My question is can Placeholder It & Pronoun It appear in one sentence in gmat?

Can we make up a correct sentence that have both Placeholder It & Pronoun It?

I tried to make one.
Although many people were waiting for the new movie, Lisa made it [Placeholder It ]possible for us to watch it [Pronoun It] on the premiere.

Is this correct?

Today, despite widely available technology such as high-resolution scanners and printers, counterfeiting is more difficult than it was at the time of the Civil War, when it was estimated that one-third of all currency in circulation was counterfeit.

This sentence is stated as correct as it is.
I think the first it is Pronoun It. Second it is Placeholder It.

Please clarify.

Question source: MGMAT Test

the second it is reffering to a time period . I think it can be used without any refferal in case of time.

You are correct. The first "it" is used as a pronoun because it is referring to the noun "counterfeiting." The second "it" is used as a placeholder because it is referring to the that-clause "THAT one-third of all currency in circulation was counterfeit."

_________________
Ben Ku
Instructor
ManhattanGMAT

Today, despite widely available technology such as high-resolution scanners and printers, counterfeiting is more difficult than it was at the time of the Civil War, when it was estimated that one-third of all currency in circulation was counterfeit.

A Today, despite widely available technology such as high-resolution scanners and printers, counterfeiting is more difficult than it was at the time of the Civil War, when it was estimated that one-third of all currency in circulation was counterfeit.
B Despite widely available technology such as high-resolution scanners and printers today, counterfeiting is more difficult than it was at the time of the Civil War, when it was estimated that one-third of all currency in circulation was counterfeit.
C Despite widely available technology such as high-resolution scanners and printers, counterfeiting is more difficult than at the time of the Civil War, when it was estimated that one-third of all currency in circulation was counterfeit.
D Today, despite widely available technology such as high-resolution scanners and printers, counterfeiting is more difficult than when it was estimated that one-third of all currency in circulation was counterfeit at the time of the Civil War.
E Today, because of widely available technology such as high-resolution scanners and printers, counterfeiting is more difficult than it was at the time of the Civil War, when it was estimated that one-third of all currency in circulation was counter

Can you Please explain Why B is wrong I could not understand MGMAT's explanation

(B) Despite widely available technology such as high-resolution scanners and printers today, counterfeiting is more difficult than it was at the time of the Civil War, when it was estimated that one-third of all currency in circulation was counterfeit.

The placement of modifier "today" is not great. It is "technology widely available today." Not just "scanners and printers today," as this seems to say. In contrast, in (A), we can appropriately read "despite widely available...scanners and printers" as an inessential modifier, and see "Today," as a modifier of the main clause "counterfeiting is (i.e. today) more difficult..."

So the error in (B) is primarily a Misplaced Modifier.

And though this is a bit of a stretch, the placement of "today" makes the parallelism in the main clause less ideal in (B) than in the original:
counterfeiting is more difficult than it was at the time of the Civil War

"was" has a time modifier to explain exactly when: "at the time of the Civil War"
"is" no longer does, now that "today" doesn't attach as cleanly to the main clause.

_________________
Emily Sledge
Instructor
ManhattanGMAT