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Difficulty: MediumPronoun Clarity and Reference

To prepare for the new classical history exhibition, the museum curators worked late into the night. They carefully polished the ancient gold coins before arranging them alongside the silver chalices in the central glass case. As soon as the halogen display lights turned on, they gleamed brilliantly, catching the attention of the first visitors who entered the gallery.

Which choice makes the underlined portion of the sentence most clear and precise?

  1. A
    NO CHANGE
  2. the coinsAnswer
  3. C
    this
  4. D
    which

Answer

the coins
The correct option replaces the ambiguous pronoun with the specific noun 'the coins'. This eliminates any confusion regarding whether the coins or the chalices were gleaming under the halogen lights.

Step-by-Step Solution

1
Identify the underlined pronoun and its potential antecedents.
The pronoun is 'they', and the preceding plural nouns are 'gold coins' and 'silver chalices'.
Determining if the pronoun has a clear, unambiguous referent is the first step in resolving pronoun clarity issues.
2
Evaluate the clarity of the pronoun in the context of the sentence.
Because both the coins and the chalices are plural nouns that could logically gleam under lights, the reader cannot tell which one is being referred to.
An ambiguous pronoun reference must be corrected by replacing the pronoun with a specific noun.
3
Select the option that specifies the correct noun without introducing new grammatical errors.
Replacing 'they' with 'the coins' clearly specifies the subject, while the other options remain vague or create sentence structure errors.
Replacing the pronoun with the specific noun resolves the ambiguity and maintains grammatical correctness.

Key Concept

Pronoun Clarity and Reference
Estimated Time:1m 0s
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Topics

Pronoun Clarity and Reference

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