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President Obama got to know about the killings in Siberia

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President Obama got to know about the killings in Siberia

by bounce87 » Fri Sep 29, 2017 10:50 pm

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President Obama got to know about the killings in Siberia during the chiefs of staff meeting at the Pentagon.
A) President Obama got to know about the killings in Siberia during the chiefs of staff meeting at the Pentagon.
B) President Obama in Siberia during the chiefs of staff meeting at the Pentagon got to know about the killings.
C) Getting to know about the killings in Siberia, President Obama, during the chiefs of staff meeting at the Pentagon.
D) During the chiefs of staff meeting at the Pentagon, President Obama got to know about the killings in Siberia.
E) At the Pentagon, President Obama got to know about the killings in Siberia during the chiefs of staff meeting.
Source: e-gmat
Can you please explain why A is wrong?
What is wrong with the placement of the prepositional phrase "during the chiefs of staff meeting"?
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Source: — Sentence Correction |
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by EconomistGMATTutor » Wed Oct 11, 2017 12:51 pm

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Hello!
By putting the phrase "during the chiefs of staff meeting" after Siberia, readers may assume the killings and the meeting took place in Siberia.
Answer D is correct because it's clearer to readers that Obama was at the Pentagon when he heard about what happened in Siberia.

I hope that helps. I'm available if you'd like any follow up.
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by Ammseeru » Tue May 01, 2018 3:08 pm

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The meaning of the original sentence is ambiguous: what happened during the meeting - whether President got the information or killings happened
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by ceilidh.erickson » Thu May 03, 2018 12:05 pm

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bounce87 wrote:President Obama got to know about the killings in Siberia during the chiefs of staff meeting at the Pentagon.
A) President Obama got to know about the killings in Siberia during the chiefs of staff meeting at the Pentagon.
B) President Obama in Siberia during the chiefs of staff meeting at the Pentagon got to know about the killings.
C) Getting to know about the killings in Siberia, President Obama, during the chiefs of staff meeting at the Pentagon.
D) During the chiefs of staff meeting at the Pentagon, President Obama got to know about the killings in Siberia.
E) At the Pentagon, President Obama got to know about the killings in Siberia during the chiefs of staff meeting.
Source: e-gmat
Can you please explain why A is wrong?
What is wrong with the placement of the prepositional phrase "during the chiefs of staff meeting"?
This is a pretty terrible example of an SC practice question. For one, no one says "chiefs of staff meeting." That is not the correct phrase in American English (which, for better or worse, is what the GMAT tests). We would saying "during a meeting with his chief of staff" (always singular) or "during a meeting with senior advisors," etc.

For another, "got to know" is both too colloquial and not properly used here. You "get to know" a person or a city you've spent time in; you don't "get to know about" an issue. It should say "he learned about," "he was briefed on," etc.

I would strongly recommend not studying SC from any sources that have such a poor command of idiomatic American English - especially anyone whose own first language is not English. This will likely cement incorrect ideas about what's tested on the GMAT, and what's correct/incorrect.
Ceilidh Erickson
EdM in Mind, Brain, and Education
Harvard Graduate School of Education
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