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A President entering

by paes » Wed Jun 30, 2010 6:16 pm
A President entering the final two years of a second term is likely to be at a severe disadvantage and is often unable to carry out a legislative program.
(A) likely to be at a severe disadvantage and is often unable to
(B) likely severely disadvantaged and often unable to
(C) liable to be severely disadvantaged and cannot often
(D) liable that he or she is at a severe disadvantage and cannot often
(E) at a severe disadvantage, often likely to be unable that he or she can

[spoiler]Unable to choose between A and B.
OA later[/spoiler]
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by DreamYogi » Wed Jun 30, 2010 6:33 pm
Only A and B can be considered.
likely severely disadvantaged - has some issue. I would choose A.
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by this_time_i_will » Wed Jun 30, 2010 6:40 pm
likely here is an adjective. An adjective can only modify noun/pronoun, but severly is an adverb.
IMO A.
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by paes » Wed Jun 30, 2010 8:45 pm
How do you know that likely is an adjective ?

Likely can be an adverb also. In that case, B makes more sense.
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by dream700 » Wed Jun 30, 2010 9:47 pm
hi guys,

i chose A because, "is" is not to be repeated. The construction is perfectly parallel without it...

regards,
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by paes » Thu Jul 01, 2010 8:10 am
Any thought guys, why B is wrong ??
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by GMATGuruNY » Thu Jul 01, 2010 8:52 am
paes wrote:A President entering the final two years of a second term is likely to be at a severe disadvantage and is often unable to carry out a legislative program.
(A) likely to be at a severe disadvantage and is often unable to
(B) likely severely disadvantaged and often unable to
(C) liable to be severely disadvantaged and cannot often
(D) liable that he or she is at a severe disadvantage and cannot often
(E) at a severe disadvantage, often likely to be unable that he or she can

[spoiler]Unable to choose between A and B.
OA later[/spoiler]
The correct idioms are:

X is likely to Y
X is at a disadvantage
X is unable to Y

Only answer choice A give us all of these correct idioms.

In answer choice A, likely is an adjective.

Any form of the verb to be indicates a state of being. The subject, which is a noun, cannot be an adverb. The subject can be only an adjective or another noun.

Mary is happy. (noun = adjective)

Mary is an astronaut. (noun = noun)

Not: Mary is quickly. (A noun cannot = adverb).

Hope this helps!
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by paes » Thu Jul 01, 2010 9:03 am
Great-great explanation Guru.

But with the same explanation, B is also looking ok.
It seems that still I am missing something.

A President <> is likely severely disadvantaged ......

Here

A president : Noun
disadvantaged : Adjective

severly : adverb, modifying to disadvantaged
likely : adverb [ From dictionary.com, likely can be an adjective as well as an adverb ]

Please clarify what's wrong here ?
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by loveusonu » Thu Jul 01, 2010 9:09 am
paes wrote:How do you know that likely is an adjective ?

Likely can be an adverb also. In that case, B makes more sense.
Liable: used where meaning is "Responsible for". Likely: probality.

Here liable is INCORRECT.

Now between A and B.

(A) likely to be at a severe disadvantage and is often unable to
(B) likely severely disadvantaged and often unable to

Likely is Adverb over here as it modifes verb and not noun. Hence Likely and serverly, 2 adverd together is INCORRECT.

Hope that helps!!
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by GMATGuruNY » Thu Jul 01, 2010 9:18 am
paes wrote:Great-great explanation Guru.

But with the same explanation, B is also looking ok.
It seems that still I am missing something.

A President <> is likely severely disadvantaged ......

Here

A president : Noun
disadvantaged : Adjective

severly : adverb, modifying to disadvantaged
likely : adverb [ From dictionary.com, likely can be an adjective as well as an adverb ]

Please clarify what's wrong here ?
You are correct. While in answer choice A likely is an adjective, in answer choice B likely is an adverb modifying the adverb severely.

In answer choice B, the president is disadvantaged. (noun = adjective).

Answer choice B is wrong because of the idiom issues discussed above. Also, the word disadvantaged changes the meaning. Disadvantaged means you grew up in a family without money or social status. At a disadvantage gives us the intended meaning: that the president is going to face unfavorable circumstances during the final two years of his second term.
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by paes » Thu Jul 01, 2010 9:41 am
Thanks Guru.

Finally I got the answer why B is wrong.

very nice, helpful explanation.
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by paes » Thu Jul 01, 2010 9:43 am
loveusonu wrote:
paes wrote:How do you know that likely is an adjective ?

Likely can be an adverb also. In that case, B makes more sense.
Liable: used where meaning is "Responsible for". Likely: probality.

Here liable is INCORRECT.

Now between A and B.

(A) likely to be at a severe disadvantage and is often unable to
(B) likely severely disadvantaged and often unable to

Likely is Adverb over here as it modifes verb and not noun. Hence Likely and serverly, 2 adverd together is INCORRECT.

Hope that helps!!

Sonu,

Just for your knowledge :
2 adverbs are not the problem. An adverb can modify to another adverb also.
See the GmatGuru reasoning above to know why B is wrong.
[ B s wrong because of the its altered meaning ]
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by loveusonu » Thu Jul 01, 2010 10:30 am
paes wrote:
loveusonu wrote:
paes wrote:How do you know that likely is an adjective ?

Likely can be an adverb also. In that case, B makes more sense.
Liable: used where meaning is "Responsible for". Likely: probality.

Here liable is INCORRECT.

Now between A and B.

(A) likely to be at a severe disadvantage and is often unable to
(B) likely severely disadvantaged and often unable to

Likely is Adverb over here as it modifes verb and not noun. Hence Likely and serverly, 2 adverd together is INCORRECT.

Hope that helps!!

Sonu,

Just for your knowledge :
2 adverbs are not the problem. An adverb can modify to another adverb also.
See the GmatGuru reasoning above to know why B is wrong.
[ B s wrong because of the its altered meaning ]
Hmm, correct I missed the crux.
But "likely severly"doesn't seem to correct too.

It means it is likely that he will severely disadvanteged, but sure he will disadvantaged, a meaning not intended by Author.

Correct me if I am wrong on this thought.
Sonu
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by GMATGuruNY » Thu Jul 01, 2010 10:48 am
loveusonu wrote:
paes wrote:
loveusonu wrote:
paes wrote:How do you know that likely is an adjective ?

Likely can be an adverb also. In that case, B makes more sense.
Liable: used where meaning is "Responsible for". Likely: probality.

Here liable is INCORRECT.

Now between A and B.

(A) likely to be at a severe disadvantage and is often unable to
(B) likely severely disadvantaged and often unable to

Likely is Adverb over here as it modifes verb and not noun. Hence Likely and serverly, 2 adverd together is INCORRECT.

Hope that helps!!

Sonu,

Just for your knowledge :
2 adverbs are not the problem. An adverb can modify to another adverb also.
See the GmatGuru reasoning above to know why B is wrong.
[ B s wrong because of the its altered meaning ]
Hmm, correct I missed the crux.
But "likely severly"doesn't seem to correct too.

It means it is likely that he will severely disadvanteged, but sure he will disadvantaged, a meaning not intended by Author.

Correct me if I am wrong on this thought.
An adverb can modify another adverb:

John runs very quickly.

quickly is an adverb modifying the verb run.
very is an adverb modifying the adverb quickly.

The construction likely severely disadvantaged, however, is awkward and changes the intended meaning of the sentence.
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by neerajbansal » Thu Jul 01, 2010 6:00 pm
A President entering the final two years of a second term is likely to be at a severe disadvantage and is often unable to carry out a legislative program.

(A) likely to be at a severe disadvantage and is often unable to --> cream of the crap...Whats the OA...
(B) likely severely disadvantaged and often unable to --> meaning. .......likely severely ...
(C) liable to be severely disadvantaged and cannot often -->meaning
(D) liable that he or she is at a severe disadvantage and cannot often -->meaning
(E) at a severe disadvantage, often likely to be unable that he or she can -->meaning
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