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RonPurewal
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Post subject: Re: Re:  Posted: Fri Aug 07, 2009 5:45 am |
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| ManhattanGMAT Staff |
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Posts: 7146
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goelmohit2002 wrote: dbernst wrote: E) The second pronoun "it" is ambiguous: does it refer to the "empire" or to the "script"? Hi Dan, As per Manhattan SC guide 4th edition, in these type of scenarios...the next "it" refers to the noun to which previous "it" refered.... so shouldn't it refer to "empire"...so it should be case of wrong pronoun rather than ambiguous one ? Thanks Mohit no, sorry, dan's previous post is actually mistaken; the pronoun "it" in (e) is correct. it CANNOT refer to "empire" in this case, because "empire" is the subject of the sentence. if we were going to have a pronoun in this spot that referred to "empire", we would have to use itself. (note that "bringing with it" is exempt from this rule, because it's a special idiomatic construction that doesn't require a reflexive "-self" pronoun. for instance, i can say i brought the groceries with me; i don't have to say "myself" in this special case.) the principal problem with (e) is that it's written in parallel structure - which it shouldn't be.the current reading indicates that the empire brought with it the script, and that the empire also "derived from it ...". that's clearly not what we mean to say here, so this choice is wrong. the pronoun in this choice is NOT wrong.
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RonPurewal
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Post subject: Re: Re: Posted: Fri Aug 07, 2009 5:50 am |
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| ManhattanGMAT Staff |
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Posts: 7146
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goelmohit2002 wrote: dbernst wrote: Finally, the subject "northern and southern Indian alphabets" is unclear: are there several alphabets, or only one of each?
Hi Dan, Thanks for the awesome explanation..... Just one small query.... Can you please tell more about the above quoted thing...and how the same is resolved in the correct answer i.e. C.....I could see only one addition in C i.e. "the" wrt to the subject is concerned.... Can you please tell how the addition of "the" resolves the above problem. Thanks Mohit hi - the meanings are different. if you just say "northern and southern indian alphabets", then it seems like you're just talking about some northern and some southern indian alphabets - i.e., nothing necessarily complete or exhaustive. if you use "the", then you're talking about THE alphabets, i.e., all of them. in this case, both meanings are legitimate (although the second makes more sense - the first would be an unnecessarily weak/awkward/unclear statement, if that were truly the intended meaning). i don't really see any evidence that you should choose the meaning with "the" over the meaning without it, but, luckily, you don't have to: remember that correctness always wins over clarity. (a) is incorrect for at least two other reasons, so, therefore, you don't have to worry about the battle of meanings.
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goelmohit2002
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Post subject: Re: Re: Posted: Sat Aug 08, 2009 4:24 pm |
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RonPurewal wrote: goelmohit2002 wrote: dbernst wrote: E) The second pronoun "it" is ambiguous: does it refer to the "empire" or to the "script"? Hi Dan, As per Manhattan SC guide 4th edition, in these type of scenarios...the next "it" refers to the noun to which previous "it" refered.... so shouldn't it refer to "empire"...so it should be case of wrong pronoun rather than ambiguous one ? Thanks Mohit no, sorry, dan's previous post is actually mistaken; the pronoun "it" in (e) is correct. it CANNOT refer to "empire" in this case, because "empire" is the subject of the sentence. if we were going to have a pronoun in this spot that referred to "empire", we would have to use itself. (note that "bringing with it" is exempt from this rule, because it's a special idiomatic construction that doesn't require a reflexive "-self" pronoun. for instance, i can say i brought the groceries with me; i don't have to say "myself" in this special case.) the principal problem with (e) is that it's written in parallel structure - which it shouldn't be.the current reading indicates that the empire brought with it the script, and that the empire also "derived from it ...". that's clearly not what we mean to say here, so this choice is wrong. the pronoun in this choice is NOT wrong. Awesome Ron ! Thanks a lot !
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goelmohit2002
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Post subject: Re: Re: Posted: Sat Aug 08, 2009 4:25 pm |
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Posts: 226
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RonPurewal wrote: goelmohit2002 wrote: dbernst wrote: Finally, the subject "northern and southern Indian alphabets" is unclear: are there several alphabets, or only one of each?
Hi Dan, Thanks for the awesome explanation..... Just one small query.... Can you please tell more about the above quoted thing...and how the same is resolved in the correct answer i.e. C.....I could see only one addition in C i.e. "the" wrt to the subject is concerned.... Can you please tell how the addition of "the" resolves the above problem. Thanks Mohit hi - the meanings are different. if you just say "northern and southern indian alphabets", then it seems like you're just talking about some northern and some southern indian alphabets - i.e., nothing necessarily complete or exhaustive. if you use "the", then you're talking about THE alphabets, i.e., all of them. in this case, both meanings are legitimate (although the second makes more sense - the first would be an unnecessarily weak/awkward/unclear statement, if that were truly the intended meaning). i don't really see any evidence that you should choose the meaning with "the" over the meaning without it, but, luckily, you don't have to: remember that correctness always wins over clarity. (a) is incorrect for at least two other reasons, so, therefore, you don't have to worry about the battle of meanings. Thanks Ron !
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RonPurewal
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Post subject: Re: Re: Posted: Thu Aug 27, 2009 2:19 am |
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| ManhattanGMAT Staff |
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Posts: 7146
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prajeen_v
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Post subject: Re: The Achaemenid empire of Persia reached the Indus valley Posted: Tue Aug 09, 2011 12:09 pm |
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Hello Ron,
I know it was said multiple times that we should not question correct answers in GMAT. But, i have a question regarding the correct answer choice C.
will the choice C be right if it was written in the way given below?
[C modified] with it the Aramaic script, from which derived both the northern and the
In other words, why the present tense (derive) is used in the correct choice, C?
thanks.
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RonPurewal
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Post subject: Re: The Achaemenid empire of Persia reached the Indus valley Posted: Mon Aug 15, 2011 3:13 am |
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| ManhattanGMAT Staff |
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Posts: 7146
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prajeen_v wrote: Hello Ron,
I know it was said multiple times that we should not question correct answers in GMAT. But, i have a question regarding the correct answer choice C.
will the choice C be right if it was written in the way given below?
[C modified] with it the Aramaic script, from which derived both the northern and the
In other words, why the present tense (derive) is used in the correct choice, C?
thanks. the fact that those alphabets are derived from ("are derived from" = "derive from") the aramaic script is not a past occurrence; it is still true today. the use of the past tense here would therefore be wrong, because it would imply that this is no longer the case. for instance: medieval physicians were the first to discover that blood circulates through the human body. --> correct (because blood still circulates through the human body today; this is a timeless fact) medieval physicians were the first to discover that blood circulated through the human body. --> incorrect, unless today's humans no longer have circulating blood.
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thanghnvn
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Post subject: Re: The Achaemenid empire of Persia reached the Indus valley Posted: Fri Jan 06, 2012 9:51 am |
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Posts: 206
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I agree C
But in C, "from which drive both..."
should be
"from which both a and b drive..."
why in C, "drive" goes before subject.
Pls,explain, help.
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tim
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Post subject: Re: The Achaemenid empire of Persia reached the Indus valley Posted: Sun Jan 15, 2012 11:32 pm |
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| ManhattanGMAT Staff |
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Posts: 2242
Location: Southwest Airlines, seat 21C
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it goes before the subject because it can. :) that's just something to keep in mind about this type of construction..
_________________
Tim Sanders
Manhattan GMAT Instructor
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