SC: Until Berta and Emst Scharrer

[cesar.rodriguez.blanco]

What is the difference between D and E?
In D, "they" refers to cells (the subject of the previous clause)"...
In E, "which" refers to hormones, hormones that made them (cells) endocrine cells???


Until Berta and Emst 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

[sunny.jain]

IMO : E

Harmones can not be cells..! so D changes the meaning.

[bibhas.mondal]

D provides parallelism and resolves the modifier issue of the original sentence.

[sunny.jain]

Yup, I think answer is D.

[RonPurewal]

What is the difference between D and E?
In D, "they" refers to cells (the subject of the previous clause)"...
In E, "which" refers to hormones, hormones that made them (cells) endocrine cells???


Until Berta and Emst 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

this is going to have to be (d).

in this case, parallelism is a rather obvious criterion. the second half of the parallel structure has EXACTLY the same form (i.e., "in which case ..."), so it's clear that (d) is better than (e).

--

admittedly, the pronoun issue is a bit troubling. however, those of you who have hung around this forum long enough know that pronoun ambiguity is NOT an absolute criterion for elimination - i.e., the gmat has plenty of tolerance for ambiguous pronouns, under certain circumstances.

the gmat will usually tolerate an "ambiguous" pronouns if that pronoun is PARALLEL TO THE NOUN for which it stands.
in the case of (d), "cells" is a subject. "they" is a subject.
"hormones" is NOT a subject; it's a direct object.
since we have parallelism between the pronoun and the antecedent, the ambiguity is ok.

--

also, (e) has the wrong meaning.
the "which" implies that the hormones caused the cells to be endocrine cells. this is not what's meant; what's meant is simply that, if the cells secrete hormones, then they can be classified as endocrine cells.