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by heshamelaziry » Thu Nov 05, 2009 5:58 pm
Being able to predict the rise and fall of the interest rate could allow us to make solid investments and reap enormous profits.

A)....

B) The capability for predicting the rise and fall of the interest rate could allow us to make solid investments and reap enormous profits.

C) The ability to predict the rise and fall of the interest rate would allow us to make solid investments and reap enormous profits.

D) The ability for predicting the rise and fall of the interest rate could allow us to make solid investments and reap enormous profits.

E) The ability of predicting the rise and fall of the interest rate would allow us to make solid investments and reap enormous profits.


[spoiler]What is wrong with C ? How can I get this problem right on test day ?[/spoiler]
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Source: — Sentence Correction |

by capnx » Thu Nov 05, 2009 10:21 pm
I picked C as well, and reading this post here it seems the majority would've failed this question (https://gmatclub.com/forum/sc-interestin ... 70633.html)

the difference lies in the difference between could and would. I rejected A b/c I thought GMAT didn't like "being", but forgot that the meaning of the original sentence should not be altered.

C alters the meaning of the original sentence. "could" carries the meaning of "the ability to" while "would" carries the meaning of "desire/preference to". So C clearly changes the meaning.

D and E are wrong b/c the wrong idiom "ability for/of"
B is wrong b/c capability to is not the same as ability to

This only leave A, although a little awkward, but nonetheless grammatically correct.
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