IMO E

Correct Idiom is So X As to Y
only CDE have this.
in C, so large lack of math skills is wrong.
D is of the form " are X so much as to Y"

Pick E.

I too go with the option E , but i dont see the Idiom format mentioned in E. IS that a typo because you dont see the word as in E. Can KVCPK or some one throw some light ?

IMO D
(A) lack math skills to such a large degree as to make it difficult to absorb them into a city economy becoming
such ... as to - wrong idiom
(B) lack math skills to a large enough degree that they will be difficult to absorb into a city's economy that becomes
..that becomes ... (changes meaning)
enough X that Y (correct idiom)
(C) lack of math skills is so large as to be difficult to absorb them into a city's economy that becomes
..that becomes ... (changes meaning)
so....as to be (correct idiom)
(D) are lacking so much in math skills as to be difficult to absorb into a city's economy becoming
so....as to be (correct idiom)
(E) are so lacking in math skills that it will be difficult to absorb them into a city economy becoming
so lacking ...that VS lacking so much .... that

santoostar wrote:I too go with the option E , but i dont see the Idiom format mentioned in E. IS that a typo because you dont see the word as in E. Can KVCPK or some one throw some light ?

I didnt get your question. Can you please rephrase it?

I think santoosar is confused because the idiom mentioned by kvpck - "So X as to Y" - is not in the correct answer E. Just want to make sure that everyone understands that, although kvpck is certainly correct about "So X as to Y" being idiomatic, it is a lesser used and tricky idiom. It is much more common and also correct to say : "so.....that"

Take this excerpt from an old and difficult GMAT Sentence Correction problem:

"the features are so unrealistic as to constitute....." To most people this structure sounds incorrect but it is indeed idiomatic.

The more common way to express this:

"the features are so unrealistic that they constitute...." This is also correct and much more common.

Arguments could be made that there are subtle changes in meaning with the two idioms, but not so much that it would ever be an issue on any GMAT problem.

In the correct answer choice E the more common idiomatic structure is used giving clear meaning without any grammatical errors:

the students are "so lacking in math skills that it will be difficult....."

Zaash: In answer choice D, the correct idiom is not used as the structure is "X so as to Y" not "so X as to Y". Also, the possessive with "a city's economy" is incorrect.

Hope this helps clarify those two important idioms.

chris@veritasprep wrote:I think santoosar is confused because the idiom mentioned by kvpck - "So X as to Y" - is not in the correct answer E. Just want to make sure that everyone understands that, although kvpck is certainly correct about "So X as to Y" being idiomatic, it is a lesser used and tricky idiom. It is much more common and also correct to say : "so.....that"

Take this excerpt from an old and difficult GMAT Sentence Correction problem:

"the features are so unrealistic as to constitute....." To most people this structure sounds incorrect but it is indeed idiomatic.

The more common way to express this:

"the features are so unrealistic that they constitute...." This is also correct and much more common.

Arguments could be made that there are subtle changes in meaning with the two idioms, but not so much that it would ever be an issue on any GMAT problem.

In the correct answer choice E the more common idiomatic structure is used giving clear meaning without any grammatical errors:

the students are "so lacking in math skills that it will be difficult....."

Zaash: In answer choice D, the correct idiom is not used as the structure is "X so as to Y" not "so X as to Y". Also, the possessive with "a city's economy" is incorrect.

Hope this helps clarify those two important idioms.

Thanks Chris. You articulated it perfectly.