<p>(It underlies the poem) that human beings are free to choose and may be blamed for their choices.</p>
<p>(A) It underlies the poem
(B) In the poem, they assumed
(C) In the poem, a basic assumption which is made is
(D) It as an assumption that underlies the poem
(E) The basic assumption of the poem is</p>
<p>*I got this right, but I want to know technically why A is wrong. The antecedent of it is supposedly (the fact) that human beings are free to choose etc. Am I right in thinking this isn't an acceptable antecedent because it is not a noun/gerund?</p>
<p>It’s an ambiguity error. You even stated that the antecedent was supposedly the fact that humans were free to choose. It shouldn’t be “supposedly.” You should be absolutely certain of what the antecedent is, otherwise it is too ambiguous.</p>
<p>First of all, “underlies” is not even being used correctly in this sentence. You can NOT say that something “underlies” something else.</p>
<p>I agree with what Brolex posted about having a clear pronoun antecedent. Choice E is the only option that doesn’t use “it” needlessly and states right off the bat as the “assumption.”</p>