gmatacer40 wrote:
GMATNinja Could you please help with my query for pronoun ambiguity. As of now, in reference to GMAT, I feel that Possessive pronoun can refer possessive noun. So, if my understanding is correct, then please tell me whether "their"in this SC problem can refer "Black Rhinos' ".
Quote:
Africa's black rhino population in the mid-1970's numbered about 20,000, ten times the estimated population of 2,000 in 1997.
(A) the estimated population
(B) that of their estimated population
(C) more than the population's estimated amount
(D) more black rhinos than their population estimate
(E) more than that of their population's estimated amount
In (B) and (E), there's absolute no chance that "their" could refer to "black rhinos". Why? The phrase "black rhinos" doesn't actually appear in either of those answer choices. We have "Africa's black rhino population" in the non-underlined portion, and that's unambiguously singular. The sentence says "Africa's black rhino population", not "the black
rhinos' population". So "their" is wrong in both (B) and (E).
In (D), "their" actually HAS to refer to "black rhinos", since it's the only plural noun that appears earlier in the sentence. But that still doesn't make sense: "Africa's black rhino population in the mid-1970's numbered about 20,000, ten times more black rhinos than [the black rhinos'] population estimate." It's pretty messy and illogical to compare the number of black rhinos to "the black rhinos' population estimate." It's also weird to suggest that the rhinos somehow "possess" a population estimate.
I hope this helps!
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