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Hard SC problem

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by \'manpreet singh » Mon Aug 26, 2013 1:10 am
The defective thermometers will sometimes fail to register a fever when it is present and indicate that there is one when it is not.

a a fever when it is present and indicate that there is one
b a fever when it is present and indicate that one is present
c when a fever is present and indicate that there is one
d when a fever is present and indicates its presence
e the presence of a fever when it is there and indicates its presence

Ans b
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by vinay1983 » Mon Aug 26, 2013 6:10 am
I feel that A ends abruptly.Overall i feel present or presence should be mentioned twice to maointain parallelism.

E, though it was a option for me while considering, it is too wordy

D and C Somehow "when a fever is present" feels absurd usage on the ears

B seems a good choice"that one" implies fever here.

Good question Manpreet!
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by \'manpreet singh » Wed Aug 28, 2013 6:58 am
Hi vinay,

Thanks for appreciating, though i got tricky by this short SC question myself.

We can eliminate D and E on the grounds of subject verb agreement also as subject is thermometers and and it needs a plural verb,so indicates is wrong.
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by [email protected] » Wed Aug 28, 2013 12:34 pm
Hi,

To add some additional perspective, there is another way to eliminate C, D and E:

A thermometer will register an outcome (a number, a temperature, a fever, etc.). It can't register a "time" (answers C and D start with the word "when", which implies a time) nor can it register a presence (E starts with "the presence").

Between A and B, parallelism is required to choose the correct answer.

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by vinay1983 » Wed Aug 28, 2013 9:23 pm
[email protected] wrote:Hi,

To add some additional perspective, there is another way to eliminate C, D and E:

A thermometer will register an outcome (a number, a temperature, a fever, etc.). It can't register a "time" (answers C and D start with the word "when", which implies a time) nor can it register a presence (E starts with "the presence").

Between A and B, parallelism is required to choose the correct answer.

GMAT assassins aren't born, they're made,
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Rich,
I liked what you said!can you mark the parallelism markers here?Great help!
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by [email protected] » Thu Aug 29, 2013 1:21 pm
Hi vinay1983,

The parallel phrases in this SC should be:

"register a fever when it is present" and
"indicate that one is present..."

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