smallpox

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crazy4gmat: Master | Next Rank: 500 Posts; Posts: 160; Joined: Fri Aug 22, 2008 4:54 am; Thanked: 5 times; GMAT Score:660

by crazy4gmat » Mon Nov 24, 2008 8:04 am

The success of the program to eradicate smallpox has stimulated experts to
pursue what they had not previously considered possible -- better control, if not eradication, of the other infections such as measles and yaws.

A. what they had not previously considered possible -- better control, if not eradication, of the other infections such as
B. what they had not previously considered a possibility -- better control, if not eradication, of such infections like
C. something they had not previously considered possible -- better control, if not eradication, of such infections as
D. something not considered a previous possibility -- better control and perhaps eradication, of other infections such as
E. the possibility of what they had not previously considered possible – better control and possibly eradication of infections like

please post ur explanations

OA C

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Source: Beat The GMAT — Sentence Correction | Mon Nov 24, 2008 8:04 am

rohangupta83: Legendary Member; Posts: 541; Joined: Thu May 31, 2007 6:44 pmFollowed by: 3 members; Location: UK; Thanked: 21 times; GMAT Score:680

by rohangupta83 » Mon Nov 24, 2008 8:10 am

imo C

Eliminate E

Possibility.......... possible - redundant

Eliminate B and E

Use 'like' rather than 'such as' - measles and yawns are examples of diseases.

Eliminate D - awkward construction - changes the meaning as well.

Between A and C - eliminate A of the other infections such as is wordy

Ans C

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raajan_p: Senior | Next Rank: 100 Posts; Posts: 75; Joined: Wed Aug 27, 2008 7:19 am; Location: Orlando; Thanked: 6 times

by raajan_p » Mon Nov 24, 2008 8:15 am

Is usage of the word 'Something' in option C, agreeable?

I thought 'What' in option A was better than 'Something' in C..

Can some one please explain.

Thanks!

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mals24: Legendary Member; Posts: 683; Joined: Tue Jul 22, 2008 1:58 pmFollowed by: 2 members; Location: Dubai; Thanked: 73 times

by mals24 » Mon Nov 24, 2008 8:23 am

Agree with rohan

In B and E we don't need 'like'. Here we are giving examples of infections so we need such as.

D has 2 problems

1. something not considered a previous possibility

This means that everyone in general thought that eradicating small pox is not possible, when instead only the scientists thought so.

2. perhaps eradication vs if not eradication.

The scientists are hopeful that they will control other infections

The use of 'perhaps eradication' sounds as if they are hoping for 2 things: controlling other infections and eradicating them as well.

In option A 'of the other infections' sounds as if the scientists are hoping to control only measles and yaws. When in fact they are hoping to control other infections in general, and measles and yaws are just a few examples.

So C is correct.

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dmateer25: Community Manager; Posts: 1049; Joined: Sun Apr 06, 2008 5:15 pmFollowed by: 27 members; Location: Pittsburgh, PA; Thanked: 113 times; GMAT Score:710

by dmateer25 » Mon Nov 24, 2008 8:24 am

raajan_p wrote:Is usage of the word 'Something' in option C, agreeable?

I thought 'What' in option A was better than 'Something' in C..

Can some one please explain.

Thanks!

Here is a good explanation from Ron

- Minor problem is "what they had not..." vs. "something they had not..." The "what" construction is awfully strong, suggesting that this was THE ONE THING they hadn't thought possible.
* As an analogy, compare the meanings of "I want to do what I love for a living" and "I want to do something I love for a living." The first suggests that the speaker has one particular field in mind; the second doesn't.

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rohangupta83: Legendary Member; Posts: 541; Joined: Thu May 31, 2007 6:44 pmFollowed by: 3 members; Location: UK; Thanked: 21 times; GMAT Score:680

by rohangupta83 » Mon Nov 24, 2008 8:35 am

so just as we do in CR, we avoid strong constructions in SC as well?

Is it safe to assume that ''what they had not'' construction is always wrong according to GMAC?

Because grammatically there is nothing wrong with the ''what they had'' construction.

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raunekk: Legendary Member; Posts: 1159; Joined: Wed Apr 16, 2008 10:35 pm; Thanked: 56 times

by raunekk » Mon Nov 24, 2008 8:44 am

exactly... even i m confused between..."what" and "something"...

Both seems ackward to me...

Which one is better and why???
"what" or "something"??

Also,A and C has a change of meaning...

A)if not eradication, of the other infections such as measles and yaws.

..which means there are few infections and there are few additional infections as measles and yaws..

C)if not eradication, of such infections as as measles and yaws.

..which means there are only infections like measles and yaws...

Accoding to Gmat we should preserve the original meaning.. then why not A???

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mals24: Legendary Member; Posts: 683; Joined: Tue Jul 22, 2008 1:58 pmFollowed by: 2 members; Location: Dubai; Thanked: 73 times

by mals24 » Mon Nov 24, 2008 8:44 am

Minor problem is "what they had not..." vs. "something they had not..."

Ok i don't think people paid attention to this point.

'what they had not' is not correct in this situation but doesn't mean its always wrong.

The reason it is incorrect in this question is that it changes the meaning of the question and not because its grammatically incorrect. If on the other hand, eradicating smallpox was THE ONLY thing the scientists did not think was possible, then 'what they had not' would be fine.

SC has 2 kinds of error, grammatical and style errors. Option A falls in style errors. So you have to watch out for both.

Just in case iamcste asks the source is MGMAT

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mals24: Legendary Member; Posts: 683; Joined: Tue Jul 22, 2008 1:58 pmFollowed by: 2 members; Location: Dubai; Thanked: 73 times

by mals24 » Mon Nov 24, 2008 8:47 am

raunekk this is what Ron had to say in the MGMAT forums. Hope it should clear your doubt.

There are 2 problems with A.
- Major problem is "THE other infections." THE is too definitive here, carrying the connotation of "every single one of the other infections."
* THE is also incompatible with "such as":
- Correct: I never read this book, but I read the other books on the shelf.
- Correct: I never read this book, but I read other books on the shelf, such as "Right Hand, Left Hand" and "The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich."
- Incorrect: I never read this book, but I read the other books on the shelf, such as "Right Hand, Left Hand" and "The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich."
- Minor problem is "what they had not..." vs. "something they had not..." The "what" construction is awfully strong, suggesting that this was THE ONE THING they hadn't thought possible.
* As an analogy, compare the meanings of "I want to do what I love for a living" and "I want to do something I love for a living." The first suggests that the speaker has one particular field in mind; the second doesn't.

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raunekk: Legendary Member; Posts: 1159; Joined: Wed Apr 16, 2008 10:35 pm; Thanked: 56 times

by raunekk » Mon Nov 24, 2008 8:56 am

@mals24

thanks mals24..that was one gem of an explanation,,,,

it made things crystal clear...

thanks once again for providing tat amazing explanation...

cheers,

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crazy4gmat: Master | Next Rank: 500 Posts; Posts: 160; Joined: Fri Aug 22, 2008 4:54 am; Thanked: 5 times; GMAT Score:660

by crazy4gmat » Mon Nov 24, 2008 9:10 am

cool guys..u rock!

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pnk: Master | Next Rank: 500 Posts; Posts: 292; Joined: Fri Jul 17, 2009 8:39 amFollowed by: 1 member; Thanked: 6 times

by pnk » Sat Aug 21, 2010 7:07 am

crazy4gmat wrote:The success of the program to eradicate smallpox has stimulated experts to
pursue what they had not previously considered possible -- better control, if not eradication, of the other infections such as measles and yaws.

A. what they had not previously considered possible -- better control, if not eradication, of the other infections such as
B. what they had not previously considered a possibility -- better control, if not eradication, of such infections like
C. something they had not previously considered possible -- better control, if not eradication, of such infections as
D. something not considered a previous possibility -- better control and perhaps eradication, of other infections such as
E. the possibility of what they had not previously considered possible ï¿½ better control and possibly eradication of infections like
OA C

I am confused with the use of 'past perfect (had not previously considered) in the correct option - while I do not find any 'past event'. Does the usage of past perfect correct here?? Can someone help pls

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FightWithGMAT: Master | Next Rank: 500 Posts; Posts: 364; Joined: Tue Apr 20, 2010 5:13 amFollowed by: 3 members; Thanked: 31 times

by FightWithGMAT » Sat Aug 21, 2010 11:37 am

pnk wrote:
crazy4gmat wrote:The success of the program to eradicate smallpox has stimulated experts to
pursue what they had not previously considered possible -- better control, if not eradication, of the other infections such as measles and yaws.

A. what they had not previously considered possible -- better control, if not eradication, of the other infections such as
B. what they had not previously considered a possibility -- better control, if not eradication, of such infections like
C. something they had not previously considered possible -- better control, if not eradication, of such infections as
D. something not considered a previous possibility -- better control and perhaps eradication, of other infections such as
E. the possibility of what they had not previously considered possible ï¿½ better control and possibly eradication of infections like
OA C
I am confused with the use of 'past perfect (had not previously considered) in the correct option - while I do not find any 'past event'. Does the usage of past perfect correct here?? Can someone help pls

I was scrolling to see whether anybody asked this question.
The use of HAD in the correct answer does not seem to be justified. We do not have any past verb.

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chocoswiss: Senior | Next Rank: 100 Posts; Posts: 37; Joined: Sun Aug 22, 2010 1:23 am; Location: Singapore; Thanked: 1 times

by chocoswiss » Tue Oct 26, 2010 11:15 am

I was hesitant to choose C and chose C in the end Only because i saw some other correct answer which had " such X as.." instead of "such as x"

i honestly don't know why "such infections as" in C is correct
shouldn't it be "infections such as"?

thanks!

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THISTIMESURE: Newbie | Next Rank: 10 Posts; Posts: 2; Joined: Mon Jan 31, 2011 11:25 pm

by THISTIMESURE » Tue Feb 08, 2011 11:24 am

C. something they had not previously considered possible -- better control, if not
eradication, of such infections as.

is the bold portion in C above correctly expressing the way we express examples. i mean "disease such as ...."

rohangupta83 wrote:imo C

Eliminate E

Possibility.......... possible - redundant

Eliminate B and E

Use 'like' rather than 'such as' - measles and yawns are examples of diseases.

Eliminate D - awkward construction - changes the meaning as well.

Between A and C - eliminate A of the other infections such as is wordy

Ans C[/quote

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