When ethnic groups intermarry, it

[winston.nilumol]

When ethnic groups intermarry, it is likely to result in cognitive benefits; indeed, perhaps already having contributed to the Flynn effect, which has been the worldwide rise in average IQ score by as much as three points per decade over most of the past century.

A) When ethnic groups intermarry, it is likely to result in cognitive benefits; indeed, perhaps having contributed to the Flynn effect, which has been

B) The intermarriage of ethnic groups is likely to result in cognitive benefits and may indeed have contributed to the Flynn effect,

C) When ethnic groups intermarry, they are likely to result in cognitive benefits and may indeed have contributed to the Flynn effect, the name given to

D) Ethnic groups that intermarry will likely result in cognitive benefits; indeed, possibly having contributed to the Flynn effect,

E) The intermarriage of ethnic groups, likely to result in cognitive benefits, indeed have possibly contributed to the Flynn effect, the name given to

I have a hard time creating useful decision points in this sentence. I also have trouble recognizing what to ignore when scanning for just the bare minimum to read. I would appreciate any feedback on how I approach this sentence correction problem.

First time I answered it wrong, but now it is hard for me to remember how I even approached the sentence. I spent two minutes and chose answer A which has one of the most glaring mistakes.

Notes to myself on how to approach the question:
Scan last phrase and answer choice. , which has been. Answer choices include: have which have been, nothing, and the name given to. Seems like a possible modifier or meaning issue.

Read sentence carefully and understand.
Answer choice A has pronoun it. Does it agree with the antecedent? No ethnic groups is plural, eliminate. Scan other answer choices for pronoun.
Answer choice C has they, and it matches ethnic groups. Leave it in.

Now here is where I get stuck. During the test, what would you recommend my next step be? I don't know how I would be able to recognize that there is a meaning issue between B, C, D, and E. Now that I am spending my time looking at the meaning of the sentence, it is clear to me that intermarriage is the subject of one sentence and ethnic groups is the subject of the other sentence. Thus, having intermarriage contribute or ethnic groups contribute. I also see that E has a subject-verb agreement, intermarriage-have. Leaving choice B has the best choice.

Another question I have is in sentence A, "it" can never be used to describe a total event can it? What I'm asking is can "it" ever refer back to "when ethnic groups intermarry" as a whole event? Or should the pronoun "this" be used instead.

Thanks in advance!

[RonPurewal]

I have a hard time creating useful decision points in this sentence.

If this is true, you may be using an overwrought definition of "decision point"/"split".

Simply put, whenever any single idea is written differently"”i.e., not identical in all of the choices"”that's a "decision point" (= "split").
Just make sure you're looking at different versions of the same idea, not just words that happen to occupy the same horizontal position. (If the sentence moves things around, you may find the same idea in different places in the different choices.)

For instance, all of the sentences note that something is likely to do something else. Check out that idea:
A/ it is likely
B/ the intermarriage ... is ilkely
C/ they are likely
D/ ethnic groups are likely
E/ the intermarriage..., likely

Now, just think about what might affect this decision.

"- The subjects are not all the same.
Choosing between different subjects is 100% based on intended meaning. It should be immediately and perfectly clear that grammar has nothing to do with this decision. (Mechanical considerations can't tell you who/what actually does something!)

"- Your eye should also be drawn to "it"/"they". You can think about whether these pronouns can stand for anything that actually makes sense.

And so on.

The process, in a nutshell, is
"- Find something that the choices don't all do the same way.
- Focus on how a single idea is rendered in the sentence, regardless of where it's physically written.
- Think about what might affect the issue"”mechanically, in terms of meaning, or both.
- Eliminate what you can.

If there's a magic formula, that's it.

[RonPurewal]

Another question I have is in sentence A, "it" can never be used to describe a total event can it? What I'm asking is can "it" ever refer back to "when ethnic groups intermarry" as a whole event? Or should the pronoun "this" be used instead.

No, you can't use "it" for this kind of thing.

In formal written English, "this" should NEVER be used as a pronoun. Only an adjective (this noun).

In general, there's no pronoun option for this kind of thing. When you review GMAC sentences that describe entire clauses, note how they do so.

[winston.nilumol]

Thanks

[RonPurewal]

Sure.

[ShobhitK282]

Hi Ron,

I have a quick question on the same question. It appeared in my MGMAT CAT1. For option e, where modifier starts with the name given to, explanation given is -:
"Finally, the phenomenon may have contributed to the Flynn effect itself; the phenomenon did not contribute to the name given to the effect."

I didn't quite get this explanation. Why can't I describe a phenomenon starting with name given to? Eventually, "name given to" does explain the phenomenon later. Had it been ",a name", probably that would have been wrong.

Can you please help me understand this?

Thanks in advance!!

[tim]

There is a huge difference between a thing and its name. See #131 in the OG for a clearer picture of this. You may also want to consider the following example (can you see why it's absurd?):

"Ron, the name of one of my coworkers, is very active on our online forums."

[ShriramC110]

Hi Ron,

Why is have(Plural) correctly referring to Intermarriage(Singular) in option B.
Shouldn't it be has.

Thanks

[tim]

It's not "have", it's "may have". You would never say "may has", even with a singular subject.

[Alok chandraS808]

Hi Tim,

I chose option C, considering the sub verb agreement (plural sub(groups) - plural verb(have)) though there is a change in the meaning.
Now I came to know that we can never use 'may has' even if the sub is singular.
Are there any other exceptions such as this one to memorize?


Thanks,
Alok.

[AbhishekD643]

What about the ones below -
A) Global warming, a name given to the world wide rise in avg temperatures, is one of the most serious threats of the 21st century
v/s
B) Global warming, the world wide rise in avg temperatures, is one of the most serious threats of the 21st century