Sentence Correction

This question is the first practice problem in the 3rd series of Meaning based problems.

The possibilities opened by the recent federal court decision are frightening because now a radical pro-business secretary, in principle, can bypass the clinical trial system and also the F.D.A. approval process in order that he brings a drug faster to the market.

A. bypass the clinical trial system and also the F.D.A. approval process in order that he brings a drug faster to the market

B. bypass the clinical trial system or the F.D.A. approval process in order to bring a drug faster to market

C. bring a drug faster to the market along with the F.D.A. approval process by bypassing the clinical trial system

D. bypass the clinical trial system and the F.D.A. approval process to bring a drug faster to the market

E. bypasses the clinical trial system and the F.D.A. approval process, bringing a drug faster to the market

We will provide the official answer soon.
You can read the articles in this series by clicking on the follwoing links:
https://www.beatthegmat.com/mba/2012/07/ ... ing-part-1
https://www.beatthegmat.com/mba/2012/07/ ... ing-part-2
https://www.beatthegmat.com/mba/2012/07/ ... ing-part-3

Hi folks,

Here is the official explanation for this question:

The possibilities opened by the recent federal court decision are frightening because now a radical pro-business secretary, in principle, can bypass the clinical trial system and also the F.D.A. approval process in order that he brings a drug faster to the market.

• A. bypass the clinical trial system and also the F.D.A. approval process in order that he brings a drug faster to the market
  B. bypass the clinical trial system or the F.D.A. approval process in order to bring a drug faster to market
  C. bring a drug faster to the market along with the F.D.A. approval process by bypassing the clinical trial system
  D. bypass the clinical trial system and the F.D.A. approval process to bring a drug faster to the market
  E. bypasses the clinical trial system and the F.D.A. approval process, bringing a drug faster to the market

The author implies that the possibilities per the recent court decision are frightening. This is because now a radical person of authority in medical system can bypass two gates - the clinical trial system and the FDA approval process with an intention to bring a drug faster to the market.



Let's find the errors in the original sentence by splitting it into clause:

1. The possibilities opened by the recent federal court decision are frightening
2. because now a radical pro-business secretary, in principle, can bypass the clinical trial system and also the F.D.A. approval process in order
3. that he brings a drug faster to the market.

The sentence structure is as shown above. The SV pairs for both clauses are accounted for and agree in number. The pronoun "he" correctly refers to the radical pro-business secretary. The verb - can bypass - is written in correct verb tense to indicate the capability that the secretary will have after the new court decision. The use of "also" is redundant. The list of two things that can be bypassed is already connected using "and". Also, the intention is expressed using "in order to" or "to verb". "in order that" is not the correct idiom to express the intention.

Review Answer Choices to do POE:

Choice B - Use of "or" changes the intended meaning of the sentence. Now it appears as though the secretary will have the capability to bypass only one or the other and not both. So per this sentence, the secretary has less capability than per the original sentence (per which he could bypass both systems). Note that "in order to" is perfect fine. Yes "to verb" is more precise but this choice is not incorrect because of use of "in order to". It is incorrect because it changes the intended meaning.

Choice C - This choice completely distorts the meaning of the sentence. Note that per the original sentence, the secretary had the option of bypassing the two systems. Using this capability he could have taken the drug faster to market. Per this sentence it appears as though the court decision will explicitly allow the secretary to bring a drug faster to the market. Furthermore, now this choice implies that secretary can bring drug faster to market along with the FDA approval process. This is non-sensical. The purpose of "along with the FDA approval process" is no longer clear. Is the secretary going to also bring the FDA approval process faster to the market? In any case, the way "along with" has been used, distorts the significance of FDA approval process.

Choice D - Correct choice.

Choice E - Subject-verb do not agree in number. "Can bypasses" is incorrect. Also, 'bringing a drug..." now shows a consequence instead of an intention. Even though logically and grammatically correct, it does not communicate the intended "intention" of the secretary to bypass the two systems.



1. Understand the meaning of the original sentence. Note the relationships among each part of the sentence - both from grammatical standpoint and from logical standpoint.
2. Make sure that these relationships are maintained in the correct choice as well.
3. Focus on entire sentence and not just the underlined portion of the sentence. For example, in choice E, can is in non-underlined portion, so if one does not pay attention to that, one may not be able to catch - bypasses - error.