The loan company

[BG]

The loan company announced it would soon lend money to borrowers with proven records of their not paying back their loans on time, collectively known as the subprime lending market.

A.Of their not paying back their loans on time,
B.Of not paying back their loans on time, a group
C.Of not paying back their loans on time, with such a group
D.That they do not pay back their loans on time,
E.That they do not pay back their loans on time, such a group

Ans is B. I chose E

Maybe "they" is ambiguous, but in my view, "they" refers to borrowers only. If "such a group" replace the appositive-"a group" in choice B, is it still correct?

[RR]

IMHO

Maybe "they" is ambiguous, but in my view, "they" refers to borrowers only.

You are correct. 'they' is not ambiguous. The problem with E is that it is needlessly wordy and possibly, grammatically incorrect.

If "such a group" replace the appositive-"a group" in choice B, is it still correct?

In that case B would be wrong though it might still be the best pick among all the choices.

[RonPurewal]

The loan company announced it would soon lend money to borrowers with proven records of their not paying back their loans on time, collectively known as the subprime lending market.

A.Of their not paying back their loans on time,
B.Of not paying back their loans on time, a group
C.Of not paying back their loans on time, with such a group
D.That they do not pay back their loans on time,
E.That they do not pay back their loans on time, such a group

Ans is B. I chose E

Maybe "they" is ambiguous, but in my view, "they" refers to borrowers only. If "such a group" replace the appositive-"a group" in choice B, is it still correct?

(d) and (e) are unidiomatic; you can't write "proven records that they..."

the pronoun is technically ambiguous, but, as the same ambiguity is present in all five of the answer choices (all of which contain "their", which has the same antecedent problems as "they"), you can safely ignore that ambiguity.

if you substitute "such a group" for "a group", then that's incorrect, because "such" wouldn't be referring to anything.

[shobuj40]

pls cooment on ans choice A.
what is the difference between:
collectively known as the subprime market
and
a group collectively known as the subprime market

thanks in advance

[JonathanSchneider]

Placing a noun after a comma (or in this case an article - "a" - and then a noun), followed by a modifier of that noun, is a great way to describe an idea from the preceding clause. This structure is known as an absolute phrase.

Example:

The scientists discovered whale-fish bones in the Arctic, findings that prove the existence of whale-fish.*

By placing a comma and then the word "findings," we are describing the discoveries. This same structure is used in the sentence above to describe the group. This is very handy when you want to describe something from earlier in the sentence but cannot simply start a modifier due to placement issues.

*Note: I just made this up; I have no idea what whale-fish are :)

[aps_asks]

So Folks , if i understand correctly

Absolute Phrase ( a group collectively known as... ) and the Idiom -- with proven records of is the deciding factor here ?

[RonPurewal]

So Folks , if i understand correctly

Absolute Phrase ( a group collectively known as... ) and the Idiom -- with proven records of is the deciding factor here ?

basically yes

[aps_asks]

Thanks for your inputs !

[jnelson0612]

Thanks everyone! :-)

[thanghnvn]

(d) and (e) are unidiomatic; you can't write "proven records that they..."

the pronoun is technically ambiguous, but, as the same ambiguity is present in all five of the answer choices (all of which contain "their", which has the same antecedent problems as "they"), you can safely ignore that ambiguity.

if you substitute "such a group" for "a group", then that's incorrect, because "such" wouldn't be referring to anything.

Ron, Pls, explain how "such" is used, regarding the above comment. Thank you.

[llzzyy234]

I know that OA is B, but I feel confused about the structure "records of not paying back their loans on time".
Is the structure "of + VERBING" is always right?

[RonPurewal]

Is the structure "of + VERBING" is always right?

for any question of the form "is the structure _____ always right?", the answer is almost always going to be no.

[thanghnvn]

Ron said:
//////
if you substitute "such a group" for "a group", then that's incorrect, because "such" wouldn't be referring to anything.
///////
I understand that we can use "SUCH A NOUN" only when NOUN exists in an early place.

"such a group" in E is wrong because there is no word " group" in the early part of the sentence

the following must be correct:
I like the group of students and such a group can be a good community

Ron, experts, pls, confirm my above thinking. Thank you.

[RonPurewal]

Ron said:
//////
if you substitute "such a group" for "a group", then that's incorrect, because "such" wouldn't be referring to anything.
///////
I understand that we can use "SUCH A NOUN" only when NOUN exists in an early place.

"such a group" in E is wrong because there is no word " group" in the early part of the sentence

the following must be correct:
I like the group of students and such a group can be a good community

Ron, experts, pls, confirm my above thinking. Thank you.

as long as you mention some specific "X" earlier in the sentence, then "such an X" is fine, yes.

another example:
i have no problem with using a standard geometry textbook; indeed, such a book is helpful in providing ready-made sets of practice problems.
--> "such a book" is legitimate because the sentence has mentioned a particular book (namely, a standard geometry textbook).

[zhongshanlh]

Placing a noun after a comma (or in this case an article - "a" - and then a noun), followed by a modifier of that noun, is a great way to describe an idea from the preceding clause. This structure is known as an absolute phrase.

Example:

The scientists discovered whale-fish bones in the Arctic, findings that prove the existence of whale-fish.*

By placing a comma and then the word "findings," we are describing the discoveries. This same structure is used in the sentence above to describe the group. This is very handy when you want to describe something from earlier in the sentence but cannot simply start a modifier due to placement issues.

*Note: I just made this up; I have no idea what whale-fish are :)

i got confused about the explanation here.
because i think that the so called "appositive modifier"and the "absolute phrase" here seem,to some extend, like each other.
Ron,could u please help me to clarify the differences between these two modifiers(such as when we should use appositive or absolute phrase and what functions do they each play in the sentences)?
pls help me! THX very much!