trouble with sc problem

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rtaha2412: Senior | Next Rank: 100 Posts; Posts: 40; Joined: Fri Nov 27, 2009 7:48 pm; Thanked: 1 times

by rtaha2412 » Fri Jan 07, 2011 2:55 pm

Constance Horner, chief of the United States government's personnel agency, has recommended that the use of any dangerous or illegal drug in the five years prior to application for a job be grounds for not hiring an applicant.

(A) the use of any dangerous or illegal drug in the five years prior to application for a job be grounds for not hiring an applicant
(B) any dangerous or illegal drug, if used in the five years prior to applying for a job, should be grounds not to hire the applicant
(C) an applicant's use of any dangerous or illegal drug in the five years prior to application for a job be grounds not to hire them
(D) an applicant's use of any dangerous or illegal drug in the five years prior to applying for a job are grounds that they not be hired
(E) for five years prior to applying for a job, an applicant's use of any dangerous or illegal drug be grounds for not hiring them

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Source: Beat The GMAT — Sentence Correction | Fri Jan 07, 2011 2:55 pm

tomada: Master | Next Rank: 500 Posts; Posts: 406; Joined: Mon Jan 25, 2010 11:36 amFollowed by: 4 members; Location: Syracuse, NY; Thanked: 23 times; GMAT Score:740

by tomada » Fri Jan 07, 2011 6:51 pm

In (C), (D), and (E), the word "applicant" (singular) is incorrectly matched with "they" (plural) or "them" (plural).
This leaves (A) and (B), and this is where I got stumped.
I ultimately eliminated (A), because I thought "application...be grounds for" should be "applying...be grounds for"

IMO (B).

I'm really old, but I'll never be too old to become more educated.

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stormier: Master | Next Rank: 500 Posts; Posts: 139; Joined: Fri Nov 26, 2010 4:45 pmFollowed by: 1 member; Location: Boston; Thanked: 20 times; GMAT Score:720

by stormier » Fri Jan 07, 2011 7:12 pm

rtaha2412 wrote:Constance Horner, chief of the United States government's personnel agency, has recommended that the use of any dangerous or illegal drug in the five years prior to application for a job be grounds for not hiring an applicant.

(A) the use of any dangerous or illegal drug in the five years prior to application for a job be grounds for not hiring an applicant

IMO (A)- correct construction

has recommended that x be y.

(B) any dangerous or illegal drug, if used in the five years prior to applying for a job, should be grounds not to hire the applicant

recommended that x should be y - the should makes it questionable, and so does an if construction

(C) an applicant's use of any dangerous or illegal drug in the five years prior to application for a job be grounds not to hire them

besides being awkward, them does not refer to applicants in the sentence because applicant appears in its possessive form. same goes for choices d and e
(D) an applicant's use of any dangerous or illegal drug in the five years prior to applying for a job are grounds that they not be hired
(E) for five years prior to applying for a job, an applicant's use of any dangerous or illegal drug be grounds for not hiring them

Last edited by stormier on Fri Jan 07, 2011 7:19 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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Target2009: Legendary Member; Posts: 574; Joined: Sat Oct 31, 2009 1:47 pmFollowed by: 5 members; Location: USA; Thanked: 29 times

by Target2009 » Fri Jan 07, 2011 7:17 pm

IMO A

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ankurmit: Legendary Member; Posts: 516; Joined: Mon Nov 02, 2009 6:42 amFollowed by: 1 member; Location: Mumbai; Thanked: 14 times; GMAT Score:710

by ankurmit » Fri Jan 07, 2011 8:21 pm

IMO A

--------
Ankur mittal

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prachich1987: Legendary Member; Posts: 752; Joined: Sun Sep 12, 2010 2:47 amFollowed by: 10 members; Thanked: 20 times; GMAT Score:700

by prachich1987 » Sat Jan 08, 2011 10:56 am

rtaha2412 wrote:Constance Horner, chief of the United States government's personnel agency, has recommended that the use of any dangerous or illegal drug in the five years prior to application for a job be grounds for not hiring an applicant.

(A) the use of any dangerous or illegal drug in the five years prior to application for a job be grounds for not hiring an applicant
(B) any dangerous or illegal drug, if used in the five years prior to applying for a job, should be grounds not to hire the applicant---recommended that..should be...should be is redundant
(C) an applicant's use of any dangerous or illegal drug in the five years prior to application for a job be grounds not to hire them---S-V agreement error
(D) an applicant's use of any dangerous or illegal drug in the five years prior to applying for a job are grounds that they not be hired---S-V agreement error
(E) for five years prior to applying for a job, an applicant's use of any dangerous or illegal drug be grounds for not hiring them---S-V agreement error

Thew answer has to be A.
Please advise OA

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pesfunk: Master | Next Rank: 500 Posts; Posts: 286; Joined: Tue Sep 21, 2010 5:36 pmFollowed by: 5 members; Location: Kolkata, India; Thanked: 11 times

by pesfunk » Sat Jan 29, 2011 6:40 pm

Thanks for point B. I didn't know that "recommended that" and "should be" are redundant. gonna add this to my notes.

prachich1987 wrote:
rtaha2412 wrote:Constance Horner, chief of the United States government's personnel agency, has recommended that the use of any dangerous or illegal drug in the five years prior to application for a job be grounds for not hiring an applicant.

(A) the use of any dangerous or illegal drug in the five years prior to application for a job be grounds for not hiring an applicant
(B) any dangerous or illegal drug, if used in the five years prior to applying for a job, should be grounds not to hire the applicant---recommended that..should be...should be is redundant
(C) an applicant's use of any dangerous or illegal drug in the five years prior to application for a job be grounds not to hire them---S-V agreement error
(D) an applicant's use of any dangerous or illegal drug in the five years prior to applying for a job are grounds that they not be hired---S-V agreement error
(E) for five years prior to applying for a job, an applicant's use of any dangerous or illegal drug be grounds for not hiring them---S-V agreement error
Thew answer has to be A.
Please advise OA

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Jim@Grockit: GMAT Instructor; Posts: 641; Joined: Wed Jul 22, 2009 3:07 pmFollowed by: 45 members; Location: Madison, WI; Thanked: 162 times; GMAT Score:760

by Jim@Grockit » Sun Jan 30, 2011 10:12 pm

I'd have chosen A. In choice B, it's arguably the drug that's applying for the job (grammatically).

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aspirant2011: Legendary Member; Posts: 1574; Joined: Fri Jan 28, 2011 2:52 amFollowed by: 13 members; Thanked: 88 times

by aspirant2011 » Sun Jan 30, 2011 10:21 pm

I would also go with A..........wats the OA?

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