Although the term "psychopath" is popularly applied to an especially brutal criminal, in psychology it is someone who is apparently inca­pable of feeling compassion or the pangs.

of conscience.
   

(A) it is someone who is
   

(B) it is a person
   

(C) they are people who are
   

(D) it refers to someone who is

(E) it is in reference to people

本题选D没有异议。

问题是为什么选项中的it一定指代the term呢？而不能是criminal呢？(OG11原文In this sentence, the pronoun it refers back to the term...）

从句意的角度理解it显然指代term更合理，但是从语法角度应该如何解释呢？谢谢！

指代优先顺序

主句主语〉主句宾语〉从句主语〉从句宾语

不涉及其他修饰成分的指代。

这个只是读题方法，不是做题方法。

in psychology it  前面与之平行的只有term