Sentence Correction

B should be the answer..

According to some analysts, whatever its merits, the proposal to tax away all capital gains on short-term investments would, if enacted, have a disastrous effect on Wall Street trading and employment.

(A) its merits, the proposal to tax
(B) its merits may be, the proposal of taxing
(C) its merits as a proposal, taxing
(D) the proposal's merits, to tax
(E) the proposal's merits are, taxing

In A, "its merits" is touching "the proposal" making it clear what it refers to.

I believe the correct idiom is: "propose to" therefore eliminating B.

I do not see any similar question in OG. we should focus on OG. However I try

check grammar. No grammar error

check meaning, style

gmat do not want "to do", "doing" to be subject. there is one case gmat permit is "to do is to do"

a and b are left.

I think idioms are "whatever its merit" , "propose to tax". I am not sure of this. help .pls

Ans is E.

Antecendent to the possesive pronoun -its- must exist.

So A is wrong and E is right.

srisl11 wrote:According to some analysts, whatever its merits, the proposal to tax away all capital gains on short-term investments would, if enacted, have a disastrous effect on Wall Street trading and employment.

(A) its merits, the proposal to tax
(B) its merits may be, the proposal of taxing
(C) its merits as a proposal, taxing
(D) the proposal�s merits, to tax
(E) the proposal�s merits are, taxing


Please help

A is perfect here.

C, D and E are changing (completely) the intended meaning of the sentence.
Subject of the main clause, as per the original meaning, is THE PROPOSAL, not the "taxing" or "to tax".

In B, subject is retained, but meaning is not. MAY BE does not convey the intended meaning.

Good question though!!!

i want to know whether "whatever its merits"is right？

Can someone confirm if idiom "propose to" is correct?In B, I am able to understand why "may be.." is wrong.

may be is not an issue in (B) but "the proposal of taxing" seems to be awkward.

According to some analysts, whatever its merits, the proposal to tax away all capital gains on short-term investments would, if enacted, have a disastrous effect on Wall Street trading and employment.

(A) its merits, the proposal to tax
(B) its merits may be, the proposal of taxing

How is B eliminated!?

GmatKiss wrote:According to some analysts, whatever its merits, the proposal to tax away all capital gains on short-term investments would, if enacted, have a disastrous effect on Wall Street trading and employment.

(A) its merits, the proposal to tax
(B) its merits may be, the proposal of taxing

How is B eliminated!?

visit this link --

https://www.manhattangmat.com/forums/100 ... t1344.html

asgupta2k wrote:may be is not an issue in (B) but "the proposal of taxing" seems to be awkward.

yeah "proposal of taxing" does seem to be awkward.I always have this trouble.When I am answering the question for the first time, the right one seems wrong.If I read the question again after a day I am like" how the hell did I miss it?"

In any case we have to first understand the meaning of the sentence. What are we trying to enact here?

Tax or the Proposal. I hope everyone would agree that we are trying to enact the Proposal to tax and not the tax itself. This makes A the better choice.