From the SAT:
Psychologists advise that before making any major changes in their lives, people should focus on their goals.
This is the right answer but another choice seems plausible to me but I don't know why it is wrong
Here is the other choice:
Psychologists advise that before making any major changes in their life, a person needs to focus on their goals.
Can someone explain to me why the second sentence is wrong? Thanks!
Despite the thoughtful comment made by Araucaria, considering the source is the SAT, I believe it is simply a matter of faulty pronoun-antecedent agreement: "their lives," "people" and "their goals" are all correctly plural; while "their life" (who is/are "they"?), "a person" (singular) and "their goals" (back to the plural again) represents a hodge-podge of mismatched words. A singular antecedent calls for a singular pronoun. To say, "Psychologists advise that before making any major changes in his or her life, a person needs to focus on his or her goals" is awkward and inelegant, and it is easily fixed by switching to the plural.
