GMAT Sentence Correction Discussions

MBA
7848
The contrast indicated by 'yet' is the families not being able to afford a hope yet having to shell out more than 25% of their income due to rising rental rates... thats why (C)

Also, I am not sure the grammatical construction of (B) is right..
furthermore usually adds credence to an original idea or presents a new parallel idea and is usually logically independent.. so to have it immediately after a comma seems out of place..

EX: The acceleration performance of this car model is very poor; furthermore, its fuel consumption is extremely high.

In addition (Not using furthermore to avoid confusion!! ) there should ideally be a comma after furthermore which is not present here.. hence (B) is not the answer

just my 2 cents though :-o

Can we have the corrent answer as well please!!



Right, I agree on that, however
"The acceleration performance of this car model is very poor yet its fuel consumption is extremely high. also seems far out.

And if you see the sentence, it has two related ideas. They can't buy a house, and they rising rates leave them with less equity.
Where is the contrast here? These seem to be related, as house prices are going up and so are rental rates so they gotta pay more.
7849
The contrast indicated by 'yet' is the families not being able to afford a hope yet having to shell out more than 25% of their income due to rising rental rates... thats why (C)

Also, I am not sure the grammatical construction of (B) is right..
furthermore usually adds credence to an original idea or presents a new parallel idea and is usually logically independent.. so to have it immediately after a comma seems out of place..

EX: The acceleration performance of this car model is very poor; furthermore, its fuel consumption is extremely high.

In addition (Not using furthermore to avoid confusion!! ) there should ideally be a comma after furthermore which is not present here.. hence (B) is not the answer

just my 2 cents though :-o

Can we have the corrent answer as well please!!

Right, I agree on that, however
"The acceleration performance of this car model is very poor yet its fuel consumption is extremely high. also seems far out.

And if you see the sentence, it has two related ideas. They can't buy a house, and they rising rates leave them with less equity.
Where is the contrast here? These seem to be related, as house prices are going up and so are rental rates so they gotta pay more.


I see no reason why B can be correct.
B has an incorrect frame. Whenever we start a clause with an introductory word like however, furthermore, meanwhile etc, we always need to place a comma just after the introductory word. You can't have a run on sentence starting with an introductory word that's NOT followed by a comma.
Sidebar, B also changes the meaning of the sentence. B, in a way, means that the housing affordability gap widens because families can no longer afford to buy homes. That's giving a whole new meaning.
C best captures the essence. 'Families cannot afford to buy homes, yet they are being forced by the rising rentals.' Contrast correctly being shown.

Peace!
7850

The idea behind the sentece is this - they are not able to buy homes, and worse, they are forced to use more than 25 % pay for rent.
I am not supporting B 100 %, but I am not sure we need a yet.
Maybe yet should mean -
they can't afford to buy homes, yet they earn enough to live a content life.
how can we say they can't afford homes yet they use more than 25 % of their income for rent?

7851
The idea behind the sentece is this - they are not able to buy homes, and worse, they are forced to use more than 25 % pay for rent.
I am not supporting B 100 %, but I am not sure we need a yet.
Maybe yet should mean -
they can't afford to buy homes, yet they earn enough to live a content life.
how can we say they can't afford homes yet they use more than 25 % of their income for rent?


You can't study all day, yet your teacher forces you to do so.
"They" are incapable, yet they are forced to do something that they're not yet ready for.
7852

Well.. It simply boild down to Process of Elimination

Since A,D and E are incorrect, which among B and C seems to be the better fit?

IMO.. C is much better and B just does not seem right... (remember to trust your gut!! )

We can debate about the 'yet' all day long.. but answer does'nt change..



The idea behind the sentece is this - they are not able to buy homes, and worse, they are forced to use more than 25 % pay for rent.
I am not supporting B 100 %, but I am not sure we need a yet.
Maybe yet should mean -
they can't afford to buy homes, yet they earn enough to live a content life.
how can we say they can't afford homes yet they use more than 25 % of their income for rent?
7853
Because Halleys comet changes orbit slightly during the seventy-six-year interval between passing close to Earth, it may veer onto a collision course with a planet sometime in the distant future.
(A) between passing
(B) of passing
(C) between its passes
(D) of its passes
(E) as it passes

How can 'C' be correct choice????????
7854
Because Halleys comet changes orbit slightly during the seventy-six-year interval between passing close to Earth, it may veer onto a collision course with a planet sometime in the distant future.
(A) between passing
(B) of passing
(C) between its passes
(D) of its passes
(E) as it passes

How can 'C' be correct choice????????


-> Because comet changes so A & B are ruled out. ('between' also need two reference points. So, in that way, also, B is out.)
-> D makes no sense and sounds, rather, awkward. There is no way 'of' can begin the clause.
-> What does 'it' in E refer to? 'comet' or 'orbit'?
C is the best bet as it clearly means that every time the comet passes close to earth, it deviates from its route.
Hope it helps.

Peace!
7855

The sentence talks of 'seventy-six-year interval.'
An interval usually is between two things..

So only (A) and (C) are likely answers and others are ruled out.
(C) is more appropriate since the construction, 'its passes close to Earth' is more sensible than 'passing close to Earth'
Hence (C)
Cheers...

Because Halleys comet changes orbit slightly during the seventy-six-year interval between passing close to Earth, it may veer onto a collision course with a planet sometime in the distant future.
(A) between passing
(B) of passing
(C) between its passes
(D) of its passes
(E) as it passes

How can 'C' be correct choice????????
7856

Duplicate post..

7857

Thanks a lot....

How about this:
1. Because of the enormous research and development expenditures required to survive in the electronics industry, an industry marked by rapid innovation and volatile demand, such firms tend to be very large.
(A) to survive
(B) of firms to survive
(C) for surviving
(D) for survival
(E) for firms survival

In my opinion A is right ans but Its Actually B....how come???

7858

Hey friends:

Biologists believe that they have found one of the substances that tell individual genes both when to become active and when to remain quiescent

is this right???
in my opinion it should be "tells"
what say??

7859

This can be confusing!!

(A) does eem to be a right choice..... but wait!!

the last part of the sentence says.. "such firms tend to be very large"

This means that firms has already been defined earlier and 'such' is used to refer to those firms!!

This implies only (B) and (E) can be the right solutions...

Lets take (E) first.. the sentence will be..

Because of the enormous research and development expenditures required for firms survival in the electronics industry, an industry marked by rapid innovation and volatile demand, such firms tend to be very large.

This implies that the topic of discussion is the large R&D; expenditures of the firms and not the firms themselves!! This will not fit with the last part of sentence "such firms tend to be very large" as it talks about firms and not the expenditures!!
Hence the answer is (B)

Thanks a lot....

How about this:
1. Because of the enormous research and development expenditures required to survive in the electronics industry, an industry marked by rapid innovation and volatile demand, such firms tend to be very large.
(A) to survive
(B) of firms to survive
(C) for surviving
(D) for survival
(E) for firms survival

In my opinion A is right ans but Its Actually B....how come???
7860

hey,
thanks a lot man.....but are these kind of questions common in GMAT??????
anyways what about this.........
Biologists believe that they have found one of the substances that tell individual genes both when to become active and when to remain quiescent

is this right???
in my opinion it should be "tells"
what say??

7861

Well.. i gave GMAT 3 yrs ago.. so might not be best positioned to answer if these are the types of questions.. but more or less.. these indeed are

And for the biologists.. question, i think it is correct as it is..

My Reason.. 'that' which follows substances! :shock:
it means that there are many substances that tell genes.. and the scientists have found one of them..

Hope this is helpful!


hey,
thanks a lot man.....but are these kind of questions common in GMAT??????
anyways what about this.........
Biologists believe that they have found one of the substances that tell individual genes both when to become active and when to remain quiescent

is this right???
in my opinion it should be "tells"
what say??
7862
hey,
thanks a lot man.....but are these kind of questions common in GMAT??????
anyways what about this.........
Biologists believe that they have found one of the substances that tell individual genes both when to become active and when to remain quiescent

is this right???
 in my opinion it should be "tells"
 what say??

 one of the substances that
"that" is a possessive and attaches itself with the noun that occurs before it. Here that refers to substances and not One of the substances hence we need the plural form of the verb - "tell".

Another example : scientists believe that one of the pollutants(plural), that occur(plural, refers to pollutants) in natural spring water, is(single, refers to one of the pollutants) responsible for a certain type of cancer.

P.S. : Pardon me if the technical jargons do not make sense. I just mean to convey the concept.
7863


Another example : scientists believe that one of the pollutants(plural), that occur(plural, refers to pollutants) in natural spring water, is(single, refers to one of the pollutants) responsible for a certain type of cancer.

P.S. : Pardon me if the technical jargons do not make sense. I just mean to convey the concept.


The highlighted part in red is incorrect. 'that' is never used as a non-restrictive clause. 'which' is used instead.
However, 'which' could sometimes be used as a restrictive clause(depending upon the object), but 'that' is limited to restrictive clause only.

Peace!

PS: No offense, bud. Just wanted to make that correction done.
7864
The highlighted part in red is incorrect. 'that' is never used as a non-restrictive clause. 'which' is used instead.
However, 'which' could sometimes be used as a restrictive clause(depending upon the object), but 'that' is limited to restrictive clause only.

Peace!

PS: No offense, bud. Just wanted to make that correction done.


You are right bud. it should be which.

EducationAisle Says
Hi Akhil, could you let me know of instance(s) when which is used as restrictive clause.

@EducationAisle, I tried looking for use of which in restrictive. Could not find one.
As pointed here : Clauses - Restrictive and Nonrestrictive
Restrictive and Nonrestrictive Clauses Defined. Restrictive clauses limit the possible meaning of a preceding subject. Nonrestrictive clauses tell you something about a preceding subject, but they do not limit, or restrict, the meaning of that subject.
7865
EducationAisle Says
Hi Akhil, could you let me know of instance(s) when which is used as restrictive clause.



@EducationAisle, I tried looking for use of which in restrictive. Could not find one.


Hey Ashish & Gail Wynand (liked The Fountainhead?)

'which' as a restrictive clause is used for animals and insensate things.
'The book which he wrote last summer became a National best-seller.'
'I bought the hen which lays the golden eggs.'(Eh! The good old story!)

And using 'that' here wouldn't be wrong nor ungrammatical, either.

'which' has a harder sound and stresses the subject/object.
'that' is usually unstressed due to its unemphatic sound.

BUT, there are certain instances where (or 'when' ?) 'which' shouldn't be used and 'that' comes into play. Again, not a rule but a tendency.
- For the clauses that/which follow a superlative.
'It was the best innings (that) I had ever seen.'

- Clauses that refer to the words like anything, something, everything etc.
'Could you spell everything (that) you think think of?'

- In speeches due to " that's " vs " which's ", for the latter being incorrect.

I'm recapitulating what I mean:
- 'that', a restrictive clause, when used as a non-restrictive clause is always incorrect and unacceptable.
' The issue, that has irked me for so long, has finally been sorted out.'

- 'which', a non-restrictive clause, when used as a restrictive clause is both correct & acceptable, depending upon the object/subject and the stress one wants to make.
' The issue which has irked me for so long is finally sorted.'

Hope I left nothing as clear as mud?

Peace!
7866

Hey guys,
thanks a lot for the help....
I have couple of questions more to ask....

1. I can see some great grammer rules being discussed here.....can anybody suggest some good notes or book explaining these grammatical rules that can help in gmat.

2. Carpenters, dentists, sewing machine operators, needlepointers, piano players, and indeed anyone who works with their hands for long hours can get carpal tunnel syndrome. (A) anyone who works
(B) anyone working
(C) workers
(D) those for whom work isďźˆE
(E) any people who work


as A,B,C,D does not make sense so E is right answer......But "any people"....how is this right???

7867

Are you sure (E) is the tight answer???

(B) sounds fine to me!!


Hey guys,
thanks a lot for the help....
I have couple of questions more to ask....

1. I can see some great grammer rules being discussed here.....can anybody suggest some good notes or book explaining these grammatical rules that can help in gmat.

2. Carpenters, dentists, sewing machine operators, needlepointers, piano players, and indeed anyone who works with their hands for long hours can get carpal tunnel syndrome. (A) anyone who works
(B) anyone working
(C) workers
(D) those for whom work isďźˆE
(E) any people who work


as A,B,C,D does not make sense so E is right answer......But "any people"....how is this right???