Sentence Correction GMAT Club Question

[heyitsaakash]

Hi,

I have come across this Sent. Correct. question in GMAT Club tests.

The idea behind the Personal Long Letter campaign is that a single impassioned constituent may sway a lawmaker’s opinion, whereas a half-dozen banded together only causes him alarm.

a. a half-dozen banded together only causes him alarm
b. only alarm is caused by a half-dozen banded together
c. only alarm has been caused by a half-dozen banded together
d. a half-dozen banded together only cause him alarm
e. a half-dozen have caused him only alarm when banded together

The official answer is (a). I understand that "a half-a-dozen banded together" is singular, and thus it matches to verb "causes". But, I am clueless as to what does "him" point to in this answer choice. There is no direct reference to lawmaker. According to me correct answer should be (b). Please clarify.

Many Thanks.

[dhavaldesai.7]

If we go by parallelism (considering active voice) B and C are ruled out. GMAT gives a lot emphasis on parallelism so it should be the first thing to consider while doing the process of elimination. May be MGMAT staff would throw some more light here.....

[tim]

unfortunately we can't give you any help on this question, because the question itself is flawed in a way that you won't see on the GMAT. please understand that using practice questions from dubious sources can actually hurt your performance, and be careful which problem sources you use..