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Astronomers

by lukaswelker » Thu Apr 17, 2014 10:04 am
Hey Guys

This one also is a mystery to me :)

Responding to the public's fascination with - and sometimes undue alarm over - possible threats from asteroids, a scale developed by astronomers rates the likelihood that a particular asteroid or comet may collide with Earth.

- a scale developed by astronomers rates the likelihood that a particular asteroid or comet may
- a scale that astronomers have developed rates how likely it is for a particular asteroid or comet to
- astronomers have developed a scale to rate how likely a particular asteroid or comet will be to
- astronomers have developed a scale for rating the likelihood that a particular asteroid or comet will
- astronomers have developed a scale that rates the likelihood of a particular asteroid or comet that may

Anybody has any suggestions?
Cheers
Lukas
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by theCodeToGMAT » Thu Apr 17, 2014 9:17 pm
{A} INCORRECT; Modifier issue - scale is not responding.
{B} INCORRECT; Modifier issue - scale is not responding
{C} INCORRECT; "a scale to rate how likely" gives a false meaning
{D} CORRECT
{E} INCORRECT; meaning issue - rates the likelihood of a particular asteroid or comet? for what??
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by sinsofgmat » Sat Apr 19, 2014 7:28 pm
theCodeToGMAT wrote:{A} INCORRECT; Modifier issue - scale is not responding.
{B} INCORRECT; Modifier issue - scale is not responding
{C} INCORRECT; "a scale to rate how likely" gives a false meaning
{D} CORRECT
{E} INCORRECT; meaning issue - rates the likelihood of a particular asteroid or comet? for what??
Hi Rahul,

Could you please help us differentiate between rates and rating. If "rates the likelihood" is incorrect then why "rating the likelihood" is acceptable?

Thanks
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by theCodeToGMAT » Sat Apr 19, 2014 9:56 pm
sinsofgmat wrote:
theCodeToGMAT wrote:{A} INCORRECT; Modifier issue - scale is not responding.
{B} INCORRECT; Modifier issue - scale is not responding
{C} INCORRECT; "a scale to rate how likely" gives a false meaning
{D} CORRECT
{E} INCORRECT; meaning issue - rates the likelihood of a particular asteroid or comet? for what??
Hi Rahul,

Could you please help us differentiate between rates and rating. If "rates the likelihood" is incorrect then why "rating the likelihood" is acceptable?

Thanks
{E} - the meaning says that astonomers have developed a device that rates the likelihood of asteriod..

Actualy meaning is, scale rates the likelihood of collision.. and not asteroid..
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by [email protected] » Sat Apr 19, 2014 10:56 pm
Hi All,

Rahul's explanation is correct, but I'll add some information that should help to clarify it. Assuming you're choosing between D and E....

From an idiom standpoint, you can't "rate the likelihood" that something MAY happen, you're "rating the likelihood" that it WILL happen.

Also, answer E uses the phase "that may....", which is redundant (it's clear that the SC is discussing an asteroid or comet).

Both options point to answer D

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by ceilidh.erickson » Mon Apr 21, 2014 8:28 am
sinsofgmat wrote:Could you please help us differentiate between rates and rating. If "rates the likelihood" is incorrect then why "rating the likelihood" is acceptable?
The split between "to rate," "for rating," and "that rates" is actually not significant. These are all idiomatically correct!

The real issue here is one of MEANING. What are we rating the likelihood of? Of asteroids COLLIDING with Earth. We could say any of the following:
developed a scale for rating the likelihood that a particular asteroid or comet will collide
developed a scale that rates the likelihood that a particular asteroid or comet will collide
developed a scale to rate the likelihood that a particular asteroid or comet will collide

It's really a question of LIKELIHOOD THAT v. LIKELIHOOD OF. "Likelihood that" will set up a clause, so we're talking about the likelihood of the act of colliding. "Likelihood of" sets up a noun, so we're talking about the likelihood of the asteroid.

In E, "a scale that rates the likelihood of a particular asteroid or comet that may," it's the likelihood of an asteroid - this doesn't make sense. We want the likelihood of the collision.

In C, "rate how likely [it] will be to collide" is both wordy and not idiomatically correct. The larger issue, though, is that we're again talking about the likelihood of the asteroid, and not of the collision.
Ceilidh Erickson
EdM in Mind, Brain, and Education
Harvard Graduate School of Education
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