Sentence Correction: Pronoun Ambiguity

[AmitM805]

Hi Guys,

Can someone please help me understand the pronoun ambiguity in following sentence :


The reason that investment banks require background checks of their applicants is because they require clean criminal records of their employees


Source : Manhattan CAT


Explanation for Error:

(E) The structure "the reason X is because Y" is redundant. The proper idiom is either "the reason X is Y" or "Y is because X." In addition, it is not clear whether the pronouns "they" and "their" refer to "investment banks" or "applicants."


I understand the sentence is incorrect. But I am trying to understand the explanation associated with it.

I agree with the first part of explanation that "the reason X is because Y" is redundant.
But, I don't understand the second part that "it is not clear whether the pronouns "they" and "their" refer to "investment banks" or "applicants." ,

According to the pronoun proximity rule,"their" in "their applicants " will refer to investment bank because of the "too close" rule.

Since, "their" refers to investment banks based on pronoun repeats rule we can say that "they" and "their" refer to same noun i.e. investment banks.

[AmitM805]

+ Bumping up thread

[AmitM805]

+ Bumping up thread

[tim]

First, be careful bumping questions. Every time you do that it puts the question at the absolute end of the queue for us to answer. Bumping a question is the most effective way to cause a delay in getting your question answered.

Second, there is no pronoun ambiguity problem here. The explanation is incorrect on this point. Pay attention to what *else* makes E incorrect, because pronoun ambiguity is not a thing at all.

[RonPurewal]

... because pronoun ambiguity is not a thing at all.

^^ just to clarify—it's not a thing on this exam.

in other situations, pronoun ambiguity is a thing (e.g., Sharon was talking to Barbara about her children). but the gmat does not test it.

[tim]

Thanks for clarifying, Ron. This brings up an important point: there are a lot of things that are issues in real life that the GMAT simply doesn't test. Learning what the GMAT does and does not test will help you make sure not to waste time on issues that are irrelevant for this test.

[LuciaH945]

Hi there,

I'm so confused about the sentence " In virtually all types of tissue in every animal species dioxin induces the production of enzymes that are the organism’s trying to metabolize, or render harmless, the chemical that is irritating it". What does the first "that" refer to? and why it use "are" in here?

Please, can anyone help to solve the question?

[RonPurewal]

Hi there,

I'm so confused about the sentence " In virtually all types of tissue in every animal species dioxin induces the production of enzymes that are the organism’s trying to metabolize, or render harmless, the chemical that is irritating it". What does the first "that" refer to? and why it use "are" in here?

Please, can anyone help to solve the question?

it appears you've posted in the wrong thread.

please search the forum for a thread concerning the problem you're asking about.
• if you find such a thread, please post your question in the existing thread.
• if you don't, then please post a thread in the appropriate folder. if you post a new thread, please post the ENTIRE problem EXACTLY as originally provided—including ALL answer choices (as per the forum rules).
thanks.