Sentence Correction

585. Promotions, retirements, deaths, and other actions approved by the board of directors at its May meeting will be reported in the July 15 issue of the company paper.
(A) Promotions, retirements, deaths, and other actions approved by the board of directors at its May meeting will be reported in the July 15 issue of the company paper.
(B) Promotions, retirements, and other actions which have been approved at the May meeting of the board of directors along with deaths, with be reported in the July 15 issue of the company paper.
(C) To be reported in the July 15 issue of the company paper are the promotions, retirements, deaths, and other actions which were approved at the board of directors’ May meeting.
(D) Meeting in May, the promotions, retirements, and other actions approved by the board of directors, including obituaries, will be reported in the July 15 issue of the company paper.
(E) The July 15 issue of the company paper will report on promotions, retirements, and other actions approved by the board of directors at its May meeting; the paper will also include obituaries.

Answer E

My guess is A.

A) "board of directors at its May" --> its has a clear referent (the board)
"will be reported in the July 15 issue" --> correct future tense using will
"Promotions, retirements, deaths, and other actions...will be reported" --> correct verb agreement.

B) "Promotions, retirements, and other actions .... along with deaths" --> unnecessarily breaks up the list.
"with be reported" --> unidiomatic and makes no sense
"and other actions which have been approved" --> "which" requires the use of a comma before it because it is a modifying phrase

C) Passive voice is weak.
"are the promotions, retirements, deaths, and other actions which were approved" --> "which" cannot be used here; "that" must be used here because the approval of the items by the board DEFINES the items to be reported.

D) "Meeting in May, the promotions, retirements..." --> indicates the list of items are meeting in May.
--> list broken up unnecessarily.
--> "Meeting in May" is the wrong verb tense.

E) "; the paper will also include obituaries. " --> unnecessarily breaks the sentence into two complete phrases.
--> list broken up unnecessarily.
[not 100% sure on this, but the idiom "report on" should be "report on the" since the original sentence pointed to specific promotions, retirements, etc that were approved by the board. Without "the," the sentence no longer refers to specific items]


I would get stuck choosing between A and E, but I think A is better.

Thanks for the explanation mayonnai5e

But the correct answer is e. Even I am not able to figure out why is A wrong.

ankanas wrote:Thanks for the explanation mayonnai5e

But the correct answer is e. Even I am not able to figure out why is A wrong.

My guess is the original sentence uses the passive voice. Also, the third item of the list (deaths) cannot be approved by the board. Deaths do not require board approval so would not make sense as an item in the list. Promotions, retirements and other actions can be approved however. As such, deaths would more logically be discussed independently of that list. I think these two issues together make E the "best answer."

I have never seen a GMAT problem like this where the appropriateness of an item of the list is based on the context of the list.

ankanas wrote:Thanks for the explanation mayonnai5e

But the correct answer is e. Even I am not able to figure out why is A wrong.

A lists 'death' as one of the actions approved. That can't be true. Certainly, board cannot 'approve' death, can it?

Got it...! Thanks

mayonnai5e wrote:My guess is A.

A) "board of directors at its May" --> its has a clear referent (the board)
"will be reported in the July 15 issue" --> correct future tense using will
"Promotions, retirements, deaths, and other actions...will be reported" --> correct verb agreement.

B) "Promotions, retirements, and other actions .... along with deaths" --> unnecessarily breaks up the list.
"with be reported" --> unidiomatic and makes no sense
"and other actions which have been approved" --> "which" requires the use of a comma before it because it is a modifying phrase

C) Passive voice is weak.
"are the promotions, retirements, deaths, and other actions which were approved" --> "which" cannot be used here; "that" must be used here because the approval of the items by the board DEFINES the items to be reported.

D) "Meeting in May, the promotions, retirements..." --> indicates the list of items are meeting in May.
--> list broken up unnecessarily.
--> "Meeting in May" is the wrong verb tense.

E) "; the paper will also include obituaries. " --> unnecessarily breaks the sentence into two complete phrases.
--> list broken up unnecessarily.
[not 100% sure on this, but the idiom "report on" should be "report on the" since the original sentence pointed to specific promotions, retirements, etc that were approved by the board. Without "the," the sentence no longer refers to specific items]

I would get stuck choosing between A and E, but I think A is better.

What is wrong in option A?

Promotions, retirements, deaths, and other actions approved by the board of directors at its May meeting will be reported in the July 15 issue of the company paper.

=> Can death be approved by board of directors?

NO. So, correct answer should be E.

one more vote for A

A is the correct choice,.

A is the correct choice,.

Gmatter2.0 wrote:A is the correct choice,.

If death can be approved by the board then A can be approved by this Forum