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Difficulty: MediumPronoun Clarity and Reference

During the late nineteenth century, botanist George Washington Carver worked closely with local farmers to implement new crop rotation methods. He explained the benefits of sweet potatoes to the farmers, noting that they could revitalize nitrogen-depleted soil.

Which choice best resolves the pronoun ambiguity and ensures the sentence is grammatically correct?

  1. A
    NO CHANGE
  2. these cropsAnswer
  3. C
    them, which was something that
  4. D
    he

Answer

these crops
The correct option replaces the ambiguous pronoun with the specific noun phrase 'these crops'. In the original sentence, the pronoun 'they' is ambiguous because it has two potential plural antecedents: 'sweet potatoes' and 'farmers'. Specifying 'these crops' removes all ambiguity and maintains a clear, concise, and grammatically correct sentence structure.

Step-by-Step Solution

1
Identify the underlined pronoun and its potential antecedents in the sentence.
The pronoun is 'they', and the preceding plural nouns are 'sweet potatoes' and 'farmers'.
To determine if the pronoun has a clear and unambiguous referent.
2
Evaluate the clarity of the pronoun reference in the context of the sentence.
The pronoun 'they' is ambiguous because it could grammatically refer to either the sweet potatoes or the farmers, even though the context implies sweet potatoes.
ACT conventions require pronouns to have a single, clear, and unambiguous antecedent.
3
Compare the options to find the one that removes the ambiguity while remaining concise and grammatically correct.
Replacing 'they' with 'these crops' provides a specific noun phrase that clearly identifies the sweet potatoes as the subject performing the action.
Using a specific noun phrase resolves the pronoun reference issue without introducing wordiness or grammatical errors.

Key Concept

Pronoun Clarity and Reference
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Topics

Pronoun Clarity and Reference

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