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Decling values of

by moadhia » Tue Feb 10, 2009 5:51 pm
Declining values for farm equipment and land, the collateral against which farmers borrow to get through the harvest season, is going to force many lenders to tighten or deny credit this spring.


(A) the collateral against which farmers borrow to get through the harvest season, is
(B) which farmers use as collateral to borrow against to get through the harvest season, is
(C) the collateral which is borrowed against by farmers to get through the harvest season, is
(D) which farmers use as collateral to borrow against to get through the harvest season, are
(E) the collateral against which farmers borrow to get through the harvest season, are

We can cancel out A,B, and C because Decling values is plural

Between D and E, I chose D but the OA is E.

I am not sure why E is the correct answer. Is it because of "which", since according to Mahattan SC which can only modify the noun closest to it (which is land). Meanwhile, E can "possibly" modify both farm equipment and land ???

Sorry I am weak with modifiers.
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by ManuGMAT » Tue Feb 10, 2009 8:59 pm
First, eliminate all the answers with "is". Values is plural, so "are" should be use.

Between D and E

D: "which farmers use as collateral to borrow against" looks incomplete and awkward

E is correct.
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by moadhia » Wed Feb 11, 2009 6:17 am
Isn't there a grammatical reason for D to be wrong?

Sorry but the answer being awkward doesn't make sense to me :)
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by uymba » Wed Feb 11, 2009 6:47 am
I agree that E sounds better. But when you analyze choice D deeply, it says: "TO borrow against TO get through the harvest season".
The use of TO twice is indeed kind of akward.

But for me, a not native english speaker, choice D sounds more understandable than E. I think it's just a problem of lack of english... I shoud continue working on my English.
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by uymba » Wed Feb 11, 2009 6:49 am
Sorry. "I agree that D sounds better"
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by moadhia » Wed Feb 11, 2009 7:05 am
@uymba,

So using infinitives twice is considered awkward in GMAT ??
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by uymba » Wed Feb 11, 2009 8:28 am
I wouldn´t put it like that :D

I would say that in GMAT SC questions you sometimes have to choose "the best answer", or, as I say, "the least bad" answer :D

So you should take into consideration that, in the case of this infinitive, the question talks about purposes: you do something to borrow and you do something to get through. It is not clear what is that you do in order to achieve the 2nd purpose. Or at least, it can be written in a better way. So, if there exists a better way (answer E), you should choose that way. If there wasn't a better way, you choice should be D.

Thus, it is hard to make a rule of the way "if there are 2 infinitives in a choice, then that choice is wrong".

Anyway, in my humble opinion your conclusion is right, indeed it can be considered awkward, but only when you are talking about purposes.
For example a correct usage of 2 infinitives would be the parallel construction: To have a ball is to be a rich man. Or something parallel like that :).

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Re: Decling values of

by x2suresh » Wed Feb 11, 2009 9:20 am
moadhia wrote:Declining values for farm equipment and land, the collateral against which farmers borrow to get through the harvest season, is going to force many lenders to tighten or deny credit this spring.


(A) the collateral against which farmers borrow to get through the harvest season, is
(B) which farmers use as collateral to borrow against to get through the harvest season, is
(C) the collateral which is borrowed against by farmers to get through the harvest season, is
(D) which farmers use as collateral to borrow against to get through the harvest season, are
(E) the collateral against which farmers borrow to get through the harvest season, are

We can cancel out A,B, and C because Decling values is plural

Between D and E, I chose D but the OA is E.

I am not sure why E is the correct answer. Is it because of "which", since according to Mahattan SC which can only modify the noun closest to it (which is land). Meanwhile, E can "possibly" modify both farm equipment and land ???


Sorry I am weak with modifiers.
both are grammatically correct.

D is just wordy.

In E, "the collateral against which farmers borrow to get through the harvest season" act as appositive and modifies equip and land.

better option is E.
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