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United States Voters

by goelmohit2002 » Wed Jun 24, 2009 11:52 am
Hi All,

In the below question(OG-10, Q10), the OA is[spoiler] "A"[/spoiler]. For kicking out "B"...OG gives the following reason:

"In B, the agreement ... to the fact is unidiomatic".

Can someone please help me understand why the above is unidiomatic....which grammar rule is broken by the above sentence.

============================================

However much United States voters may agree that there is waste in government and that the government as a whole spends beyond its means, it is difficult to find broad support for a movement toward a minimal
state.
(A) However much United States voters may agree that
(B) Despite the agreement among United States voters to the fact
(C) Although United States voters agree
(D) Even though United States voters may agree
(E) There is agreement among United States voters that

Thanks
Mohit
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by rahulg83 » Wed Jun 24, 2009 11:56 am
"Despite the fact that"/"Due to the fact that" are not very preferable phrases in GMAT. We can replace them with more concise Although/Because..
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by Claret » Wed Jun 24, 2009 12:03 pm
the two correct idioms for the usage of agree are

1- agree to - as in you agree to a proposal
2- agree with - as in you agree with a person

the agreement to the fact is unidiomatic ..
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by goelmohit2002 » Wed Jun 24, 2009 12:03 pm
rahulg83 wrote:"Despite the fact that"/"Due to the fact that" are not very preferable phrases in GMAT. We can replace them with more concise Although/Because..
Thanks. Can you please tell what is the reasoning behind the same...?
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by goelmohit2002 » Wed Jun 24, 2009 12:07 pm
Claret wrote:the two correct idioms for the usage of agree are

1- agree to - as in you agree to a proposal
2- agree with - as in you agree with a person

the agreement to the fact is unidiomatic ..
But isn't agreement to following the above #1 paradigm i.e. "Agree to"...

Please tell if I am misinterpreting you.

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by rahulg83 » Wed Jun 24, 2009 12:08 pm
Sorry mate, no idea about why they are wrong(perhaps). Its just that GMAT avoids them. In everyday usage, we generally use such phrases..but whenever a SC answer choice comes with these two phrases, be wary of them..as they can be replaceable by more handy words..
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by Claret » Wed Jun 24, 2009 12:11 pm
sadly idioms do not follow any set rules.. they are the way they are...

Is there any reason as to why 'i prefer his advice' is correct and 'i prefer to his advice' wrong ?

To get a grasp of idioms , make a note of any new one you come across and revise it regularly!!
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by Claret » Wed Jun 24, 2009 12:14 pm
a correct idiom with agreement will be - I am in agreement with your idea.

agreement to is wrong .
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by goelmohit2002 » Wed Jun 24, 2009 12:16 pm
Claret wrote:sadly idioms do not follow any set rules.. they are the way they are...

Is there any reason as to why 'i prefer his advice' is correct and 'i prefer to his advice' wrong ?

To get a grasp of idioms , make a note of any new one you come across and revise it regularly!!
Probably you are misunderstanding me....what I mean to say is that agreement....to follows the agree to paradigm...

or there is some requirement that agree has to be adjacent to "to"...i.e.

agree to = correct.
agree.....to = incorrect.
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by Claret » Wed Jun 24, 2009 12:24 pm
yes you are right there

agree to (infinitive) should not be split!
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by goelmohit2002 » Wed Jun 24, 2009 12:26 pm
Claret wrote:a correct idiom with agreement will be - I am in agreement with your idea.

agreement to is wrong .
oh thanks. Can you please tell will the below modified B would have been acceptable to GMAT:

Despite the agreement among United States voters "with" the fact "that"

Or that too would have been wrong in GMAT ?
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by goelmohit2002 » Wed Jun 24, 2009 12:30 pm
rahulg83 wrote:Sorry mate, no idea about why they are wrong(perhaps). Its just that GMAT avoids them. In everyday usage, we generally use such phrases..but whenever a SC answer choice comes with these two phrases, be wary of them..as they can be replaceable by more handy words..
Thanks Rahul. I too read somewhere that "the fact" is most of the time wrong in GMAT....

Have you ever encountered any exception for the same ?
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by goelmohit2002 » Wed Jun 24, 2009 12:33 pm
rahulg83 wrote:"Despite the fact that"/"Due to the fact that" are not very preferable phrases in GMAT. We can replace them with more concise Although/Because..
Thanks Rahul.

Can you please tell can we replace Although with "Despite the fact that"....in GMAT...similar to the case with:

such as = for example.
just as = in the same way that.
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by Claret » Wed Jun 24, 2009 12:33 pm
This choice will rarely be a right choice . Though grammatically correct, it is too wordy.
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by rahulg83 » Wed Jun 24, 2009 12:39 pm
goelmohit2002 wrote:
rahulg83 wrote:Sorry mate, no idea about why they are wrong(perhaps). Its just that GMAT avoids them. In everyday usage, we generally use such phrases..but whenever a SC answer choice comes with these two phrases, be wary of them..as they can be replaceable by more handy words..
Thanks Rahul. I too read somewhere that "the fact" is most of the time wrong in GMAT....

Have you ever encountered any exception for the same ?
i found this from OG,
Due to is unidiomatic here, though there are other reasons also for eliminating A and B..

Two new studies indicate that many people become obese more due to the fact that their bodies burn
calories too slowly than overeating.
(A) due to the fact that their bodies burn calories too slowly than overeating
(B) due to their bodies burning calories too slowly than to eating too much

In addition, A and B use due to unidiomatically to mean because; properly used, due to is synonymous with
attributable to.
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