The first study of magpie attacks in Australia indicates

Question

The first study of magpie attacks in Australia indicates that  by the time they had reached adulthood, 98 percent of men and 75 percent of women born in the country have been attacked by the birds. 
A - Default
B - by the time they reach adulthood, 98 percent of men and 75 percent of women, who were born in the country, had been attacked by the birds.
C - by the time they reached adulthood, 98 percent of men and 75 percent of women born in the country had been attacked by the birds.
D - 98 percent of men and 75 percent of women that were born in the country were attacked by the birds by the time they reached adulthood.
E - 98 percent of men and 75 percent of women who were born in the country, by the time they reached adulthood had been attacked by the birds.

Got it down to two choices--can't figure out how to eliminate the last one...

GMAT TIGER · Answer

A. However they is little wired to me but there no plural before "they". So "they" should refer to "men and women" that follow it.
B/C/E. had been?
D: that for men/women?

bigtreezl · Answer

E ....use "who" when referring to people

ConkergMat · Answer

The first study of magpie attacks in Australia indicates that  by the time they had reached adulthood, 98 percent of men and 75 percent of women born in the country have been attacked by the birds .
A - Default
B - by the time  they reach  adulthood, 98 percent of men and 75 percent of women, who were born in the country, had been attacked by the birds.
C - by the time they reached adulthood, 98 percent of men and 75 percent of women born in the country had been attacked by the birds.
D - 98 percent of men and 75 percent of women that were born in the country were attacked by the birds by the time  they reached adulthood. 
E - 98 percent of men and 75 percent of women who were born in the country,  by the time they reached adulthood  had been attacked by the birds.

Pick C

Technext · Answer

Here goes my explanation:
-------------------------------
A.) Default ---> Tense mismatch (... they had ... & ... have been ...)

B.) by the time they reach adulthood, 98 percent of men and 75 percent of women, who were born in the country, had been attacked by the birds. ---> Tense mismatch (... they reach ... & ... had been attacked ...)

C.) by the time they reached adulthood, 98 percent of men and 75 percent of women born in the country had been attacked by the birds. ---> This sentence correctly uses the past perfect tense 'had'. Also, there is no tense mismatch (... reached adulthood ... & ... had been attacked ...).

D.) 98 percent of men and 75 percent of women that were born in the country were attacked by the birds by the time they reached adulthood. ---> 'that' is a wrong usage for 'men & women'

E.) 98 percent of men and 75 percent of women who were born in the country, by the time they reached adulthood had been attacked by the birds. ---> This sentence corrects the error in option D, but this is an awkward construction (... they reached adulthood had been ...).
-------------------------------

This is a good question.  Generally antecedent precedes the pronoun but  sometimes it comes after   as in this case.

Ex. 
My  father  read  his  email first.  He  just couldn't wait.
Although  he  is a famous action hero,  Sam  likes watching comedy movies.

In this question, it is clear that the antecedent refers to men & women .

My choice is option  C .

Also, +1 for this question AndersonBound.

AndersonBound · Answer

^^^Great explanation / insight to your answer. ^^^^ +1 :wink:

AndersonBound · Answer

Technext had a great answer but I'd like to get a few more replies with different points of view and different reasonings.

I had a hard time with this one and want to get a really good grasp of the concept being tested so that I get it locked down.

More discussion / more thoughts...then the OA.

x2suresh · Answer

A. tense mismatch : "had reached" vs "have been attacked"
B & E --> looks like "who" refers to only women.. 
B tense mistmatch: "reach" vs "had been attacked"

generally Who refers to people. That and which refer to groups or things.

D --> "that" is not appopriate here

C is the best..

sanjay_gmat · Answer

I too think C is the right answer.

will be waiting for the OA.

JohnLewis1980 · Answer

Hi mates, this is a very tough one! I'd go with C (thanks to the mates' explanations :oops:

) OA and Source? Cheers

AndersonBound · Answer

Thanks Everyone.

OA: C
Source: GMAT Prep 2

GMAT TIGER · Answer

Disaster.

I realize what I overlooked and agree with C...

marshpa · Answer

X2suresh, good explaination for the E. Usage of who is really ambiguous.

nitya34 · Answer

A and D can be easily eliminated
i had wrongly chosen E
great explanations,Technext!! thx

The first study of magpie attacks in Australia indicates

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