Many population studies have linked a high-salt diet

[mikrodj]

Many population studies have linked a high-salt diet to high rates of hypertension and shown that in societies where they consume little salt, their blood pressure typically does not rise with age.

(A) shown that in societies where they consume little salt, their

(B) shown that in societies that have consumed little salt, their

(C) shown that in societies where little salt is consumed,

(D) they showed that in societies where little salt is consumed,

(E) they showed that in societies where they consume little salt, their

GMAT Prep
Correct answer choice C

I thought that where could only refer to places. Apparently it also can refer to societies. Are there any other similar nouns to which where can refer? for instance clans.

[RonPurewal]

i think this is another problem in which the test writers are going out of their way to avoid repetition of little words.

read this post FIRST:
post35013.html#p35013

--

the normally preferred form would be "societies in which..."
BUT,
in this sentence, if you write that, then you have
"...IN societies IN which..."
...which is bad.

so apparently this is their 2nd choice for that sort of situation.

hmm

[mikrodj]

Thank you Ron, for this and all the other posts that you answered.

[ayrathod]

A & B are incorrect because "their" is referring to societies but that is illogical because it is people in the societies and not the soiciety itself that can have blood pressure.

D & E "they" have no antecedent.

[RonPurewal]

A & B are incorrect because "their" is referring to societies but that is illogical because it is people in the societies and not the soiciety itself that can have blood pressure.

correct.

D & E "they" have no antecedent.

not quite.

in (d), "they" unambiguously refers to "many population studies", so it's fine (although it constitutes unnecessary repetition - this is already the subject of the sentence, so it needn't be repeated; see (c))
the principal problem with (d) is the lack of tense parallelism. since "have linked" is in the present perfect, the present perfect is also compulsory for the other verb (i.e., it should be "shown", not "showed").

in (e), the first "they" is again fine - same antecedent as (d), albeit burdened with the same awkward repetition problem - but the second "they" doesn't have an antecedent.

[purduesr]

since "have linked" is in the present perfect, the present perfect is also compulsory for the other verb (i.e., it should be "shown", not "showed")

Question1: Why do we not have the word "have" in front of 'shown' shown is indeed present participle form of the verb shown, but why are we allowed to omit 'have' to match the 'have linked' ?

[RonPurewal]

since "have linked" is in the present perfect, the present perfect is also compulsory for the other verb (i.e., it should be "shown", not "showed")

Question1: Why do we not have the word "have" in front of 'shown' shown is indeed present participle form of the verb shown, but why are we allowed to omit 'have' to match the 'have linked' ?

for an extensive treatment of this topic, click here:
post25465.html#p25465

that should clear up your doubts, since it is an absolutely thorough explanation of this exact issue. if you still have questions after reading that post, go ahead and ask.

[cumulonimbus]

Many population studies have linked a high-salt diet to high rates of hypertension and shown that in societies where they consume little salt, their blood pressure typically does not rise with age.

(A) shown that in societies where they consume little salt, their

(B) shown that in societies that have consumed little salt, their

(C) shown that in societies where little salt is consumed,

(D) they showed that in societies where little salt is consumed,

(E) they showed that in societies where they consume little salt, their

GMAT Prep
Correct answer choice C

I thought that where could only refer to places. Apparently it also can refer to societies. Are there any other similar nouns to which where can refer? for instance clans.

Hi Experts,

Is the use of Where here correct.
Where should not refer to societies - it can only refer to ACTUAL places - roads, house etc.

KR,

[jyothi h]

Many population studies have linked a high-salt diet to high rates of hypertension and shown that in societies where they consume little salt, their blood pressure typically does not rise with age.

(A) shown that in societies where they consume little salt, their

(B) shown that in societies that have consumed little salt, their

(C) shown that in societies where little salt is consumed,

(D) they showed that in societies where little salt is consumed,

(E) they showed that in societies where they consume little salt, their

GMAT Prep
Correct answer choice C

I thought that where could only refer to places. Apparently it also can refer to societies. Are there any other similar nouns to which where can refer? for instance clans.

Hi Experts,

Is the use of Where here correct.
Where should not refer to societies - it can only refer to ACTUAL places - roads, house etc.

KR,

The first post by Ron , should answer your question.

[thanghnvn]

I post to follow this thread

that... that ...

should be avoided if possible

this is the takeaway.

[jlucero]

jyothi, thanks for pointing that out for us.

thanghnvn, you can subscribe to a topic w/o posting in the topic if you don't have any questions to add.

[mcmebk]

A & B are incorrect because "their" is referring to societies but that is illogical because it is people in the societies and not the soiciety itself that can have blood pressure.

correct.

D & E "they" have no antecedent.

not quite.

in (d), "they" unambiguously refers to "many population studies", so it's fine (although it constitutes unnecessary repetition - this is already the subject of the sentence, so it needn't be repeated; see (c))
the principal problem with (d) is the lack of tense parallelism. since "have linked" is in the present perfect, the present perfect is also compulsory for the other verb (i.e., it should be "shown", not "showed").

in (e), the first "they" is again fine - same antecedent as (d), albeit burdened with the same awkward repetition problem - but the second "they" doesn't have an antecedent.

Hi Ron...This is really killing me...

You said that verb-tense is not a parameter to be parallel with, because it is about meanings, not about mechanism.

i.e: I think it is perfectly acceptable to say: I have worked hard in the part and will continue to do so.

Why is it necessary to have same tense here on both sides of AND?

Thank you Ron.

[jlucero]

A & B are incorrect because "their" is referring to societies but that is illogical because it is people in the societies and not the soiciety itself that can have blood pressure.

correct.

D & E "they" have no antecedent.

not quite.

in (d), "they" unambiguously refers to "many population studies", so it's fine (although it constitutes unnecessary repetition - this is already the subject of the sentence, so it needn't be repeated; see (c))
the principal problem with (d) is the lack of tense parallelism. since "have linked" is in the present perfect, the present perfect is also compulsory for the other verb (i.e., it should be "shown", not "showed").

in (e), the first "they" is again fine - same antecedent as (d), albeit burdened with the same awkward repetition problem - but the second "they" doesn't have an antecedent.

Hi Ron...This is really killing me...

You said that verb-tense is not a parameter to be parallel with, because it is about meanings, not about mechanism.

i.e: I think it is perfectly acceptable to say: I have worked hard in the part and will continue to do so.

Why is it necessary to have same tense here on both sides of AND?

Thank you Ron.

Because it's absurd to say that studies have linked something and showed something else. These are two simple facts that the studies have issued, so there's no logical reason to use different tenses. If, on the other hand, the time frames for an EFFECT of a study is different than when it was released, you might want to change tenses:

Studies in 1960 showed that cigarettes are harmful and have influenced generations of children since that time.

[DianaG875]

Hi,
In the OA "Where" refers to societies - how is it correctly refers to things other than physical places? Isn't it against grammar rules, while "It" and "There" can be used as Dummy pronouns?

[dmitryknowsbest]

Hi Diana,

You're right that "where" is typically only used to modify places, but this is a tricky edge case. Although a society isn't literally a place, it's still true that most societies are concentrated in one place. Therefore, saying "societies where little salt is consumed" has a much more sensible meaning than something like "times where I made a mistake" or "the book where I learned these rules." As Ron said above, I might prefer "in which," but in the absence of that construction, this will do. A strong clue that this construction isn't considered wrong is that it is used in four of the five choices, and the remaining choice makes less sense. B seems to say that the societies themselves (rather than the people) are consuming less salt and reaping the benefits.

As for "dummy pronouns," this is a fairly limited concept and can't be used to justify most appearances of it/they without a proper antecedent. You'll see dummy pronouns in common expressions such as "It's hot outside" or "It's difficult to determine the outcome." However, when you see it/they as the subject of an action, you'll generally need to see a clear noun in the sentence that it/they is meant to replace.