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Widely available technology

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by riteshbindal » Fri Aug 21, 2009 12:53 pm
Today, despite widely available technology such as high-resolution scanners and printers, counterfeiting is more difficult than it was at the time of the Civil War, when it was estimated that one-third of all currency in circulation was counterfeit.

A. Today, despite widely available technology such as high-resolution scanners and printers, counterfeiting is more difficult than it was at the time of the Civil War, when it was estimated that one-third of all currency in circulation was counterfeit.

B. Despite widely available technology such as high-resolution scanners and printers today, counterfeiting is more difficult than it was at the time of the Civil War, when it was estimated that one-third of all currency in circulation was counterfeit.

C. Despite widely available technology such as high-resolution scanners and printers, counterfeiting is more difficult than at the time of the Civil War, when it was estimated that one-third of all currency in circulation was counterfeit.

D. Today, despite widely available technology such as high-resolution scanners and printers, counterfeiting is more difficult than when it was estimated that one-third of all currency in circulation was counterfeit at the time of the Civil War.

E. Today, because of widely available technology such as high-resolution scanners and printers, counterfeiting is more difficult than it was at the time of the Civil War, when it was estimated that one-third of all currency in circulation was counterfeit.


OA, after some discussion
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Source: — Sentence Correction |

by pandeyvineet24 » Fri Aug 21, 2009 1:51 pm
the answer should be B.

A puts "despite widely available technology such as high-resolution scanners and printers, " in commas making it non essential, but that is essential for the sentence.

C Wrong comparison "counterfeiting is more difficult than ??? at the time of the Civil War"

D Wrong comparison again "counterfeiting is more difficult than when it was estimated "

E It seems that "counterfeiting is more difficult because of widely available technology"
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by capnx » Fri Aug 21, 2009 2:10 pm
not100%, but will go with A...
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by riteshbindal » Fri Aug 21, 2009 2:12 pm
capnx, it will be great if you provide the reasons
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by hmboy17 » Fri Aug 21, 2009 3:13 pm
I will also go with A
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A

by hitmewithgmat » Fri Aug 21, 2009 3:58 pm
A- Correct as is..

B- The placement of "today". In B, "today" seems to describe "printers today".... does the testmakers want us to think "printers today"? or "today" in general? hm... it sounds ambiguous, doesn't it? Namely,the intent of the sentence is to compare counterfeiting today to counterfeiting in the past, using difficulty as the measure. Therefore, "today" should be placed up front.

C-"today" is missing. Remember, we need to find the best answer that the testmakers want. the given question wants the word "today".

D-...you know it's wrong.. no need to explain.

E- usage of "because"- whole different meaning.

Hope it helps.
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by capnx » Fri Aug 21, 2009 4:10 pm
riteshbindal wrote:capnx, it will be great if you provide the reasons
I got the choices down to A and B.

D is just way too awekward and wordy (and didn't make much sense in the second half of the sentence)

E changes the meaning (dispite vs because)

C, as hitmegmat says, "today" is missing, and the comparison is between "counterfeiting" and "at the time"

B changes the location of "today". But grammar-wise, I couldn't see anything wrong with it.

I picked A for two reasons: 1. if there's nothing wrong with A, then skip A only if there's a "better" choice that doesn't change the meaning.
2. the reading of the A compares "today" to the "time of Civil War", which is clearer than the comparison in choice B. If you simplify A and B to barebones:

A: Today, couterfeiting is more difficult than it was at the time of Civil War... (makes sense)

B: Counterfeiting is more difficult than it was at the time of the Civil War... (feels it's missing something)
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by hitmewithgmat » Fri Aug 21, 2009 4:20 pm
the placemenet of "today' could lead to a misunderstanding about what occurs "today"; the equipment, or the wide availability of the equipment, rather than counterfeiting itself.
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by riteshbindal » Fri Aug 21, 2009 6:24 pm
OA A
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by YARAB800 » Mon Sep 07, 2009 10:20 pm
what is the official provided explanation for A?
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