1 Grammar Question

Test Preparation SAT Preparation
1

<p>1.) In the eighteenth century, the English emphasis on the study of Greek and Latin allowed it to produce some fine poetry written in classical verse forms.</p>

<p>(A) the English emphasis on the study of Greek and Latin allowed it
(C) English emphasis on the study of Greek and Latin allowed them </p>

<p>Explanation for Incorrect Answer A :
Choice (A) involves illogical pronoun reference. There is no noun in the sentence to which the singular pronoun “it” can logically refer.</p>

<p>Explanation for Incorrect Answer C :
Choice (C) results in illogical pronoun reference. There is nothing in the sentence to which the plural pronoun “them” can logically refer. </p>

<p>My Question: The answer to the question is E, but my question is about CB explanation of why choice A and C are wrong. Is "English" considered plural or singular? Either way, why would "it" and "them" NOT logically refer back to the English?</p>

<p>Also, is "America" considered plural or singular?</p>

2

<p>Hmm. Can you supply all answers, please?</p>

<p>The correct answer likely has “the English” as a subject.</p>

3

<p>I know this is extremely late, but I had trouble with this one also and managed to figure it out. In both A and C, the subject in the sentence is ‘emphasis’ not English. English is used as an adjective for emphasis not a noun. So basically what you are saying in the sentence if you chose A and C is:
In the eighteenth century, the English emphasis on the study of Greek and Latin allowed “the emphasis” to produce some fine poetry written in classical verse forms.</p>

<p>A doesn’t make logical sense and C doesn’t even make grammatical sense because “the emphasis” is singular and can’t be referred to as them.</p>