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ballet dancers

by sallespadua » Fri Feb 26, 2010 10:13 am
I got this one right, but I had a lot of doubts between D and E

Young female ballet dancers and gymnasts sometimes fail to maintain good eating habits caused by the desire to be as thin as possible.

(A) Young female ballet dancers and gymnasts sometimes fail to maintain good eating habits caused by the desire to be as thin as possible.
(B) Good eating habits sometimes fail to be maintained by young female ballet dancers and gymnasts caused by desiring to be as thin as possible.
(C) Because they desire to be as thin as possible, good eating habits are sometimes not maintained by young female ballet dancers and gymnasts.
(D) Because they desire to be as thin as possible, young female ballet dancers and gymnasts sometimes fail to maintain good eating habits.
(E) Young female ballet dancers and gymnasts sometimes fail to maintain good eating habits because they desire to be as thin as possible.

OA D
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by Osirus@VeritasPrep » Fri Feb 26, 2010 10:16 am
source?
https://www.beatthegmat.com/the-retake-o ... 51414.html

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by gmat_perfect » Fri Feb 26, 2010 10:45 am
Young female ballet dancers and gymnasts sometimes fail to maintain good eating habits caused by the desire to be as thin as possible.

(A) Young female ballet dancers and gymnasts sometimes fail to maintain good eating habits caused by the desire to be as thin as possible.
(B) Good eating habits sometimes fail to be maintained by young female ballet dancers and gymnasts caused by desiring to be as thin as possible.
(C) Because they desire to be as thin as possible, good eating habits are sometimes not maintained by young female ballet dancers and gymnasts.
(D) Because they desire to be as thin as possible, young female ballet dancers and gymnasts sometimes fail to maintain good eating habits.
(E) Young female ballet dancers and gymnasts sometimes fail to maintain good eating habits because they desire to be as thin as possible.

Grammar:

1. Desire can not cause something.
2. Unnecessary passive should always be avoided.
3. The pronoun should have clear antecedent.

Between D and E:

In E, "they" is ambiguous. "they" may refer to "ballet dancers" or "eating habits". So, D is the correct option.
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by prinit » Fri Feb 26, 2010 11:49 am
sallespadua wrote:I got this one right, but I had a lot of doubts between D and E

Young female ballet dancers and gymnasts sometimes fail to maintain good eating habits caused by the desire to be as thin as possible.

(A) Young female ballet dancers and gymnasts sometimes fail to maintain good eating habits caused by the desire to be as thin as possible.
(B) Good eating habits sometimes fail to be maintained by young female ballet dancers and gymnasts caused by desiring to be as thin as possible.
(C) Because they desire to be as thin as possible, good eating habits are sometimes not maintained by young female ballet dancers and gymnasts.
(D) Because they desire to be as thin as possible, young female ballet dancers and gymnasts sometimes fail to maintain good eating habits.
(E) Young female ballet dancers and gymnasts sometimes fail to maintain good eating habits because they desire to be as thin as possible.

OA D
D is the correct choice. Subordinate structure is correctly formed and comma splice is perfectly used. In choice E they is ambiguous.
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by kstv » Fri Feb 26, 2010 6:45 pm
But is starting a sentence with Because a good practise. Always fall for this trap. Should one consider C and D cos' GMAT will not waste two choices ?
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by sallespadua » Fri Feb 26, 2010 7:40 pm
Thank you guys! I haven't notice that "they" is ambiguous. I've forgot about this rule!

In C, there is misplacement, kstv. This is why it is wrong.
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by Rajat Khandelwal » Sun Feb 28, 2010 9:28 am
They in option E is ambiguous...
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by Rajat Khandelwal » Sun Feb 28, 2010 9:29 am
But why in option D ...They is not ambiguous?
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by sl_jan86 » Tue Mar 02, 2010 4:25 am
because after the comma, young ballet dancers are being referred to and not Eating habits.
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