In late 1997,the chambers inside the pyramid

[pranaygoyal02]

Hi,

The question below is from GMAT Prep :

In late 1997,the chambers inside the pyramid of the Pharaoh Menkaure at Giza were closed to visitors fo cleaning and repairing due to moisture exhaled by tourists,which raised its humidity to such levels so that salt from the stone was crystallizing and fungus was growing in the walls.

A) due to moisture exhaled by tourists,which raised its humidity to such levels so that salt from the stone was crystallizing
B) due to moisture that tourists had exhaled,thereby raising its humidity to such levels that salt from the stone would crystallize.

C) because tourists were exhaling moisture,which had raised the humidity within then to levels such that salt from the stone would crystallize.
D)because of moisture that was exhaled by tourists raising the humidity within them to levels so high as to mke the salt fron the stone crystallize.

E) because moisture exhaled by tourists had raised the humidity within them to such levels that salt from the stone was crystallizing.


OA: E

My doubt here is,as per OA(E) ,in isnt 'them' referring to 'tourists'?
whats the rule that I have missed?

[pranaygoyal02]

Hi any updates on the above question???

[rajivgrover008]

I have the same doubt...Experts can you please help on this?

[amit.ambitions]

Someone pleaseee reply for this question. The doubt raised by the author is a doubt for me as well, and this is perturbing me a lot.

[tim]

mainly because using "tourists" is illogical. i'm not a big fan of this question, because it seems to go against what we expect of pronouns. the main thing to keep in mind is that pronoun ambiguity is subordinate to more rigorous grammar rules, and the other four choices have very clear mistakes..

[visitdhiraj]

Hi Tim,

I have the same problem in the option E - ambiguity with reference to pronoun them.

Could you please explain the errors in the options B, C and D?

I get confused between due to vs because.

Rgds

Dheeraj

[tim]

you would say "due to [noun]" or "because [clause]", but not "because of [noun]"

as for B/C/D on the question, they all break the parallelism with the "and fungus..." part at the end of the sentence..

[sachin.w]

Alrite, so pronoun ambiguity is the last thing to look for..

[tim]

i'm going to go a step further and recommend you never consider pronoun ambiguity. in my experience, there are pretty much no legitimately ambiguous pronouns on the GMAT. if you see what you think is an ambiguous pronoun, it is FAR more likely that you have made a mistake than that the pronoun is actually ambiguous..

[soaringAlone]

you would say "due to [noun]" or "because [clause]", but not "because of [noun]"

as for B/C/D on the question, they all break the parallelism with the "and fungus..." part at the end of the sentence..

Tim,

Is this incorrect ?

The game was postponed because of rain.

This follows the structure you have mentioned above 'because of[noun]'

[jnelson0612]

you would say "due to [noun]" or "because [clause]", but not "because of [noun]"

as for B/C/D on the question, they all break the parallelism with the "and fungus..." part at the end of the sentence..

Tim,

Is this incorrect ?

The game was postponed because of rain.

This follows the structure you have mentioned above 'because of[noun]'

Using the guidance that Tim has given, you would say "The game was postponed due to rain."

[mailinmayank]

A pronoun in the main clause can not refer back to a noun mentioed in a modifier.

[tim]

Although this "rule" is violated occasionally by the GMAT, it is true frequently enough that it's worth memorizing as a general guiding principle for pronouns.

[thanghnvn]

MANY persons in other forums also doubt about the pronoun ambiguity "them" in oa E.

Me too

but, think this way

I see that this kind of ambiguity happens frequently in oa in many questions in og books. The point here is that pronoun ambiguity can be CORRECT BUT NOT PREFERED. I think this is the way gmat think. this means sometimes pronoun ambiguity is considered wrong but other times it appear in oa . This means if we can avoid pronoun ambiguity , we do so. if there is another choice better, we choose that choice. but if a choice containing pronoun ambiguity is best, take the best.

the case CORRECT BUT NOT PREFERED also applies to many other cases following

direct object not touching the verb is CORRECT BUT NOT PREFERED. I can show you 2 gmatprep questions, in one of which direct object not touching the verb is considered wrong and in another of which, direct object not touching the verb is in oa.

adjectival modifying far noun is CORRECT BUT NOT PREFERED. there are many many questions in og, in which oa contain adjectival modifying the far noun. but I can show you one question from gmatprep, in which adjectival modifying the far noun is considered wrong (even the phrase inserted is another modifier of that noun) because there is better choice, in which adjectival touching the noun modified. in the following from gmatprep, oa is e, choice B is considered incorrect because "which..." is far from "market".

By merging its two publishing divisions, the company will increase their share of the country's $21 billion book market from 6 percent to 10 percent, a market ranging from obscure textbooks to mass-market paperbacks.
A. their share of the country's $21 billion book market from 6 percent to 10 percent, a market ranging
B. from 6 percent to 10 percent its share of the $21 billion book market in the country, which ranges
C. to 10 percent from 6 percent in their share of the $21 billion book market in the country, a market ranging
D. in its share, from 6 percent to 10 percent, of the $21 billion book market in the country, which ranges
E. to 10 percent from 6 percent its share of the country's $21 billion book market, which ranges

there are many other cases, in which a pattern is considered wrong in some questions but appears in oa in other question. if you want I can show you those cases. but I will some of thems

non definite clause (clause begins with "doing", "do-ed" ), standing far from the subject of main clause can be CORRECT BUT NOT PREFERED. in question 17 in og13 , this far standing is considered wrong but in many other questions in og, the far standing appears in the oa.

I wish that Ron, Manhattan experts, commented on this important point. This point can show the way gmat think on sc

[thanghnvn]

in this problem "them" is correct because there is no better choice. but in other problem, "them" can be considered incorrect because there is better choice which contains no pronoun ambiguity, other things being equal.