GMAT 800..Please help

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swati.sug: Master | Next Rank: 500 Posts; Posts: 104; Joined: Wed Jun 04, 2008 4:04 pm; Thanked: 6 times

by swati.sug » Mon Jul 28, 2008 3:43 pm

Scientists are currently trying to determine the extent to which tectonic plates have been shifted from their previous positions by earthquakes and other similar phenomena.
A) to which tectonic plates have been shifted
B)to which tectonic plates have shifted
C)of the shift of tectonic plates
D)to tectonic plate shifting
E)that tectonic plates have been shifted

Please tell when have been and when have should be used.

Thanks!!

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Source: Beat The GMAT — Sentence Correction | Mon Jul 28, 2008 3:43 pm

pradeepsarathy: Senior | Next Rank: 100 Posts; Posts: 87; Joined: Wed Jul 09, 2008 7:12 amFollowed by: 1 member; Location: Secaucus, New Jersey; Thanked: 3 times; GMAT Score:700

by pradeepsarathy » Mon Jul 28, 2008 5:27 pm

IMO C.
'Extent of' is the right idiom.

'have been' is wrong here because of passive voice construction.

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tzink: Senior | Next Rank: 100 Posts; Posts: 31; Joined: Thu Jul 10, 2008 9:02 pm; Thanked: 1 times

by tzink » Mon Jul 28, 2008 6:26 pm

I would say B, to eliminate all passive voice.
Though, the previous poster may be right about the idiomatic use of 'extent'. I'm not sure about that.

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reachac: Legendary Member; Posts: 572; Joined: Fri Feb 22, 2008 9:25 am; Thanked: 21 times

by reachac » Mon Jul 28, 2008 8:14 pm

IMO A

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swati.sug: Master | Next Rank: 500 Posts; Posts: 104; Joined: Wed Jun 04, 2008 4:04 pm; Thanked: 6 times

by swati.sug » Mon Jul 28, 2008 9:06 pm

The answer is A

The use of have been is justified by the book by saying that "have been" is used because reason (earthquakes is given later in the sentence)

I cant say I understand the reasoning

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reachac: Legendary Member; Posts: 572; Joined: Fri Feb 22, 2008 9:25 am; Thanked: 21 times

by reachac » Mon Jul 28, 2008 9:23 pm

swati.sug wrote:The answer is A

The use of have been is justified by the book by saying that "have been" is used because reason (earthquakes is given later in the sentence)

I cant say I understand the reasoning

Ok...."have been" is used generally to specify that an action is being carried out by a particular force, that force is mentioned in such sentences. i.e causal mechanism..X is the force behind the occurence of Y...this kinda arrangement.
Another example of this can be found in the question on "shift in the wavelength of light coming from star/galaxy" in the 1000SC document

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swati.sug: Master | Next Rank: 500 Posts; Posts: 104; Joined: Wed Jun 04, 2008 4:04 pm; Thanked: 6 times

by swati.sug » Mon Jul 28, 2008 11:19 pm

Got that
Thanks

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oneon: Newbie | Next Rank: 10 Posts; Posts: 3; Joined: Sun Aug 10, 2008 4:59 pm; GMAT Score:750

Reopening this question

by oneon » Sun Aug 10, 2008 5:02 pm

Why is the answer not (C)?
The book says that it is incomplete without a verb, but I don't agree with that.

If you read it "Scientists are currently trying to determine the extent of the shift ... by earthquakes and other similar phenomena" ignoring all the other fluff - that seems to sound ok?

Any additional explanation would be awesome if someone could enlighten me.

Also as another poster mentioned "extent of" I believe is the correct idiom and not "the extent to which".

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Stuart@KaplanGMAT: GMAT Instructor; Posts: 3225; Joined: Tue Jan 08, 2008 2:40 pmFollowed by: 614 members; Location: Toronto; Thanked: 1710 times; GMAT Score:800

Re: Reopening this question

by Stuart@KaplanGMAT » Sun Aug 10, 2008 5:38 pm

oneon wrote:Why is the answer not (C)?
The book says that it is incomplete without a verb, but I don't agree with that.

If you read it "Scientists are currently trying to determine the extent of the shift ... by earthquakes and other similar phenomena" ignoring all the other fluff - that seems to sound ok?

Any additional explanation would be awesome if someone could enlighten me.

Also as another poster mentioned "extent of" I believe is the correct idiom and not "the extent to which".

You definitely need a verb in there.

The extent of the shift cause by earthquakes... created by earthquakes.. you need something!

"the extent to which A has been caused by B" is definitely idiomatically correct.

Stuart Kovinsky | Kaplan GMAT Faculty | Toronto

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oneon: Newbie | Next Rank: 10 Posts; Posts: 3; Joined: Sun Aug 10, 2008 4:59 pm; GMAT Score:750

by oneon » Sun Aug 10, 2008 6:45 pm

Thanks Stuart.
It's a bit tricky since I'm tempted to insert my own interpretation.
I'm attempting to read it like "extent of the shift by earthquakes" where "by earthquakes" modifies shift.

But I see that I guess you don't really know how earthquakes are related to the shift.

-K

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aj5105: Legendary Member; Posts: 1169; Joined: Sun Jul 06, 2008 2:34 amFollowed by: 1 member; Thanked: 25 times

by aj5105 » Mon Aug 11, 2008 4:33 am

A) to which tectonic plates have been shifted

been -- indicates that the plates were moved by some force & the plates din't move by themselves.

Am i right Stuart?

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Stuart@KaplanGMAT: GMAT Instructor; Posts: 3225; Joined: Tue Jan 08, 2008 2:40 pmFollowed by: 614 members; Location: Toronto; Thanked: 1710 times; GMAT Score:800

by Stuart@KaplanGMAT » Wed Aug 13, 2008 11:46 am

aj5105 wrote:A) to which tectonic plates have been shifted

been -- indicates that the plates were moved by some force & the plates din't move by themselves.

Am i right Stuart?

Correct.

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NSNguyen: Master | Next Rank: 500 Posts; Posts: 401; Joined: Fri May 04, 2007 9:21 amFollowed by: 1 member; Thanked: 3 times

by NSNguyen » Sat Aug 16, 2008 12:12 am

Hi Stuart Kovinsky
I am in between A and E.
How to eliminate E? what is wrong with E?

Please share your idea and your reasoning

https://bmnmed.com/home/
https://nguyensinguyen.vietnam21.org

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nitin86: Master | Next Rank: 500 Posts; Posts: 111; Joined: Sat Sep 01, 2007 11:00 pm; Thanked: 4 times

by nitin86 » Sat Aug 23, 2008 8:36 pm

NSNguyen wrote:Hi Stuart Kovinsky
I am in between A and E.
How to eliminate E? what is wrong with E?

"Extent THAT" is unidiomatic IMO

Extent OF/TO is idiomatic...

so, eliminate E

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tanviet: Legendary Member; Posts: 1404; Joined: Tue May 20, 2008 6:55 pmFollowed by: 2 members; Thanked: 18 times

Ron, Stuart, Stacey, Karen. pls help.why not group of noun?

by tanviet » Mon Nov 02, 2009 5:15 am

Pls, help, why C is wrong, why we need a verb.

why noun group here is wrong? pls, help.

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