In a 5-to-4 decision, the Supreme Court ruled that two upsta

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RBBmba@2014: Legendary Member; Posts: 944; Joined: Wed May 30, 2012 8:21 amFollowed by: 5 members; Thanked: 8 times

by RBBmba@2014 » Wed Jun 10, 2015 7:51 am

In a 5-to-4 decision, the Supreme Court ruled that two upstate New York counties owed restitution to three tribes of Oneida Indians for the unlawful seizure of their ancestral lands in the eighteenth century.

(A) that two upstate New York counties owed restitution to three tribes of Oneida Indians for the unlawful seizure of
(B) that two upstate New York counties owed restitution to three tribes of Oneida Indians because of their unlawful seizure of
(C) two upstate New York counties to owe restitution to three tribes of Oneida Indians for their unlawful seizure of
(D) on two upstate New York counties that owed restitution to three tribes of Oneida Indians because they unlawfully seized
(E) on the restitution that two upstate New York counties owed to three tribes of Oneida Indians for the unlawful seizure of

OA: A

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Source: Beat The GMAT — Sentence Correction | Wed Jun 10, 2015 7:51 am

gmatlbs2015: Newbie | Next Rank: 10 Posts; Posts: 9; Joined: Sun Jun 07, 2015 3:39 am

by gmatlbs2015 » Wed Jun 10, 2015 10:21 am

"rule" is a reporting verb .
hence "that" must be used - C, D , E rejected.

between A and B ,

B has "their" - referring back to the Oneida Indians. It is not giving a correct meaning to the sentence.
(There must be a better explanation/ more reasons for rejecting B...)

Hence A.

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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 » Wed Jun 10, 2015 1:34 pm

RBBmba@2014 wrote:In a 5-to-4 decision, the Supreme Court ruled that two upstate New York counties owed restitution to three tribes of Oneida Indians for the unlawful seizure of their ancestral lands in the eighteenth century.

(A) that two upstate New York counties owed restitution to three tribes of Oneida Indians for the unlawful seizure of
(B) that two upstate New York counties owed restitution to three tribes of Oneida Indians because of their unlawful seizure of
(C) two upstate New York counties to owe restitution to three tribes of Oneida Indians for their unlawful seizure of
(D) on two upstate New York counties that owed restitution to three tribes of Oneida Indians because they unlawfully seized
(E) on the restitution that two upstate New York counties owed to three tribes of Oneida Indians for the unlawful seizure of

B, C, and D:
Whereas the first pronoun (THEIR unlawful seizure in B and C, THEY unlawfully seized in D) refers to the COUNTIES, the second pronoun (THEIR ancestral lands) refers to the INDIANS.
When THEY/THEIR appears more than once within a SINGLE CLAUSE, the antecedent must be the SAME in each case.
Eliminate B, C and D.

In E, the restitution that three upstate New York counties owed incorrectly implies that the restitution was owed PRIOR to the court's ruling.
The intended meaning is that the court RULED that the restitution was owed.
Eliminate E.

The correct answer is A.

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RBBmba@2014: Legendary Member; Posts: 944; Joined: Wed May 30, 2012 8:21 amFollowed by: 5 members; Thanked: 8 times

by RBBmba@2014 » Thu Jun 11, 2015 1:57 am

Mitch - would request a quick clarification on this.

Can you please let me know whether the following would be correct or not ?

In a 5-to-4 decision, the Supreme Court ruled two upstate New York counties to owe restitution to three tribes of Oneida Indians for the unlawful seizure of their ancestral lands in the eighteenth century - is this particular sentence correct and free of pronoun ambiguities ?

Is this usage Court ruled X to do Y acceptable well in GMAT ?

Look forward to your explanation!

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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 » Thu Jun 11, 2015 2:31 am

RBBmba@2014 wrote:Mitch - would request a quick clarification on this.

Can you please let me know whether the following would be correct or not ?

In a 5-to-4 decision, the Supreme Court ruled two upstate New York counties to owe restitution to three tribes of Oneida Indians for the unlawful seizure of their ancestral lands in the eighteenth century - is this particular sentence correct and free of pronoun ambiguities ?

Is this usage Court ruled X to do Y acceptable well in GMAT ?

Look forward to your explanation!

The court ruled two counties to owe restitution.
Here, two counties seems to serve as the direct object of ruled, implying that the court GOVERNED AND CONTROLLED two counties.
Not the intended meaning.

X ruled Y to do Z is unidiomatic.

Last edited by GMATGuruNY on Thu Jun 11, 2015 4:46 am, edited 1 time in total.

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RBBmba@2014: Legendary Member; Posts: 944; Joined: Wed May 30, 2012 8:21 amFollowed by: 5 members; Thanked: 8 times

by RBBmba@2014 » Thu Jun 11, 2015 4:41 am

GMATGuruNY wrote: The correct idiom is X ruled that Y do Z.

Thanks for the clarification GMATGuruNY.

However,does rule take Subjunctive mode sometimes ? (In the above usage, you've used PRESENT TENSE (re DO) after Y, hence would request to clarify!) If rule doesn't take Subjunctive, then the VERB after Y shouldn't be of PAST FORM ?

Please confirm.

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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 » Thu Jun 11, 2015 5:32 am

RBBmba@2014 wrote:does rule take Subjunctive mode sometimes ?

The following grammar resource offers an example of ruled that + command subjunctive:
https://books.google.com/books?id=9NoeA ... ve&f=false

But I am skeptical.
When used in a judicial context, to rule means TO DECIDE.
Since a decision is not a command, it seems inappropriate for ruled that to be followed by the command subjunctive.
I've amended my post above accordingly.

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RBBmba@2014: Legendary Member; Posts: 944; Joined: Wed May 30, 2012 8:21 amFollowed by: 5 members; Thanked: 8 times

by RBBmba@2014 » Thu Jun 11, 2015 6:10 am

GMATGuruNY wrote:
RBBmba@2014 wrote:does rule take Subjunctive mode sometimes ?
The following grammar resource offers an example of ruled that + command subjunctive:
https://books.google.com/books?id=9NoeA ... ve&f=false

But I am skeptical.
When used in a judicial context, to rule means TO DECIDE.
Since a decision is not a command, it seems inappropriate for ruled that to be followed by the command subjunctive.
I've amended my post above accordingly.

OK. So,in a judicial context as to rule means TO DECIDE (and it's NOT a Subjunctive usage), the CORRECT IDIOMATIC usage should be X ruled that Y did Z in PAST TENSE or X rules that Y does/do(if plural) Z in PRESENT TENSE. Right ?

(Correct me please if wrong)

P.S: The correct idiom from your earlier post got deleted somehow. Kindly reinsert the same in your post.

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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 » Thu Jun 11, 2015 6:40 am

RBBmba@2014 wrote:
OK. So,in a judicial context as to rule means TO DECIDE (and it's NOT a Subjunctive usage), the CORRECT IDIOMATIC usage should be X ruled that Y did Z in PAST TENSE or X rules that Y does/do(if plural) Z in PRESENT TENSE. Right ?

Your understanding seems correct.

P.S: The correct idiom from your earlier post got deleted somehow. Kindly reinsert the same in your post.

Please disregard the idiom discussed in my earlier post.
It is extremely unlikely that an OA on the GMAT will employ ruled that + command subjunctive.

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