GMAT Sentence Correction Discussions

MBA
8390
Surprising. Can you please let us know the source of this question.



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Thanks,
Ashish
GMAT Faculty @ EducationAisle
GMAT - 99th Percentile, MBA - ISB


This question appeared in Verbal Bin 3 of the Princeton GMAT review2011 edition.
8391
This is not an absolute phrase since absolute phrases have a subject.

Following would be absolute phrase:

His bat doing the talking, Tendulkar scored a blistering century.

bat is the subject in the phrase above.

p.s. From GMAT perspective, you don't need to know all these details though.

-------------------------------------------
Thanks,
Ashish
GMAT Faculty @ EducationAisle
GMAT - 99th Percentile, MBA - ISB

okay brother....noted...thanks
8392

Does anyone has 'SC Grail' ? How is it and from where can I get it?

8393

You can get it from here:
Aristotle Sentence Correction Grail | Aristotleprep

It's a very good resource for SC...it is not free..but if you register on this site, they will give you free lessons from the book by e-mail 😁

8394

The possibility of massive earthquakes are regarded by most area residents
with a mixture of skepticism and caution.
(A) are regarded by most area residents with
(B) is regarded by most area residents with
(C) is regarded by most area residents as
(D) is mostly regarded by area residents with
(E) by most area residents is regarded with

may sound simple to many....but i would like to hear your thoughts on it

8395

@above:
I'll go with B....

8397

ya the correct answer is B

My answer was C

could you explain....i was sort of into that short cut rule...

Isnt 'regard' to be followed by 'as'?

as in....saw always regard followed by as...

'regarded as' is an idiom...isnt it?

8398
ya the correct answer is B

My answer was C

could you explain....i was sort of into that short cut rule...

Isnt 'regard' to be followed by 'as'?

as in....saw always regard followed by as...

'regarded as' is an idiom...isnt it?


Both are idioms however with a crucial difference.

Regarded...with : more adjusted to define a peculiar feeling or attitude to someone or something.

e.g. The spectators regarded Livperpool Football club with awe and admiration.

Regarded... as : suited to more personal comparisons. to regard someone or something as someone or something.

e.g. The teacher regarded the child's mistake as an oversight.

Thanks.
8399

Every conservative candidate except Smith and she was defeated in the primary election.
(A) except Smith and she
(B) except Smith and her

Please explain your answer

8400

IMHO, (a)....
Reason: "her" is never a part of the subject of a sentence...

8401

I think it should be op B...the pronoun should be "her" not "she"

Reasons:--look at the below sentences

1. Ravi washed the car (active voice...subject ravi is doing the action and object car is receiving the action "washed")
2. The car was washed by Ravi (passive voice...the subject "the car" is receiving the action "was washed")

In your sentences, its a clearly passive voice construction as u can c...it means "smith and "prnoun"" is acting as subject rather then object if they were in active voice. As u know pronoun "she" is a Nominative case and "her" is objective case pronoun, i believe, since object is now acting as subject its better to write the pronoun in objective case which is "her"..thats y op B
also, "except" is preposition so it should be followed by the objective case not the nominative case
Hope this works

wats the OA??

8402

Spl thanks to EducationAisle sir for that really informative post...
Can you please tell us some good sources to study the concepts of possessive pronoun, object pronoun etc.? I have really forgotten everything from my school days...(or is it since my school days?)

8403
More than 300 rivers drain into Siberia's Lake Baikal, which holds 20 percent of the world's fresh water, more than all the North American Great Lakes combined.

(A) More than 300 rivers drain into Siberia's Lake Baikal, which holds 20 percent of the world's fresh water, more than all the North American Great Lakes combined.

(B) With 20 percent of the world's fresh water, that is more than all the North American Great Lakes combined, Siberia's Lake Baikal has more than 300 rivers that drain into it.

(C) Siberia's Lake Baikal, with more than 300 rivers draining into it, it holds more of the world's fresh water than all that of the North American Great Lakes combined, 20 percent.

(D) While more than 300 rivers drain into it, Siberia's Lake Baikal holds 20 percent of the world's fresh water, which is more than all the North American Great Lakes combined.

(E) More than all the North American Great Lakes combined, Siberia's Lake Baikal, with more than 300 rivers draining into it, holds 20 percent of the world's fresh water.

please write ans with explanations...
8404

IMHO...should be (D)

This option clearly informs that the lake holds 20 percent of the world's fresh water, "which" is more than all NA lakes.... in (A) this which is absent...
Also, the use of the while, which indicates that there are 2 things happening simultaneously...300 rivers draining and it's holding water...the absence of the while rules out (B)...

Am I right or am "I" right? 😁

8405
IMHO...should be (D)

This option clearly informs that the lake holds 20 percent of the world's fresh water, "which" is more than all NA lakes.... in (A) this which is absent...
Also, the use of the while, which indicates that there are 2 things happening simultaneously...300 rivers draining and it's holding water...the absence of the while rules out (B)...

Am I right or am "I" right? :D

This question is from GMAT prep so its an important one...

Op D is not correct...although it close to but u made the same mistake which i made....
if i talk about the correct placement of modifiers then only op A and Op D wins...
but opD has an error....The use of the word 'while' is wrong. It means that this is not an eternal phenomenon, whereas it is. 'While' distorts the meaning....300 rivers drain is an eternal phenomenon, so we can not use
"while"....Op A has no grammatical mistakes and all the clauses are placed correctly (Read again u find that the meaning is clear in this op)...therefore A wins...
Hope this helps
8406

Which one of the below sentences is correct?

A new textbook focused on recent advances in Artificial intelligence was assigned by our instructor
or
A new textbook assigned by our instructor focused on recent advances in Artificial intelligence.

8408

This seems to be correct:
A new textbook assigned by our instructor focused on recent advances in Artificial intelligence.

Which one of the below sentences is correct?

A new textbook focused on recent advances in Artificial intelligence was assigned by our instructor
or
A new textbook assigned by our instructor focused on recent advances in Artificial intelligence.

8409
This seems to be correct:
A new textbook assigned by our instructor focused on recent advances in Artificial intelligence.


I too do not see any problem with this option but as per the mgmat sc guide the first option is also not wrong.

The original question was:
A new textbook focused on recent advances in Artificial intelligence assigned by our instructor.
8410
Which one of the below sentences is correct?

A new textbook focused on recent advances in Artificial intelligence was assigned by our instructor
or
A new textbook assigned by our instructor focused on recent advances in Artificial intelligence.


Its a Good one....the first one is correct...2nd one is a wrong its a fragment Althogh u made a mistake in typing..the option2 u mentioned is not the same which was given in MGMAT..the option2 is
A new textbook focused on recent advances in Artificial intelligence assigned by our instructor so its same like option 1 only instead of "was assigned" ONLY "assigned is there"
But, in anyway the option2 u had written is also wrong
pls try to understand the explanation. I'm gonna write 4 examples, 2 from MGMAT and the other 2 their variations
Okay,
Example 1:- The electron named in 1894. (MGMAT example)
The above written sentence is a fragment as it has no working verb...don't get confuse by "named"..its not a working verb here...why?? reason...if u think its a verb ask question WHO NAMED?? the ans u get is ELECTRON which is the subject over here..does this make any sense??? can electron name anything...hence this sentence is a fragment.

Example 2:- Stoney named the electron in 1894 (MGMAT example)
this is correct...stoney the subject is doing the action...means the action (naming) is actually valid here thus this sentence has got some meaning...

Now coming to our question, both the options as u can c are in passive voice so lets modify the above examples in passive voice..

Example 3:-- electron named by stoney.
what do u think is this correct...?? well no...something missing..a form of "To be"

Active voice:-- Ravi washed the car. (Subject Ravi doing an action object car receiving)
Passive voice:- The car was washed by the Ravi.(subject car is receiving the action object ravi doing)

Example 4:--electron was name by stoney. This is correct as discussed earlier

Now, discuss option 2...because its incorrect
A new textbook assigned by our instructor focused on recent advances in Artificial intelligence.
first of all WHO FOCUSED?? The text book...so the phrase "focused on recent advances in Artificial intelligence" should be placed near to "the textbook" and after that "WAS ASSIGNED" as textbook CAN NOT assign itself....someone else has to assign it...or u can also understand this in other if getting confused...
who get assigned??? The answer says textbook...means textbook (acting as subject in the given sentence) is receiving action...and the instructor (acting as an object in this sentence) is doing the option...so refer to that active and passive voice example...when subject is receiver and object is doer than passive voice and hence was assigned required...

Hope u people will not get bored from this long explanation...
8411

Can anyone help me in this question:--

According to surveys by the National Institute on Drug Abuse, about 20 percent of young adults used cocaine in 1979, doubling those reported in the 1977 survey.

(A) doubling those reported in the 1977 survey
(B) to double the number the 1977 survey reported
(C) twice those the 1977 survey reported
(D) twice as much as those reported in the 1977 survey
(E) twice the number reported in the 1977 survey