Question

which of the following contains a vague pronoun reference?
zoe was delighted to find the johnstons delicious pies at the farmers
market.
the johnstons make delicious pies; zoe was delighted to find them at the
farmers market.
submit

Explanation:

To determine a vague pronoun reference, we check what the pronoun refers to. In the second sentence, "them" could potentially be ambiguous (though contextually it's likely "pies", but compared to the first sentence which has no pronoun, the second has "them" which is a pronoun. Wait, actually, let's re - evaluate. The first sentence: "Zoe was delighted to find the Johnstons’ delicious pies at the farmers’ market." No pronoun. The second: "The Johnstons make delicious pies; Zoe was delighted to find them at the farmers’ market." Here, "them" should refer to "pies", but is there any vagueness? Wait, maybe the question is structured such that the second sentence has "them" which is a pronoun, and maybe the test considers it. Wait, no, maybe I misread. Wait, the two sentences: first has no pronoun, second has "them" referring to "pies". But maybe the question is about which one has a vague reference. Wait, actually, in the second sentence, "them" is a pronoun. Let's analyze: In the first sentence, we have a clear reference to "the Johnstons’ delicious pies". In the second, "them" is used. But is "them" vague? Let's see: the first part is "The Johnstons make delicious pies", then "Zoe was delighted to find them...". So "them" should refer to "pies". But maybe the question is designed so that the second sentence has the pronoun "them", and the first doesn't. Wait, maybe the answer is the second sentence: "The Johnstons make delicious pies; Zoe was delighted to find them at the farmers’ market." because it uses the pronoun "them" (even though contextually it's clear, maybe in the context of the question, this is the one with the pronoun reference, and the first doesn't have a pronoun. Wait, the question is "Which of the following contains a vague pronoun reference?". Let's check each:

First sentence: "Zoe was delighted to find the Johnstons’ delicious pies at the farmers’ market." No pronoun, so no vague pronoun reference.

Second sentence: "The Johnstons make delicious pies; Zoe was delighted to find them at the farmers’ market." Here, "them" is a pronoun. Now, is "them" vague? Let's see, the antecedent is "pies" (from "The Johnstons make delicious pies"). So "them" refers to "pies". But maybe the question is considering that. Wait, maybe the first sentence has no pronoun, so the second one, with "them", is the one with the pronoun reference (even if it's not extremely vague, but relatively). So the sentence with the vague pronoun reference (or the one with the pronoun) is the second one.

Answer:

The Johnstons make delicious pies; Zoe was delighted to find them at the farmers’ market.