Sentence Correction

Domnu wrote:Another reason is that "have been" has to be used instead of "are."

Anial wrote:A) whether tourists will continue to visit game parks and see rhinoceroses after their horns are
B) whether tourists will continue to visit game parks to see one once their horns are
C) whether tourists will continue to visit game parks to see rhinoceroses once the animals' horns have been
D) if tourists will continue to visit game parks and see rhinoceroses once the animals' horns are
E) if tourists will continue to visit game parks to see one after the animals' horns have been

Just a quick Question

Here doesn't Choice C changes the original meaning of the sentence.

C sounds like tourists visit game parks just to see the rhinoceroses where as in original sentence intent is not the same?


Thanks

Stacey Koprince wrote:Received a PM asking me to respond. This is an OG question, so I can't discuss directly. I'm going to discuss some other random stuff that may or may not bear a close resemblance to this problem.

"whether" vs. "if"
Most people use "if" these days when they should be using "whether."

Use "whether" when you're trying to say "whether or not":
I want to know whether you're going to the party with me. Yes or no?

Use "if" when you're trying to convey an "if, then" sense:
If you're going to the party, (then) let me know.

When I use "and" in a sentence, the two items connected by the "and" do not have to be related to each other.

I want to know whether you will continue to drink milk and study.

Both are things that I want to know whether you will continue to do... but that's as far as they are related.

If the two things are related, then you can use something other than "and" to connect them. For example:
I want to know whether you will continue to drink milk to study (whether you are lactose intolerant).

There is a subtle meaning change here yes - though this one does not exactly mimic that other one up above.

Here's another one:

I want to know whether people will continue to visit Mars and see martians after their antennae are removed.

I want to know whether people will continue to visit Mars.
I want to know whether people will continue to see martians after their antennae are removed.

The above two sentences contain the full meaning of both parts of the sentence. Notice anything odd about that second one? Is the question really whether the martians will become invisible after their antennae are removed? (Well, we are talking about martians, so maybe that's possible! )

What would fix the meaning of that second part?

Ah - slightly changing the original meaning would fix that. I want to know whether people will continue to visit Mars TO see martians after their antennae are removed. That makes more sense!

simplyjat wrote:A proposal has been made to trim the horns from rhinoceroses to discourage poachers; the question is whether tourists will continue to visit game parks and see rhinoceroses after their horns are trimmed.

A) whether tourists will continue to visit game parks and see rhinoceroses after their horns are
B) whether tourists will continue to visit game parks to see one once their horns are
C) whether tourists will continue to visit game parks to see rhinoceroses once the animals' horns have been
D) if tourists will continue to visit game parks and see rhinoceroses once the animals' horns are
E) if tourists will continue to visit game parks to see one after the animals' horns have been

OA C

My question is what is wrong with the original sentence?

GMATGuruNY wrote:

simplyjat wrote:A proposal has been made to trim the horns from rhinoceroses to discourage poachers; the question is whether tourists will continue to visit game parks and see rhinoceroses after their horns are trimmed.

A) whether tourists will continue to visit game parks and see rhinoceroses after their horns are
B) whether tourists will continue to visit game parks to see one once their horns are
C) whether tourists will continue to visit game parks to see rhinoceroses once the animals' horns have been
D) if tourists will continue to visit game parks and see rhinoceroses once the animals' horns are
E) if tourists will continue to visit game parks to see one after the animals' horns have been

OA C

My question is what is wrong with the original sentence?

I received a PM asking me to comment.

Here's the approach that I would use:

As noted above, there is a 3/2 split between whether and if. If is used for a conditional situation; whether is used to discuss options. Since the sentence is discussing options -- the tourists will or will not continue to visit -- the word whether is correct. Eliminate D and E.

In B, the pronoun their incorrectly refers either to one or to tourists. Eliminate B.

In A, the pronoun their could be referring either to tourists or to rhinoceroses. Since C avoids this ambiguity by omitting the pronoun their, C is the better answer choice. Eliminate A.

The correct answer is C.

I have been asked about the split between are (present tense) and have been (present perfect tense). The present perfect tense is needed here. One use of the present perfect is to express a future action that will be completed before another future action. The use of the present perfect have been trimmed makes it clear that the trimming will be happening -- in the future -- before the tourists will or will not continue to visit. The adverb once further indicates that the present perfect is needed: Once X has happened, then Y will happen.

Stacey Koprince wrote:Received a PM asking me to respond. This is an OG question, so I can't discuss directly. I'm going to discuss some other random stuff that may or may not bear a close resemblance to this problem.

"whether" vs. "if"
Most people use "if" these days when they should be using "whether."

Use "whether" when you're trying to say "whether or not":
I want to know whether you're going to the party with me. Yes or no?

Use "if" when you're trying to convey an "if, then" sense:
If you're going to the party, (then) let me know.

When I use "and" in a sentence, the two items connected by the "and" do not have to be related to each other.

I want to know whether you will continue to drink milk and study.

Both are things that I want to know whether you will continue to do... but that's as far as they are related.

If the two things are related, then you can use something other than "and" to connect them. For example:
I want to know whether you will continue to drink milk to study (whether you are lactose intolerant).

There is a subtle meaning change here yes - though this one does not exactly mimic that other one up above.

Here's another one:

I want to know whether people will continue to visit Mars and see martians after their antennae are removed.

I want to know whether people will continue to visit Mars.
I want to know whether people will continue to see martians after their antennae are removed.

The above two sentences contain the full meaning of both parts of the sentence. Notice anything odd about that second one? Is the question really whether the martians will become invisible after their antennae are removed? (Well, we are talking about martians, so maybe that's possible! )

What would fix the meaning of that second part?

Ah - slightly changing the original meaning would fix that. I want to know whether people will continue to visit Mars TO see martians after their antennae are removed. That makes more sense!

magic monkey wrote: Hi Stacey, I notice that we could use if like I don't know if Jack will come to attend the meeting tonight.

According to your analysis, do you mean that in the formal written English we could only use if in conditional clause, and whether in optional clause?

GMATGuruNY wrote:

magic monkey wrote: Hi Stacey, I notice that we could use if like I don't know if Jack will come to attend the meeting tonight.

According to your analysis, do you mean that in the formal written English we could only use if in conditional clause, and whether in optional clause?

A whether-clause can serve as noun.
An if-clause cannot.
Incorrect: I don't know if Jack will attend the meeting.
Here, the intent is to express WHAT YOU DON'T KNOW.
An if-clause cannot serve as the direct object of know.
Correct: I don't know WHETHER Jack will attend the meeting.

Buzz wrote:Can someone please explain why "if"is out here?