3.3 Locating Referents
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1. Approximately five items on the TOEFL will test your ability to locate words and phrases that are the referents of pronouns and other words.
2. Referents are words in a passage that other words refer to. Pronouns such as they and it have noun referents; the referents are the nouns that are replaced by the pronouns (See 2.15). Words such as that, these, and some also have referents. The referents are other words or phrases appearing in the same passage.
Usually, the referents is mentioned before the referring word in the passage, often immediately before it, but sometimes the referent appears later. The referent may be in the same sentence or in another sentence.
Look at some examples. The referent for each underlined word is shown in italics
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The refraction of light by its internal layers causes the moonstone's milky sheen.
The tallest peak of the Rockies is twice as high as that of the Appalachians.
Most daisies are perennials, but some bloom for only one or two seasons.
Some words that have referents are:
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Subject pronouns: he/ she/ it/ they
Object pronouns: him/ her/ it/ them
Possessive Adjectives: his/ her/ its/ their
Possessive Pronouns: his/ hers/ -/ theirs
Demonstratives: this/ that/ these/ those
Indefinite Pronouns: all/ another/ any/ both/ each/ many/ most/ none/ one/ others/ several/ some
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3. The most common type of referent question on the TOEFL asks you to locate the referent of a pronoun or possessive adjective. However, sometimes you must identify the referent of a specified term or phrase.
Look at the underlined phrase in the following passage:
Like the gray and fox squirrels, the Eastern chipmunk often feeds on acorns and hickory nuts. Essentially a ground species, this pert rodent does not hesitate to climb large oak trees when the acorns are ripe.
This pert rodent refers to the Eastern chipmunk, which is the subject of both sentences in the passage.
Use both the function and the meaning of the referring words and referents to determine the correct answer to referent questions on the TOEFL.
Check to see if your answer choice is correct by putting it in the sentence. If the both the structure and the meaning of the sentence still make sense, your answer is correct.
In the following sentences, circle the words or phrases that the underlined words refer to. Draw a line to connect the two.
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a. A study of 500 people undergoing outpatient surgery found that those who smoked within 24 hours of having general anesthesia were much less likely to receive enough oxygen to their heart during surgery.
b. Some elements, such as hidrogen and oxygen, are gases at normal temperatures, others are solids, and onlt two, bromine and mercury, are liquids.
c. Electromagnetism is the relatomship between electricity and magnetism; either can be used to produce the other.
d. Despite the vampire bat's tiny size--its body is no larger than that of a mouse--this blood-sucking creature is a threat to cattle in its native Latin America.
(Answers: a. Those refers to people undergoing outpatient surgery. b. Others refers to elements; two refers to elements, specifically bromine and mercury. c. Either refers to electricity or magnetism. d. That refers to body; this blood-sucking creature refers to the vampire bat.)
4. On the paper test, questions about referents look like this:
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The word "_____" in line __ refers to ______.
The phrase "_____" in line __ refers to ______.