soil and crop

This topic has expert replies
Legendary Member
Posts: 510
Joined: Thu Aug 07, 2014 2:24 am
Thanked: 3 times
Followed by:5 members

soil and crop

by j_shreyans » Thu Oct 16, 2014 10:42 pm
George Wasington carver dedicated his life to the economic strengthening of the south with improvement of soil and diversification of crops.

A)the economic strengthening of the south with improvement of soil and diversification of crops

B)strengthening the economy in the south with soil improvement and the diversification of crop

C)strengthening the economy of the south through soil improvement and crop diversification.

D) the strengthening the economy of the south through improving soil and crop diversifying

E) the economic strengthening in the south with improving soil and crop diversifying

Why OA C whats wrong with E

GMAT/MBA Expert

User avatar
Elite Legendary Member
Posts: 10392
Joined: Sun Jun 23, 2013 6:38 pm
Location: Palo Alto, CA
Thanked: 2867 times
Followed by:511 members
GMAT Score:800

by [email protected] » Fri Oct 17, 2014 6:38 pm
Hi j_shreyans,

There's a "usage" issue in this sentence that you might not have noticed.

The 5 answers can be broken into 2 groups, based on the first few words of the answers:

1) "the economic strengthening", which is a noun (and an awkwardly worded one at that).
2) "strengthening the economy", which is a verb

When the sentence tells us that George Washington Carver dedicated his life to *_______*, it's really saying that he dedicated his life to some series of actions. Thus, we need to use "strengthening the economy."

GMAT assassins aren't born, they're made,
Rich
Contact Rich at [email protected]
Image

Legendary Member
Posts: 510
Joined: Thu Aug 07, 2014 2:24 am
Thanked: 3 times
Followed by:5 members

by j_shreyans » Sat Oct 18, 2014 1:51 am
Hi Rich ,

Thank for your explanation it helps a lot.

One more thing that i want to ask is that how do i eliminate option B?

User avatar
Senior | Next Rank: 100 Posts
Posts: 48
Joined: Sun Jan 15, 2012 11:34 am

by theunheardmelody » Mon Oct 20, 2014 9:54 am
j_shreyans wrote:Hi Rich ,

Thank for your explanation it helps a lot.

One more thing that i want to ask is that how do i eliminate option B?
Hello Shreyans,

Others can correct me if I am wrong but I chose C over B because option B says strengthen the economy "WITH" soil ....This would be right if I was to say "I strengthened the building WITH Bricks".

Option C delivers the manner in which George attempted to improve the economy by using "Through". This means soil improvement was a means through which he tried to accomplish his goal.

Hope this helps.

Thanks