Which revision of the first sentence follows the style guide and best retains the clarity of the original?

We conducted a survey of every notary public in the immediate area and asked which type of notary stamp he or she liked best. Everyone but Sara and Jonah chose a pre-inked stamp. Her preference was an embosser and his was an integrated ink pad.

We conducted a survey of every notary public in the immediate area and asked which type of notary stamp each liked best.

We conducted a survey of every notary public in the immediate area and asked which type of notary stamp she liked best.

We conducted a survey of those in the immediate area and asked which type of notary stamp they liked best.

We conducted a survey of all notaries public in the immediate area and asked which type of notary stamp he/she liked best.

Question

English

Sara Gomez

19 September, 22:44

Which revision of the first sentence follows the style guide and best retains the clarity of the original?

We conducted a survey of every notary public in the immediate area and asked which type of notary stamp he or she liked best. Everyone but Sara and Jonah chose a pre-inked stamp. Her preference was an embosser and his was an integrated ink pad.

We conducted a survey of every notary public in the immediate area and asked which type of notary stamp each liked best.

We conducted a survey of every notary public in the immediate area and asked which type of notary stamp she liked best.

We conducted a survey of those in the immediate area and asked which type of notary stamp they liked best.

We conducted a survey of all notaries public in the immediate area and asked which type of notary stamp he/she liked best.

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Answers (1)

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Karli Aguilar · Answer 1

Choice A: We conducted a survey of those in the immediate area and asked which type of notary stamp each liked best.

Essentially, the only thing that differentiates Choice A from the rest, is it's pronoun used.

In the original, the pronoun phrase used in relation to the adjective "those," was "he or she."

From this we can infer that Choice B is out of the question since it only states "she."

Choice C, though a tempting choice, is incorrect since the word "they" isn't inclusive enough.

Choice D is erroneous because it does not provide more clarity than the original. In fact, it doesn't even seem like a revision since the two pronouns were joined by a forward slash.