BREAKING: Target Test Prep releases Brand New 2026 On Demand GMAT prep course

Redeem
TTP OnDemand GMAT Video Course
Featured Course

Target Test Prep GMAT OnDemand

Scott Woodbury-Stewart’s private virtual classroom — 400 hours of master-class video lessons for the GMAT Focus Edition.

  • 715+ score guarantee — highest in the industry (99th percentile)
  • 52 chapters · 1,500+ lessons · 4,000+ practice questions
  • 400 hours of video · 1,500+ instructor-led HD smartboard lessons
  • 300,000+ students accepted to Harvard, Stanford, Wharton, Booth & Sloan & more
  • 24/7 live support + weekly Zoom office hours with GMAT instructors
  • TTP AI Assist — 24/7 AI-powered virtual tutor for instant help
  • 1,200+ flashcards + AI-powered study assistant & daily calendar
  • OnDemand, LiveTeach & GMAT Bootcamp formats available
  • Also: GRE, SAT Math & Executive Assessment courses
  • MBA Admissions Consulting now available
  • 🏆 2025 EdTech Breakthrough Award: Test Prep Solution Provider of the Year
  • 200,000+ students served
  • 5-day free trial — $0 to start, no auto-billing, cancel anytime
★★★★★ 5.0 (559 reviews)
130-pt guarantee
$0 to start then $127/mo
Start Free 5-Day Trial Read 559 Reviews →

Usage of what

Expert replies
Post new topic Locked
Previous Topic Next Topic
Master | Next Rank: 500 Posts
Posts: 156
Joined: Sat Jul 19, 2008 6:41 am
Thanked: 8 times
by enniguy » Tue Nov 03, 2009 3:03 am
Not interested in the answer but a different question regarding the answer. Check the Spoiler.

His Studies of ice-polished rocks in his Alpine homeland, far outside the range of present day glaciers, led Louis Agassiz in 1857 to propose the concept of an age in which great ice sheets had existed in now currently temperate areas.

A. in which great ice sheets had existed in now currently temperate areas.
B. in which great ice sheets existed in what are now temperate areas.
C. when great ice sheets existed where there were areas now temperate.
D. when great ice sheets had existed in current temperate areas.
E. when great ice sheets existed in areas now that are temperate.

[spoiler]OA:B. My question is what does "what" here is referring to?[/spoiler]

Source: OG 12.
Top
Join the discussion
Log in to postLogin with Googleuse password
QUOTE IN REPLY
Source: — Sentence Correction |
Master | Next Rank: 500 Posts
Posts: 156
Joined: Sat Jul 19, 2008 6:41 am
Thanked: 8 times

Additional Details

by enniguy » Tue Nov 03, 2009 3:05 am
I remember, Stacey has mentioned in one of the posts that "what" is used as either interrogative pronoun or interrogative adjective.

I could not figure out which one makes sense here.
Top
Join the discussion
Log in to postLogin with Googleuse password
QUOTE IN REPLY
Legendary Member
Posts: 1404
Joined: Tue May 20, 2008 6:55 pmFollowed by: 2 members
Thanked: 18 times

by tanviet » Wed Nov 04, 2009 3:35 am
alway check basic grammar before check meaning. gmat is basic

let check the basic grammar:

"now" in E is wrong

"now currently" in A is wrong

"had existed" has no reason to be used.

check meaning

C change the meaning and is wrong.
Top
Join the discussion
Log in to postLogin with Googleuse password
QUOTE IN REPLY
Master | Next Rank: 500 Posts
Posts: 140
Joined: Sat Feb 28, 2009 8:51 amFollowed by: 3 members
Location: India
Thanked: 14 times

Re: Usage of what

by farooq » Wed Nov 04, 2009 8:40 am
enniguy wrote:Not interested in the answer but a different question regarding the answer. Check the Spoiler.

His Studies of ice-polished rocks in his Alpine homeland, far outside the range of present day glaciers, led Louis Agassiz in 1857 to propose the concept of an age in which great ice sheets had existed in now currently temperate areas.

A. in which great ice sheets had existed in now currently temperate areas.
B. in which great ice sheets existed in what are now temperate areas.
C. when great ice sheets existed where there were areas now temperate.
D. when great ice sheets had existed in current temperate areas.
E. when great ice sheets existed in areas now that are temperate.

[spoiler]OA:B. My question is what does "what" here is referring to?[/spoiler]

Source: OG 12.

His Studies of ice-polished rocks in his Alpine homeland, far outside the range of present day glaciers, led Louis Agassiz in 1857 to propose the concept of an age in which great ice sheets had existed in now currently temperate areas

here "which" refer to concept. But in CDE when is referring to an age which is Incorrect.

AB remains.

now and currently- redundant.

B is the answer.
Regards,
Farooq Farooqui.
London. UK

It is your Attitude, not your Aptitude, that determines your Altitude.
Top
Join the discussion
Log in to postLogin with Googleuse password
QUOTE IN REPLY
Legendary Member
Posts: 2326
Joined: Mon Jul 28, 2008 3:54 amFollowed by: 2 members
Thanked: 173 times
GMAT Score:710

Re: Usage of what

by gmatmachoman » Wed Nov 04, 2009 8:51 am
enniguy wrote:Not interested in the answer but a different question regarding the answer. Check the Spoiler.

His Studies of ice-polished rocks in his Alpine homeland, far outside the range of present day glaciers, led Louis Agassiz in 1857 to propose the concept of an age in which great ice sheets had existed in now currently temperate areas.

A. in which great ice sheets had existed in now currently temperate areas.
B. in which great ice sheets existed in what are now temperate areas.
C. when great ice sheets existed where there were areas now temperate.
D. when great ice sheets had existed in current temperate areas.
E. when great ice sheets existed in areas now that are temperate.

[spoiler]OA:B. My question is what does "what" here is referring to?[/spoiler]

Source: OG 12.
what refers to"ice sheets"
Top
Join the discussion
Log in to postLogin with Googleuse password
QUOTE IN REPLY

GMAT/MBA Expert

User avatar
GMAT Instructor
Posts: 2228
Joined: Wed Dec 27, 2006 3:28 pmFollowed by: 694 members
Location: Montreal, Canada
Thanked: 639 times
GMAT Score:780

by Stacey Koprince » Fri Nov 06, 2009 2:52 pm
Received a PM asking me to respond to the "what" question. We're not supposed to discuss OG questions online, so I won't, but I will discuss the word "what" in a totally unrelated example that just happens to look like... er... :)

"What" is one of those annoying flexible words - it can be a pronoun, an adjective, even an adverb...

Look at this:

The cat slept in what is now the dog's bed.

What did the cat sleep in? A bed. Was it the dog's bed? Well, no, not when the cat slept there - it became the dog's bed later. When the cat slept there, it was the cat's bed, or maybe somebody else's bed, but it wasn't the dog's bed.

So the "what" is referring to the bed - just not the dog's bed. It's referring to the bed at a different point in time, before it became the dog's bed.

The cat slept in [a bed that] is now the dog's bed.
Please note: I do not use the Private Messaging system! I will not see any PMs that you send to me!!

Stacey Koprince
GMAT Instructor
Director of Online Community
Manhattan GMAT

Contributor to Beat The GMAT!

Learn more about me
Top
Join the discussion
Log in to postLogin with Googleuse password
QUOTE IN REPLY
User avatar
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 » Fri Nov 06, 2009 3:19 pm
Stacey Koprince wrote: We're not supposed to discuss OG questions online, so I won't, but I will discuss the word "what" in a totally unrelated example that just happens to look like... er... :)
For clarification (and the BTG staff can correct me if I'm wrong):

we're not allowed to post OG questions, because to do so would be to violate GMAC's copyright. So, no one should ever type an OG question (or a question from an official GMAT CAT) verbatim on the board.

However, it's perfectly fine to discuss OG questions, since they've been released to the public. If you want to ask about an OG question, the best thing to do is to cite the OG edition, page and question number in your subject line. You can then ask your question referring to details of the exercise as required.

The only thing we're not even allowed to discuss is live GMAT questions; for example, if you or a friend just wrote the actual GMAT, you're not allowed to disclose any specifics of the test at all.
Image

Stuart Kovinsky | Kaplan GMAT Faculty | Toronto

Kaplan Exclusive: The Official Test Day Experience | Ready to Take a Free Practice Test? | Kaplan/Beat the GMAT Member Discount
BTG100 for $100 off a full course
Top
Join the discussion
Log in to postLogin with Googleuse password
QUOTE IN REPLY
Master | Next Rank: 500 Posts
Posts: 199
Joined: Sat Oct 24, 2009 4:43 pm
Thanked: 22 times
GMAT Score:710

by palvarez » Sat Nov 07, 2009 2:58 pm
in what are now temperate areas

What is = that which is
what are = those which are

Now it is easy to figure out what referents.
Top
Join the discussion
Log in to postLogin with Googleuse password
QUOTE IN REPLY
Post new topic Locked
• Page 1 of 1