In some species of Cricket, the number of chirps per minute

[wild_side]

Hi, I was hoping someone could clear my confusion.

In some species of cricket, the number of chirps per minute used by the male for attracting females rise and fall in accordance with the surrounding temperature, and they can in fact serve as an approximate thermometer.

"to attract females rises and falls in accordance with the surrounding temperature, and it can in fact serve"

My doubt is - "IT" refers to the subject of the clause preceding "," right? If not please correct.

In ther above sentence, there are many subject`s in the main clause, such as surrounding temperature, number of chirps.

the subject is number of chirps, is that the reson why "IT" refers to the number of chirps and not surrounding temperature.

I am asking this because i have seen lots of questions where Gmat places a trap for pronoun antecedent and in the minimal time it sometimes gets confusing.

thanks.

[RonPurewal]

the subject is number of chirps, is that the reson why "IT" refers to the number of chirps and not surrounding temperature.

i believe this is accurate, yes.

I am asking this because i have seen lots of questions where Gmat places a trap for pronoun antecedent and in the minimal time it sometimes gets confusing.

thanks.

remember that PRONOUN AMBIGUITY IS NOT AN ABSOLUTE RULE.

in general, eliminating on pronoun ambiguity is not a reliable thing to do, unless the ambiguous pronoun is specifically contrasted against a SPECIFIC NOUN in other choices. for instance, if you saw a split between "it" and "that number", then you could safely choose the latter. however, you should not generally eliminate choices just because they have ambiguous pronouns.
we have seen way too many correct answers with ambiguous pronouns to advise this sort of elimination anymore.

[jaggi.ujjwal]

HI i am still not convinced with D as i have read somewhere that "IT" can't refer back to a phrase. Isnt ' The number of chirps' a phrase.

[RonPurewal]

HI i am still not convinced with D as i have read somewhere that "IT" can't refer back to a phrase. Isnt ' The number of chirps' a phrase.

if you want to get technical, it just refers to "the number" -- a noun. that noun is, in turn, modified by the prepositional phrase ("of chirps").

if you look at what you're saying, it seems that you're saying that you can't use a pronoun to refer to any noun that has any modifiers attached to it. if that were the case, then you'd almost never be able to use any pronouns, ever! (it's rare for nouns in these sentences to stand completely alone, without any sort of modifiers attached to them.)

if a noun is decorated with one or more modifiers, that noun is still a perfectly good antecedent for a pronoun.

[mittalpankaj]

Hi,

I am most likely missing something here. Can not 'IT' refer to the the male in this sentence? Unlike females, male is singular as well.

Please direct.

- Pankaj

[RonPurewal]

Hi,

I am most likely missing something here. Can not 'IT' refer to the the male in this sentence? Unlike females, male is singular as well.

Please direct.

- Pankaj

pronoun ambiguity is not a dealbreaker.

see here:
post40400.html#p40400

[shasi_spa]

Ron,
Could you please clarify " the usage of "serve" in the correct answer? If "The number of chirps" is singular, then the verb should be "serves" right? or am i missing something? May be "serve" in the answer choice is not the verb?

[s.ashwin.rao]

Ron,
Could you please clarify " the usage of "serve" in the correct answer? If "The number of chirps" is singular, then the verb should be "serves" right? or am i missing something? May be "serve" in the answer choice is not the verb?

No you cannot use "serves" here, re-read the sentence with "serves" in D to attract females rises and falls in accordance with the surrounding temperature, and it can in fact serves as an approximate thermometer sounds totally illogical.

But Ron, D and E are preferred over A, B, C because infinitives are better than -ing verbs correct?

[RonPurewal]

Ron,
Could you please clarify " the usage of "serve" in the correct answer? If "The number of chirps" is singular, then the verb should be "serves" right? or am i missing something? May be "serve" in the answer choice is not the verb?

the verb is "CAN serve", not just "serve". "can" can be either singular or plural.

[RonPurewal]

No you cannot use "serves" here, re-read the sentence with "serves" in D to attract females rises and falls in accordance with the surrounding temperature, and it can in fact serves as an approximate thermometer sounds totally illogical.

@s.a.r -- if you're going to try to answer other users' questions, please provide a substantive answer, i.e., an answer that actually explains things.
your answer quoted here basically just says "that's wrong because, hey!, look at it, it's bad"; i.e., you haven't actually explained anything.

But Ron, D and E are preferred over A, B, C

fyi, in case it's tested, the idiom here is actually "preferred to", not "preferred over".

because infinitives are better than -ing verbs correct?

not every time -- this is actually a specific meaning issue (i.e., impossible to resolve by thinking about grammar).
... in VERBing is correct when something is done as part of the process of "VERBing".
... to VERB is correct when something is done for the purpose of "VERBing".

ex:
james is lifting weights to increase his muscular strength --> correct, since "to increase..." is actually the PURPOSE of the weightlifting.
james is lifting weights in increasing his muscular strength --> this doesn't make sense; lifting is not an actual component of strength increases (rather, it's the thing that causes the strength increases)
james faced many hazards in exploring the remote jungle --> this is correct, since james faced these hazards as part of exploring the jungle.
james faced many hazards to explore the remote jungle --> incorrect; this implies that james faced a bunch of hazards ahead of time in order to have the opportunity to explore the jungle.

[ranjeet1975]

E. to attract females rises and falls in accordance with the surrounding temperature, in fact possibly serving.

Why E is wrong here. I think that 'serving' (comma + present participle) will modify the entire previous clause and therefore the total act will serve as a thermometer.

Where I am wrong - pl advise.

[RonPurewal]

E. to attract females rises and falls in accordance with the surrounding temperature, in fact possibly serving.

Why E is wrong here. I think that 'serving' (comma + present participle) will modify the entire previous clause and therefore the total act will serve as a thermometer.

Where I am wrong - pl advise.

have you read the thread?

i know this thread is long, but stacey gave a very complete explanation of choice (e) in the second or third post from the top.

[saintjingjing]

en, I give my analysis,
From SC manhattan-GMAT book that verb modifers include comma+serving, so I think in E, in grammer, serving modify rises and falls ( the main verb in the former sentence), but in meaning, the number of chirps serve as an approximate thermometer.
right?

[khanjan26]

because infinitives are better than -ing verbs correct?

not every time -- this is actually a specific meaning issue (i.e., impossible to resolve by thinking about grammar).
... in VERBing is correct when something is done as part of the process of "VERBing".
... to VERB is correct when something is done for the purpose of "VERBing".

ex:
james is lifting weights to increase his muscular strength --> correct, since "to increase..." is actually the PURPOSE of the weightlifting.
james is lifting weights in increasing his muscular strength --> this doesn't make sense; lifting is not an actual component of strength increases (rather, it's the thing that causes the strength increases)
james faced many hazards in exploring the remote jungle --> this is correct, since james faced these hazards as part of exploring the jungle.
james faced many hazards to explore the remote jungle --> incorrect; this implies that james faced a bunch of hazards ahead of time in order to have the opportunity to explore the jungle.

Ron,
A little confusion i have. Please help.
Which one of the following two examples is correct? and why?
->james is lifting weights to increase his muscular strength.
-> James is lifting weights for increasing his muscular strength.

[RonPurewal]

Ron,
A little confusion i have. Please help.
Which one of the following two examples is correct? and why?
->james is lifting weights to increase his muscular strength.
-> James is lifting weights for increasing his muscular strength.

the first one. however, note that this is the sort of idiom that GMAC doesn't test anymore. see here:
http://www.manhattangmat.com/blog/index ... -the-gmac/