Season 1——manhattan 14(Assemblymen could not agree on)(已结贴)

毛毛carina

14. Last year, the State Assembly failed to pass a balanced budget because they could not agree on certain key provisions.
        A. they could not agree on
        B. they could not agree about
        C. it could not agree about
        D. the Assemblymen could not agree about
        E. the Assemblymen could not agree on

选项解析：
The original sentence contains a pronoun error. The pronoun "they" requires a plural antecedent though there is none in the sentence; "State Assembly" is singular and "they" cannot be used to refer to the politicians collectively since they were not mentioned in the sentence.
(A) This choice is incorrect as it repeats the original sentence.
(B) The pronoun "they" is incorrect here because there is no plural antecedent. Moreover, the phrase "agree about" is unidiomatic; "agree on" should be used instead.
(C) The singular pronoun "it" correctly refers to the singular noun "the State Assembly." However, the phrase "agree about" is unidiomatic; "agree on" should be used instead.
(D) The use of "the Assemblymen" instead of "they" corrects the original pronoun problem by eliminating the pronoun "they" altogether. However, the phrase "agree about" is unidiomatic; "agree on" should be used instead.
(E) CORRECT.The use of "the Assemblymen" instead of "they" corrects the original pronoun problem by eliminating the pronoun "they" altogether.

题目点评：
本题涉及的考点有指代一致、固定搭配
(1)agree on是常用短语，必须记住。虽然朗文字典里认为agree about是意思和agree on相同的正确表达，但是GMAT只接受agree on。
官方材料中的例句：The contractor and the engineer agree on the cause of the bridge failure, but each blames the other.
注意，虽然大部分固定搭配都不用记忆，但GMAT里面独特的短语使用方法需要记住，常考。

(2)manhattan没有设置it could not agree on这个选项其实有点巧妙：manhattan认为用it来指代Assembly的话无法强调个体，所以用assemblymen来更准确地表达词义，但是记住：用it could not agree on也是正确的，只是没有把Assemblymen具体化来得明确，as bbfcsak says in floor 7.
*：关于they能否指代Assembly，无论Assembly是被视作单数还是复数，它是单数形式，就必须用单数代词来指代它，所以they绝对是不对的，这点在前面的题目分析中有说到过“代词指代很表面化，单数名词就用单数代词指代，复数名词就用复数代词指代”。

思维点评：
1. “从意思来讲，应该是议员们不同意条款，而不是议院不同意条款。”——纳丁Cat
其实英文中常会把机构拟人化来代表机构人员，所以议院可以同意条款哦。
比如官方材料的一个句子：Congress is debating a bill requiring certain employers to provide workers with unpaid leave so that they can care for sick or newborn children.

2. ”同意机器猫，一个人不agree可以当他空气；得多几个人不同意才不能agree on “ ——2011finish
其实即便用了it也不是说只有“一个人”，因为Assembly代表了议会的所有人。就比如上面对纳丁Cat的点评中的例句一样，一个Congress也可以debate，这并不是Congress自言自语，而是Congress的成员在Debate

3. “补出新名字会比用代词it或者they好，不容易造成混淆。”——bbfcsak
说得非常对，实战里带着这样的比较思维去看选项，而不是执拗于找选项的错误，胜利是属于你的（momo，当然平时练习还是尽量刨根问底、知晓原理）。

做题小tips：
GMAT接受的表达有时候很狭隘。如果复习时间充裕，建议在做OG时要精看OG的每一句解释，特别留意哪些表达是我们平时可以用但GMAT却不接受的，例如除了agree about，还有forbid…from…。这些不能被接受的表达往往是考察重点。在做题、总结时，务必留意。

本次精华楼层：
7楼——bbfcsak
8楼——若雪

nhelpn

E
后半句的主语

jj449

E吧，
agree on
对...意见一致

onlylee0302

我选 E

helio5

选A
集合名词都是单数么？
就不信邪

ganyuan112

E吧，逻辑上州议会不能通过法案，肯定是作单数而不是每个议员不通过啊

2011finish

同意机器猫，一个人不agree可以当他空气；得多几个人不同意才不能agree on

bbfcsak

我选e。
通过agree on的搭配可以排除b，c，d。
然后因为Assembly是单数名词，代表这个州立集会的整体，所以A，B的they指代错误。
然后从逻辑上讲，一个法案的不通过是因为集团里面的人有分歧，不能说这个集团整体有分歧，所以应该补出新名词Assembly men， 且注意这个men是复数，符合了逻辑意思，集团里一部分人和一部分人有分歧。
所以选e。

总之，补出新名字会比用代词it或者they好，不容易造成混淆。

若雪

14. Last year, the State Assembly failed topass a balanced budget because they could not agree on certain keyprovisions.
        A       they could not agree on
        B       they could not agree about
        C       it could not agree about
        D      the Assemblymen could not agree about
        E       the Assemblymen could not agree on

-- by 会员 毛毛carina (2011/9/16 9:31:02)

考完考试飘过来~~好像落下了一期T~T忘记贴答案了..E

去年议会failed to pass a budget,因为议会/议员们无法就一些重要条款达成一致
如果作者想表达的是议会的意思。那么应该用it, 否则就用assemblymen表达议员们，因此主谓一致排除AB
接下来...看固定搭配。
印象中就条约达成一致应该用agree on


刚去查了下longman...悲剧- -！
agree
same opinion
agree on/aboutWe don't agree on everything, of course.
俩一样？？？

在decide together的释义下面看到了agree on..
例句是agree on a date of balabala..
这边应该不是decide together key provision吧

接着查webster..
c : to come to terms <agree on a fair division of profits>
BINGO~虽然没看到任何有agree about 的例句...

纳丁Cat

Season one——manhattan 14
14. Last year, the State Assembly failed to pass a balanced budget because they could not agree on certain key provisions.
       A       they could not agree on
       B       they could not agree about
       C       it could not agree about
       D      the Assemblymen could not agree about
       E       the Assemblymen could not agree on

本句的意思是，去年，州众议院没有通过一个平衡预算，因为议员们不同意一些重要的条款。

考点：代词指代，固定搭配

A they 指代不清，前面只有一个State Assembly ，指代应该用单数。

B they 指代不清，错误同A；agree on sth固定搭配。

C agree on sth

D agree on sth

E 正确。

PS: 从意思来讲，应该是议员们不同意条款，而不是议院不同意条款。