(C) a child born into a family the members  of which  have allergies will probably develop an allergy
=> the use of "of which" is not approriate => a "whose" between "family" and "members" is preferred

(D) in those families  where  members have allergies, children will probably develop allergies themselves
=> "those" is quite a redundant & the relative pronoun "where" is not approriate here as "where" refers to place

(E) children born into a family  in which   there are allergies  will themselves probably develop an allergy
=> the use of "in which" is not correct as "in which" refers to place & "there are allergies" sounds awkward as if the allergies are not of family members.

daagh · Answer

Several recent studies suggest that  a child born into a family whose members have allergies will probably themselves develop allergies  following the onset of a minor viral infection.

(A) a child born into a family whose members have allergies will probably themselves develop allergies ----  SV error in saying 'a child and themselves'  
 
(B) children born into families whose members have allergies will probably themselves develop allergies --  fair enough and a good choice

(C) a child born into a family the members of which have allergies will probably develop an allergy. --- ' an allergy' is a wrong word implying that the child is vulnerable to a single allergy. The child is susceptible to a variety of allergies is the intent of the prompt.  
(D) in those families where members have allergies, children will probably develop allergies themselves --  where cannot refer to families.

(E) children born into a family in which there are allergies will themselves probably develop an allergy. ---  the members have allergies and not the families. In addition, the allusion to 'an allergy' is wrong

B is the best.

Shobhit7 · Answer

A reflexive Pronoun means action done by subject on itself/oneself.

The use of 'themselves' in choice B illogically indicates that children are themselves performing the action of setting in allergies.

Hence, IMHO, Choice B is incorrect on the basis of illogical meaning.

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RICHA1189 · Answer

Several recent studies suggest that a child born into a family whose members have allergies will probably themselves develop allergies following the onset of a minor viral infection.

(A) a child born into a family whose members have allergies will probably themselves develop allergies-  a child …. Themselves … wrong 
(B) children born into families whose members have allergies will probably themselves develop allergies -  subject and verb agree, correct use of whose 
(C) a child born into a family the members of which have allergies will probably develop an allergy -  allergies and allergy not parallel 
(D) in those families where members have allergies, children will probably develop allergies themselves -  modifier error 
(E) children born into a family in which there are allergies will themselves probably develop an allergy -  allergies and allergy not parallel

Several recent studies suggest that a child born into a family whose

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GMAT Sentence Correction (SC - EA only) Questions

Several recent studies suggest that a child born into a family whose

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