Whose

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gmat740: MBA Student; Posts: 1194; Joined: Sat Aug 16, 2008 9:42 pmFollowed by: 17 members; Location: Paris, France; Thanked: 71 times; GMAT Score:710

by gmat740 » Mon Jun 08, 2009 8:26 am

Q15:
The city has proposed a number of water treatment and conservation projects the cost of which raises water bills high enough so that even environmentalists are beginning to raise alarms.
A. the cost of which raises water bills high enough so that
B. at a cost raising water bills so high that
C. at a cost which raises water bills high enough so
D. whose cost will raise water bills so high that
E. whose cost will raise water bills high enough so that
Why do we need “whose”

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Source: Beat The GMAT — Sentence Correction | Mon Jun 08, 2009 8:26 am

Domnu: Master | Next Rank: 500 Posts; Posts: 385; Joined: Sun May 24, 2009 3:55 pm; Thanked: 11 times; GMAT Score:740

by Domnu » Mon Jun 08, 2009 5:12 pm

We can eliminate A, C, E since the word 'so' comes after enough... this doesn't make sense. This leaves us with B, D. But choice B doesn't complete the sentence; raising shouldn't be here... "which raises" should be here instead. So, this leaves us with D.

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rahulsaroha: Senior | Next Rank: 100 Posts; Posts: 63; Joined: Tue Jan 20, 2009 2:22 am; Location: hyderabad

by rahulsaroha » Mon Jun 08, 2009 7:31 pm

raises represent present tense..
raisng present progressive..

so left with "d" and"e"

so could not be used with enough..and also so that is wrong idiom..
it should be so .."adjective...that...

"d" is correct..

rahul

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gmat740: MBA Student; Posts: 1194; Joined: Sat Aug 16, 2008 9:42 pmFollowed by: 17 members; Location: Paris, France; Thanked: 71 times; GMAT Score:710

by gmat740 » Mon Jun 08, 2009 10:26 pm

Why do we need “whose”

My original Question remains unanswered

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real2008: Legendary Member; Posts: 527; Joined: Thu May 01, 2008 12:06 am; Thanked: 7 times

by real2008 » Mon Jun 08, 2009 10:33 pm

gmat740 wrote:
Why do we need “whose”
My original Question remains unanswered

I feel it modifies the projects

Last edited by real2008 on Tue Jun 09, 2009 10:22 am, edited 1 time in total.

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Domnu: Master | Next Rank: 500 Posts; Posts: 385; Joined: Sun May 24, 2009 3:55 pm; Thanked: 11 times; GMAT Score:740

by Domnu » Tue Jun 09, 2009 9:42 am

gmat740 wrote:
Why do we need “whose”
My original Question remains unanswered

Well, the 'whose' is the linking word for the description to follow; the cost is an attribute of the collection of projects.

Have you wondered how you could have found such a treasure? -T

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yeloaw: Senior | Next Rank: 100 Posts; Posts: 39; Joined: Mon Apr 06, 2009 1:25 pm; Thanked: 1 times

by yeloaw » Tue Jun 09, 2009 2:47 pm

Whose relates to people or to things. You can tell when to use 'whose' by changing the adjective clause into a free-running sentence. If the free running sentence contains his, hers, its, theirs --use whose

eg. I am walking beside my father whose name is Simon Dedalus. (His name is Simon Dedalus)

--Amatgmatnotes

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ssgmatter: Legendary Member; Posts: 549; Joined: Wed Jan 06, 2010 7:00 amFollowed by: 3 members; Thanked: 16 times

by ssgmatter » Sat Jun 12, 2010 9:39 pm

Why do we need a WHOSE here? it is used for living things but I think in this question it is used for the projects

Can anyone please shed some light on this aspect of the question

Best-
Amit

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this_time_i_will: Master | Next Rank: 500 Posts; Posts: 268; Joined: Wed Mar 17, 2010 2:32 am; Thanked: 17 times

by this_time_i_will » Sat Jun 12, 2010 10:50 pm

ssgmatter wrote:Why do we need a WHOSE here? it is used for living things

This is incorrect. AFAIK, whose for non living in GMATLand is equally fine.

My Blog:
https://www.iwantutopia.blocked/

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Kajiabeat: Senior | Next Rank: 100 Posts; Posts: 41; Joined: Fri Aug 20, 2010 5:10 pm

by Kajiabeat » Tue Aug 30, 2011 7:17 am

Hi Mitch,

could you confirm the usage of "whose" in D is right?

and what's the problem with choice B?

Thank you very much!

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GMATGuruNY: GMAT Instructor; Posts: 15539; Joined: Tue May 25, 2010 12:04 pmFollowed by: 1906 members; Location: New York, NY; Thanked: 13060 times; GMAT Score:790

by GMATGuruNY » Tue Aug 30, 2011 7:40 am

gmat740 wrote:Q15:
The city has proposed a number of water treatment and conservation projects the cost of which raises water bills high enough so that even environmentalists are beginning to raise alarms.
A. the cost of which raises water bills high enough so that
B. at a cost raising water bills so high that
C. at a cost which raises water bills high enough so
D. whose cost will raise water bills so high that
E. whose cost will raise water bills high enough so that
Why do we need ï¿½whoseï¿½

In A and C, since the city has only PROPOSED the projects -- and these projects might not actually happen -- the sentence cannot say that their cost RAISES water bills (in the present). Eliminate A and C.

In B, a present participle (such as RAISING) implies an action happening at the same time as the main action (HAS PROPOSED). Since the city has only PROPOSED the projects -- and these projects might not actually happen -- the sentence cannot say that their cost is RAISING water bills (in the present). Eliminate B.

In E, enough so that is not idiomatic. Eliminate E.

The correct answer is D.

Whereas who and whom can refer only to people, whose can refer to ANYTHING.

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mundasingh123: Legendary Member; Posts: 2330; Joined: Fri Jan 15, 2010 5:14 amFollowed by: 26 members; Thanked: 56 times

by mundasingh123 » Tue Aug 30, 2011 10:59 am

Thanks GmatGuruNY , you brought to light another angle that i didnt consider before

I Seek Explanations Not Answers

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navami: Legendary Member; Posts: 540; Joined: Sat Dec 20, 2008 7:24 pmFollowed by: 6 members; Thanked: 37 times

by navami » Mon Sep 05, 2011 3:16 am

IMO D.
Thanks GMATGuruNY for great explanation.

This time no looking back!!!
Navami

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