Katharine Graham

[tim]

the error is that it's horrible. :) you should avoid using a possessive with "becoming"..

[swara_ms]

It was only after Katharine Graham became publisher of The Washington Post in 1963 that it moved into the first rank of American newspapers, and it was under her command that the paper won high praise for its unrelenting reporting of the Watergate scandal.

A It was only after Katharine Graham became publisher of The Washington Post in 1963 that it moved into the first rank of American newspapers, and it was under her command that the paper won high praise

Hi,

Please clarify my doubt.

In general "It" should refer to noun + all attached modifiers.

In option A does it hold good.

My doubt is that am i on the right path in understanding this. Else please let me understand if there are any special conditions where/when "It" refers to noun phrases and in what scenarios does "It" refer the way it acted in this example.

Warm Regards,
MS

[gmatwork]

In the last choice (e)

Moving into the first rank of American newspapers only after Katharine Grahame's becoming its publisher in 1963, The Washington Post won high praise under her command

What sort of cause and effect relationship does use of ing modifier in this choice exhibit between "winning high praise" and "moving to first rank"? As per the current structure what is the cause and what the effect?

[gmatwork]

please disregard the above post. I got my answer. "ing" verb modifier indicates the result of the action in the previous clause...so it's clear.

[RonPurewal]

Please clarify my doubt.

In general "It" should refer to noun + all attached modifiers.

In option A does it hold good.

this is one of the versions of "it" that form exceptions to the usual pronoun rules.
specifically, it's #1 here:
post49622.html#p49622

[shankar245]

well, notice that i wrote "very rarely" -- not "never".

in general, it's not worth thinking about pronoun ambiguity; you should be able to think about just three things with regard to pronouns:

1/
does the pronoun stand for a NOUN? (if not, then go to step 3.)

2/
does the pronoun MATCH the noun in terms of SINGULAR/PLURAL? (if so, it's fine in 99% of cases; if not, it's incorrect.)

3/
is the pronoun one of these exceptions?
post49622.html#p49622

note that this approach would not have led you astray on this particular problem.

Hi Ron,

Nice Structured algorithm : I reckon even the folks at GMAC cannot provide such intricate answers :).Lovely!.

Now, when I apply this Alogorithm here:

While depressed property values can hurt some large investors, they are potentially devastating for homeowners, whose equity - in many cases representing a life's savings - can plunge or even disappear.

step 1 : Pronoun stands for a noun ? Check - yes infact two property values and investors.

step 2 : Does it match both the nouns ? check - Yes Very much!

So now I can eliminate by checking two things :
1) Since all other choices have the same pronoun ambiguity I WILL not eliminate the answer.( Keep it for now and look for other errors).
2) As you had mentioned here
og-verbal-review-sc-19-t1323.html
It cannot refer to the Object of the clause, so it refers to property values.

My doubt here is this :
How does Step 2 work internally?
When there is an ambiguity( i.e. I have a pronoun that matches two nouns ( Sing/Plural) and number.

Only thing i can eliminate is based on the meaning?
Is that correct.
Please help!
Thank you.

[jlucero]

Internally, step 2 involves looking for what my options are. If it's a split between they, an ambiguous pronoun, and the word values, then I think about whether the pronoun is ambiguous. But if the split is between they and it (which is what this problem tests), then I ignore the ambiguity of pronouns which is not as uncommon as you might expect.

Internally, I don't start with the rules and look for splits. I look for splits and then think about the rules that MIGHT allow me to choose one over the other.

[jyothi h]

I still have a couple of doubts in option C.
I did read Stacey's post about the meaning change with option C and completely agree . But,I thought the usage of "IT" here was not really an issue . Is , the usage of "that" an issue in option C ? Doesn't it need a pronoun reference here ?
Appreciate if anyone can help clarify the above.

Thanks,
Jyothi

[jlucero]

I see your point about it- you could argue that since Katherine Graham was the publisher, it shouldn't refer back to her. But as Stacey mentioned, it is a problem because structurally, KG is the subject of the sentence, and a pronoun referring back to a previous clause generally refers back to its main idea/subject:

Yesterday I went to the mall and it was fun.
it = the fact that I went to the mall and not the mall itself.

That is fine here. Especially after a preposition that indicates a reference of time, after that/before that/around that, "that" is clear in what it refers to.

[jyothi h]

I see your point about it- you could argue that since Katherine Graham was the publisher, it shouldn't refer back to her. But as Stacey mentioned, it is a problem because structurally, KG is the subject of the sentence, and a pronoun referring back to a previous clause generally refers back to its main idea/subject:

Yesterday I went to the mall and it was fun.
it = the fact that I went to the mall and not the mall itself.

That is fine here. Especially after a preposition that indicates a reference of time, after that/before that/around that, "that" is clear in what it refers to.

I got it . Thanks for the clarification , Joe !

-Jyothi

[tim]

:)

[am_dangerous_dude]

After seeing too many grammatical terms, i really got terrified...I have a solution please let me know if it works..

All the options except A miss the part mentioning "Water Gate scandal". Is it not a reason good enough to negate all the others.

[RonPurewal]

After seeing too many grammatical terms, i really got terrified...I have a solution please let me know if it works..

All the options except A miss the part mentioning "Water Gate scandal". Is it not a reason good enough to negate all the others.

hmm?
that's in the non-underlined portion of the sentence, so it applies to all five choices.
perhaps i'm misunderstanding your question?

[harishmullapudi]

C has a problematic pronoun (it) - logically refers to Wash Post but structurally could refer to KG or publisher. Also, this sentence indicates that it moved into the first ranks as a result of having won high praise. The original sentence doesn't indicate that meaning and we can't just change the meaning of the sentence.

That leaves us with A (where the second "it" pronoun is fine, by the way, because both logically and structurally it refers to Wash Post).

Stacey, Two questions here...

Why 'it' in option A structurally does refer to Wash Post and 'it' in option C structurally does not refer to Wash post? Also can you please explain us how to match 'it' structurally to its antecedent? I read MGMAT SC book and got some idea, but this question completely confused me.
I use this "it reference" as one of my elimination techniques :(

Also, why sentence construction in C indicates that Wash Post moved into the first ranks as a result of having won high praise and why sentence construction in A doesn't indicate that?
I know this question is hard to explain because it is related to logical thinking, but is there any way you can explain me?

[jlucero]

C has a problematic pronoun (it) - logically refers to Wash Post but structurally could refer to KG or publisher. Also, this sentence indicates that it moved into the first ranks as a result of having won high praise. The original sentence doesn't indicate that meaning and we can't just change the meaning of the sentence.

That leaves us with A (where the second "it" pronoun is fine, by the way, because both logically and structurally it refers to Wash Post).

Stacey, Two questions here...

Why 'it' in option A structurally does refer to Wash Post and 'it' in option C structurally does not refer to Wash post? Also can you please explain us how to match 'it' structurally to its antecedent? I read MGMAT SC book and got some idea, but this question completely confused me.
I use this "it reference" as one of my elimination techniques :(

Also, why sentence construction in C indicates that Wash Post moved into the first ranks as a result of having won high praise and why sentence construction in A doesn't indicate that?
I know this question is hard to explain because it is related to logical thinking, but is there any way you can explain me?

Ron responded to a similar question below Stacey's post and I responded to it on the second page. Read those explanations first.