Until Berta and Ernst Scharrer established the concept of ne

[syxphoebe]

Until Berta and Ernst Scharrer established the concept of neurosecretion in 1928, scientists believed that either cells secreted hormones, which made them endocrine cells and thus part of the endocrine system, or conducted electrical impulses, in which case they were nerve cells and thus part of the nervous system.

(A) either cells secreted hormones, which made them

(B) either cells secreted hormones, making them

(C) either cells secreted hormones and were

(D) cells either secreted hormones, in which case they were

(E) cells either secreted hormones, which made them

D or E？thoughts？ THX^-^

[leovir.22]

Hi syxphoebe,

In the option A) B) D and E), there is a reference to "them" and "they", which does not have a clear antecedent to it. We don't know whether it refers to harmones or cells.

Thus I'd go with option C)

What say?

[syxphoebe]

Hi syxphoebe,

In the option A) B) D and E), there is a reference to "them" and "they", which does not have a clear antecedent to it. We don't know whether it refers to harmones or cells.

Thus I'd go with option C)

What say？
-----------------------------
Hi leovir.22，
please pay attention to the structure"either...or..."
either A or B "•ã€‰A,B should parallel

[syxphoebe]

please~~~~(>_<)~~~~

[syxphoebe]

could you help me？

[stock.mojo11]

Split between either cells or cells either.

To preserve parallelism, cells either must be choosen

cells either secreted hormones or conducted impulses.

Between D and E, D is correct as it is parallel with the non underlined part of the sentence.

[JonathanSchneider]

D is also correct for meaning. E says "which made them endocrine cells." But the hormones did not make the cells endocrine cells. The fact that the cells produced these hormones shows that the cells are endocrine cells.

[syxphoebe]

Split between either cells or cells either.

To preserve parallelism, cells either must be choosen

cells either secreted hormones or conducted impulses.

Between D and E, D is correct as it is parallel with the non underlined part of the sentence.

got it . thx O(∩_∩)O~

[syxphoebe]

D is also correct for meaning. E says "which made them endocrine cells." But the hormones did not make the cells endocrine cells. The fact that the cells produced these hormones shows that the cells are endocrine cells.

umm.i see . thank you O(∩_∩)O~

[StaceyKoprince]

What is that funky ASCII supposed to represent? Haven't seen that one before. :)

[a.karajgikar]

Hi,
Bumped into this question while revisiting old posts. I could narrow down to answer D.
However,
Could you please explain what are the antecedents of pronouns(they or them) in each answer choice? Why?

I have selected option D, because pronoun reference is clear along with other reasons enlised above. It clearly refers to the subject of previous clause which is CELLS. But,
even 'Scientists' is also in subject position.

I am missing an important point with regard to pronoun reference.
Please guide.

[RonPurewal]

Hi,
Bumped into this question while revisiting old posts. I could narrow down to answer D.
However,
Could you please explain what are the antecedents of pronouns(they or them) in each answer choice? Why?

I have selected option D, because pronoun reference is clear along with other reasons enlised above. It clearly refers to the subject of previous clause which is CELLS. But,
even 'Scientists' is also in subject position.

I am missing an important point with regard to pronoun reference.
Please guide.

remember, pronoun ambiguity is not necessarily an error -- really, all you need is to have a clearly correct antecedent. if there are other nouns running around that could, grammatically, be antecedents, but just don't make any sense, then you don't have to worry about those.

see a fuller treatment here:

post40400.html#p40400

[divineacclivity]

Could you please explain why B is incorrect?

Option B: "..either cells secreted hormones, making them endocrine cells.."
Since it is "making them endocrine cells..", "them" clearly seems to refer to cells and not hormones because it is obvious that harmones can not be made into some type of cells. No? Is my thought process wrong? Please explain.

Thank you.

[thanghnvn]

Hi,
Bumped into this question while revisiting old posts. I could narrow down to answer D.
However,
Could you please explain what are the antecedents of pronouns(they or them) in each answer choice? Why?

I have selected option D, because pronoun reference is clear along with other reasons enlised above. It clearly refers to the subject of previous clause which is CELLS. But,
even 'Scientists' is also in subject position.

I am missing an important point with regard to pronoun reference.
Please guide.

remember, pronoun ambiguity is not necessarily an error -- really, all you need is to have a clearly correct antecedent. if there are other nouns running around that could, grammatically, be antecedents, but just don't make any sense, then you don't have to worry about those.

see a fuller treatment here:

post40400.html#p40400

Thank you Ron

pronoun ambiguity is considered an error sometimes

can I say

"which clause" modifying a slightly far noun is considered an error sometimes.

in quesiton 49 og13, in choice A and B"which" modifying far noun is considered errors but in many other cases, "which" modifying far noun is considered acceptable. we can find many questions in which "which" modifying far noun is correct. even e gmat write an article on this acceatability.

Ron, pls comment, is my thinking correct. for the rule of this forum, I do not cite the question 49 og13 here.

pronoun ambuguity and Which modifying far noun is considered inferior and error somestimes. This discomfort us.

[tim]

Could you please explain why B is incorrect?

Option B: "..either cells secreted hormones, making them endocrine cells.."
Since it is "making them endocrine cells..", "them" clearly seems to refer to cells and not hormones because it is obvious that harmones can not be made into some type of cells. No? Is my thought process wrong? Please explain.

Thank you.

it seems that the issue of parallelism has been thoroughly discussed in this thread, and it should be clear that A/B/C are incorrect because they are not parallel. do you need some additional help understanding that aspect of the discussion?