confusing

This topic has expert replies
Junior | Next Rank: 30 Posts
Posts: 27
Joined: Fri Aug 13, 2010 8:13 am
GMAT Score:650

confusing

by okletsdothis » Sat Jan 29, 2011 6:18 am
Confusing. Pls shed some light.

Q Now even directors of off- Broadway productions, desperate for actors who are
talented, charismatic, and aspiring
more to a solid career in the theater than to the
lucrative rewards and stardom proffered by movie moguls and studios, are turning to
independent casting directors for guidance in assembling their casts.


A. are talented, charismatic, and aspiring
B. are talented, who have charisma, and who are aspiring
C. have talent and are charismatic and aspire
D. are talented and have charisma, and whose aspirations are
E. are talented and charismatic, and who aspire


OA E

Legendary Member
Posts: 1578
Joined: Sun Dec 28, 2008 1:49 am
Thanked: 82 times
Followed by:9 members
GMAT Score:720

by maihuna » Sat Jan 29, 2011 6:24 am
I think only A and E are close, BCD can be easily eliminatyed.

In E, who aspire more to do X is idiomatic compared to
who are aspiring more to X because aspiring here is used as noun, Gerund.
Charged up again to beat the beast :)

User avatar
Legendary Member
Posts: 752
Joined: Sun Sep 12, 2010 2:47 am
Thanked: 20 times
Followed by:10 members
GMAT Score:700

by prachich1987 » Sat Jan 29, 2011 9:35 am
what's the source?
confused between A & E

Junior | Next Rank: 30 Posts
Posts: 27
Joined: Fri Aug 13, 2010 8:13 am
GMAT Score:650

by okletsdothis » Sat Jan 29, 2011 10:02 am

User avatar
Master | Next Rank: 500 Posts
Posts: 155
Joined: Sat Oct 16, 2010 6:32 pm
Thanked: 3 times

by GHong14 » Sat Jan 29, 2011 8:56 pm
I think this is a parallelism issue. As stated above the choices come down between A and E.

Q Now even directors of off- Broadway productions, desperate for actors who are
talented, charismatic, and aspiring more to a solid career in the theater than to the
lucrative rewards and stardom proffered by movie moguls and studios, are turning to
independent casting directors for guidance in assembling their casts.


A. are talented, charismatic, and aspiring
E. are talented and charismatic, and who aspire

This specific sentence deals will parallel nouns: "who are charismatic, talented, and aspiring." However, aspiring may be mistaken for a verb in this case as the sentence is noun ends with ing. This is usually fixed by adding "the" in front of the word. In this case the sentence will be awkward and convoluted.

The alternative, is to break up the nouns and maintain parallel structure by rephrasing the sentence with actors....who and who... In this case aspiring can be changed into "who aspire" thus parallelism is maintained without creating a awkward sentence or fear of a misunderstood gerund.

User avatar
Junior | Next Rank: 30 Posts
Posts: 27
Joined: Thu Jan 20, 2011 2:41 am
Thanked: 2 times

by vatsalroxy » Sun Jan 30, 2011 3:12 am
I think this is a parallelism issue. As stated above the choices come down between A and E.

Q Now even directors of off- Broadway productions, desperate for actors who are
talented, charismatic, and aspiring more to a solid career in the theater than to the
lucrative rewards and stardom proffered by movie moguls and studios, are turning to
independent casting directors for guidance in assembling their casts.


A. are talented, charismatic, and aspiring
E. are talented and charismatic, and who aspire

This specific sentence deals will parallel nouns: "who are charismatic, talented, and aspiring." However, aspiring may be mistaken for a verb in this case as the sentence is noun ends with ing. This is usually fixed by adding "the" in front of the word. In this case the sentence will be awkward and convoluted.

The alternative, is to break up the nouns and maintain parallel structure by rephrasing the sentence with actors....who and who... In this case aspiring can be changed into "who aspire" thus parallelism is maintained without creating a awkward sentence or fear of a misunderstood gerund
Thats a fab explanation. And cherry on top is in A "Aspiring" doesnt come as adjective which is used to describe the qualities of actors which broadway guys are looking for.

Aspiring here seems to be a continuous action like this
I am looking for a secretary who is smart ,intelligent and acting quickly with sharp reflexes.
Acting quickly is a desired action which doesnt parallel to the adjectives i placed before. Hence i would change it to "Quick responder rather than mentioning it as acting quickly. hope that helps :)