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jainrahul1985: Master | Next Rank: 500 Posts; Posts: 228; Joined: Sun Aug 17, 2008 8:08 am; Thanked: 4 times

by jainrahul1985 » Thu Aug 11, 2011 11:57 pm

Despite recent increases in sales and cash flow that have propelled automobile companies' common stocks to new highs, several industry analysts expect automakers, in order to conserve cash, to set dividends more conservatively than they were.

A) to set dividends more conservatively than they were
B) to set dividends more conservatively than they have been
C) to be more conservative than they have been in setting dividends
D) that they will be more conservative than they were in setting dividends
E) that they will be more conservative than they have been to set dividends

OA C

Last edited by jainrahul1985 on Fri Aug 12, 2011 3:54 am, edited 1 time in total.

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Source: Beat The GMAT — Sentence Correction | Thu Aug 11, 2011 11:57 pm

aspirant2011: Legendary Member; Posts: 1574; Joined: Fri Jan 28, 2011 2:52 amFollowed by: 13 members; Thanked: 88 times

by aspirant2011 » Fri Aug 12, 2011 3:49 am

jainrahul1985 wrote:Despite recent increases in sales and cash flow that have propelled automobile companies' common stocks to new highs, several industry analysts expect automakers, in order to conserve cash, to set cash more conservatively than they were.

A) to set dividends more conservatively than they were
B) to set dividends more conservatively than they have been
C) to be more conservative than they have been in setting dividends
D) that they will be more conservative than they were in setting dividends
E) that they will be more conservative than they have been to set dividends

OA C

Can you please recheck the question because options seem out of sync from the main sentence.........

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jainrahul1985: Master | Next Rank: 500 Posts; Posts: 228; Joined: Sun Aug 17, 2008 8:08 am; Thanked: 4 times

by jainrahul1985 » Fri Aug 12, 2011 3:54 am

corrected

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aspirant2011: Legendary Member; Posts: 1574; Joined: Fri Jan 28, 2011 2:52 amFollowed by: 13 members; Thanked: 88 times

by aspirant2011 » Fri Aug 12, 2011 4:13 am

jainrahul1985 wrote:Despite recent increases in sales and cash flow that have propelled automobile companies' common stocks to new highs, several industry analysts expect automakers, in order to conserve cash, to set cash more conservatively than they were.

A) to set dividends more conservatively than they were ------ incomplete comparison
B) to set dividends more conservatively than they have been ------have been what????
C) to be more conservative than they have been in setting dividends
D) that they will be more conservative than they were in setting dividends -----wrong tense & moreover they is ambiguous
E) that they will be more conservative than they have been to set dividends

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jainrahul1985: Master | Next Rank: 500 Posts; Posts: 228; Joined: Sun Aug 17, 2008 8:08 am; Thanked: 4 times

by jainrahul1985 » Fri Aug 12, 2011 5:06 am

experts request you to explain in detail

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bblast: Legendary Member; Posts: 1077; Joined: Mon Dec 13, 2010 1:44 amFollowed by: 33 members; Thanked: 118 times; GMAT Score:710

by bblast » Fri Aug 12, 2011 5:17 am

You must make a list of the common idioms if u are a non native speaker. (Dont mug up the entire MGMAT idiom list-but remember the commom ones)

if u spotted the idiom "expect to" in this sentence then life would have been much simpler. So it boils down to :
A) to set dividends more conservatively than they were ---here they could refer to automakers- therefore this comparison is absurd.

B) to set dividends more conservatively than they have been ------again the same problem. The problem here is the meaning. The reference of they is ambiguous here. It may refer to automakers or the dividends.

C) to be more conservative than they have been in setting dividends- the correct version conveys the meaning that the automakers are expected to be more conservative than they have been in the past.

Other idioms which end in "to" :
believe to
potential to
attributed to
estimated to be

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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 » Fri Aug 12, 2011 12:09 pm

jainrahul1985 wrote:Despite recent increases in sales and cash flow that have propelled automobile companies' common stocks to new highs, several industry analysts expect automakers, in order to conserve cash, to set dividends more conservatively than they were.

A) to set dividends more conservatively than they were
B) to set dividends more conservatively than they have been
C) to be more conservative than they have been in setting dividends
D) that they will be more conservative than they were in setting dividends
E) that they will be more conservative than they have been to set dividends

OA C

Generally, two different pronouns cannot have the same referent.
D and E: automakers...that they will be
Here, two different pronouns -- that and they -- both seem to refer to automakers.
Eliminate D and E.

In A and B, it is not crystal clear whether they refers to automakers or to dividends.
Answer choice C avoids this ambiguity by placing dividends AFTER they.
Eliminate A and B.

The correct answer is C.

Last edited by GMATGuruNY on Sun Nov 02, 2014 1:00 pm, edited 3 times in total.

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EducationAisle: Master | Next Rank: 500 Posts; Posts: 434; Joined: Sat Mar 27, 2010 10:42 pmFollowed by: 46 members; Location: Bangalore, India; Thanked: 91 times

by EducationAisle » Fri Aug 12, 2011 7:38 pm

Just so there is no confusion, both "expect x to y" and "expect that" are valid usages. The problem in this sentence is "expect automakers that.."

So, following would have been correct:

....several industry analysts expect that automakers, in order to conserve cash, will be more conservative than they have been in setting dividends.

Ashish
MBA - ISB, GMAT - 99th Percentile
GMAT Faculty @ EducationAisle
www.EducationAisle.com

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bblast: Legendary Member; Posts: 1077; Joined: Mon Dec 13, 2010 1:44 amFollowed by: 33 members; Thanked: 118 times; GMAT Score:710

by bblast » Fri Aug 12, 2011 9:45 pm

thanks for the correction Mitch.

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