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Ban Vs prohibition

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by subgeeth » Fri Mar 26, 2010 9:22 am
Wisconsin，Illinois，Florida，and Minnesota have begun to enforce statewide bans prohibiting landfills
to accept leaves ， brush ， and grass clippings

(A) prohibiting landfills to accept leaves，brush，and grass clippings
(B) prohibiting that landfills accept leaves，brush，and grass clippings
(C) prohibiting landfills from accepting leaves，brush，and grass clippings
(D) that leaves，brush，and grass clippings cannot be accepted in landfills
(E) that landfills cannot accept leaves，brush，and grass clippings

[spoiler]Idiom
This sentence misuses the idiomatic construction prohibits x from doing yï¼›an alternative construction with the
same meaning is forbids x to do y．
The correct answer is C．but I have a question here bans and prohibit mean one and the same
so bans along with prohibiting does it sound redundant

Ban
Definition: An interdiction, prohibition, or proscription.
Any thoughts!!![/spoiler]
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by reply2spg » Fri Mar 26, 2010 11:11 am
D and E distorts the meaning. A and B use prohibit. As you have mentioned correct idiom is prohibit X from Y, which is correct in C. Therefore, C is correct
subgeeth wrote:Wisconsin，Illinois，Florida，and Minnesota have begun to enforce statewide bans prohibiting landfills
to accept leaves ， brush ， and grass clippings

(A) prohibiting landfills to accept leaves，brush，and grass clippings
(B) prohibiting that landfills accept leaves，brush，and grass clippings
(C) prohibiting landfills from accepting leaves，brush，and grass clippings
(D) that leaves，brush，and grass clippings cannot be accepted in landfills
(E) that landfills cannot accept leaves，brush，and grass clippings

[spoiler]Idiom
This sentence misuses the idiomatic construction prohibits x from doing yï¼›an alternative construction with the
same meaning is forbids x to do y．
The correct answer is C．but I have a question here bans and prohibit mean one and the same
so bans along with prohibiting does it sound redundant

Ban
Definition: An interdiction, prohibition, or proscription.
Any thoughts!!![/spoiler]
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by nervesofsteel » Fri Mar 26, 2010 11:21 am
i chose C

but couldn't figure out why E is wrong ?

please clarify
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by sarthak » Mon Apr 12, 2010 1:11 pm
Hi need some further explanation on this ....
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by grockit_andrea » Mon Apr 12, 2010 1:20 pm
Yes, to ban something is roughly the same thing as prohibiting it. But, while the meaning of the sentence with both of those words is a little bit redundant, there isn't a better option here. "Bans" here is used to mean "official decree," which is one accepted definition of that word.
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by prinit » Mon Apr 12, 2010 1:32 pm
subgeeth wrote:Wisconsin，Illinois，Florida，and Minnesota have begun to enforce statewide bans prohibiting landfills
to accept leaves ， brush ， and grass clippings

(A) prohibiting landfills to accept leaves，brush，and grass clippings
(B) prohibiting that landfills accept leaves，brush，and grass clippings
(C) prohibiting landfills from accepting leaves，brush，and grass clippings
(D) that leaves，brush，and grass clippings cannot be accepted in landfills
(E) that landfills cannot accept leaves，brush，and grass clippings

[spoiler]Idiom
This sentence misuses the idiomatic construction prohibits x from doing yï¼›an alternative construction with the
same meaning is forbids x to do y．
The correct answer is C．but I have a question here bans and prohibit mean one and the same
so bans along with prohibiting does it sound redundant

Ban
Definition: An interdiction, prohibition, or proscription.
Any thoughts!!![/spoiler]
My pick is C. Idiomatic (Prohibit X from Y) and concise.
Prohibit and ban >> not same. You put the ban on certain entity (here states) and you need to explain the ban. "Prohibit X from Y" explains what the ban is all about.

A and B are wrong - unidiomatic
C is the best choice
D and E are wrong - does not support the context.

Further explanation: Here two words to Focus on Prohibit and Accept.
When you impose a ban or enforce a ban it's a negative thing and prohibit also explain the same the negativity.
On the other hand accept is positive word and should not be used for explaining ban or negative aspect.
Hope this helps.
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by subgeeth » Mon Apr 12, 2010 1:38 pm
Can any one explain what is exactly wrong with E
I think that can refer to singular noun here bans is plural hence incorrect..
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by veenu08 » Mon May 20, 2013 10:38 am
Hi,

here how landfills can do some action as stated in option C-
prohibiting landfills from accepting leaves...
Can someone please explain me, I am confused
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by Blue_Skies » Mon May 20, 2013 12:11 pm
veenu08 wrote:Hi,

here how landfills can do some action as stated in option C-
prohibiting landfills from accepting leaves...
Can someone please explain me, I am confused
It's an idiom, unfortunately you just have to know the correct usage. There is not grammatical rule here. Just remember the take away from this question.

Prohibit X from Y is the correct idiom.Period.
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by Winner2013 » Mon Feb 03, 2014 12:02 pm
Hello,

I have a similar problem as veenu08 has. How can landfills perform an action like 'Accept' . I understand only living beings can do so. Can experts comment?

Thanks,
Pooja
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by siddhu161 » Tue Feb 04, 2014 4:45 am
I think D is the answer.

D is only choice where landfills are not supposed to act (of prohibiting) and landfills are not supposed to prohibit as they are not living thing.

Can you please post the source of question. It doesn't seem to be real GMAT question.
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by Winner2013 » Thu Feb 06, 2014 1:08 pm
siddhu161 the correct answer is C.

Prohibit x from doing y.

It is an OG question.
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by Bill@VeritasPrep » Thu Feb 06, 2014 4:27 pm
The sentence makes sense because landfill can mean "the business running the landfill" instead of "a pile of garbage".

Imagine a sentence like: "The store accepts any returns accompanied by a receipt."

The store (a building) itself can't accept a return, but we correctly interpret it to mean the company that runs the store.
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by siddhu161 » Fri Feb 07, 2014 8:51 am
Hi,

Thanks for explanation. But I am still worried how to distinguish such differences. Some of the times I have ruled out options based on this type of sentence construction (living things are not supposed to act type) and almost all time I got them right.

Now it's again confusing which rule takes precedence in such cases for which 'prohibit.. from' is right but another rule not holding true.

Please help if possible.

Thanks,
Sid
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