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International convention

by satishchandra » Fri Jan 13, 2012 12:07 am
An international convention regulating trade in endangered species, especially bears and tigers, could be significantly weakened were it not for restrictions on captive breeding of endangered species, warn conservation and animal welfare groups.

(A) could be significantly weakened were it not for restrictions on captive breeding of endangered species, warn conservation and animal welfare groups.
(B) could be significantly weakened if restrictions on captive breeding of endangered species aren't eased, warn conservation and animal welfare groups.
(C) couldn't be significantly weakened without restrictions on captive breeding of endangered species being eased, warn conservation and animal welfare groups.
(D) can't be significantly weakened if restrictions on captive breeding of endangered species are eased, warn conservation and animal welfare groups.
(E) could be significantly weakened if restrictions on captive breeding of endangered species are eased, warn conservation and animal welfare groups.

Please Explain
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by avik.ch » Fri Jan 13, 2012 12:40 am
The original sentence mention that "An international convention regulating trade in endangered species, especially bears and tigers, could be significantly weakened"

so use of "couldn't be weakened" or "can't be weakened" changes the meaning : eliminate C and D

B - "aren't erased" imparts opposite meaning of the sentence : from meaning point we can strenthen the "regulating trade in endangered species" by implementing captive breeding - not by erasing it.

E exactly does that.

IMO : E
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by satishchandra » Fri Jan 13, 2012 3:11 am
Can you explain how did you eliminate 'A' ?
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by avik.ch » Fri Jan 13, 2012 3:36 am
satishchandra wrote:Can you explain how did you eliminate 'A' ?

An international convention regulating trade in endangered species, especially bears and tigers, could be significantly weakened were it not for restrictions on captive breeding of endangered species, warn conservation and animal welfare groups.

I eliminated it because of "were". "were" does not signifies conditional.

This construction is made perfect in E :

An international convention regulating trade in endangered species - noun phrase acting as a subject ( there is no point is parsing this as it is in non underline part )
especially bears and tigers, - non essential modifier
could ( modal ) be significantly ( adverb) weakened ( past perfect)
if restrictions on captive breeding of endangered species are eased, -- adverb of condition.


What is the OA ?
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by GMATGuruNY » Fri Jan 13, 2012 9:30 am
satishchandra wrote:An international convention regulating trade in endangered species, especially bears and tigers, could be significantly weakened were it not for restrictions on captive breeding of endangered species, warn conservation and animal welfare groups.

(A) could be significantly weakened were it not for restrictions on captive breeding of endangered species, warn conservation and animal welfare groups.
(B) could be significantly weakened if restrictions on captive breeding of endangered species aren't eased, warn conservation and animal welfare groups.
(C) couldn't be significantly weakened without restrictions on captive breeding of endangered species being eased, warn conservation and animal welfare groups.
(D) can't be significantly weakened if restrictions on captive breeding of endangered species are eased, warn conservation and animal welfare groups.
(E) could be significantly weakened if restrictions on captive breeding of endangered species are eased, warn conservation and animal welfare groups.

Please Explain
Here is the intended meaning:
If restrictions on captive breeding ARE eased, an international convention regulating trade COULD be weakened.

Only E conveys the intended meaning.

In A, WERE + COULD = CAN'T. Consider the following: If John WERE not four feet tall, he COULD play basketball. The implication here is that -- because he is only four feet tall -- John CAN'T in fact play basketball . Thus, the phrasing in A -- WERE IT NOT for the restrictions, the international convention COULD be weakened -- implies that the international convention CAN'T in fact be weakened. Quite the opposite of the intended meaning here.

Another reason to eliminate A: it lacks a clear referent. Even when the GMAT uses it as an expletive, the purpose typically is to DELAY THE SUBJECT, and the referent is clear. Consider the following example from the OG12:

It was not until almost 1900 that scholars and critics seriously began studying.

Here, IT has a clear referent: THAT SCHOLARS AND CRITICS SERIOUSLY BEGAN STUDYING.
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by e-GMAT » Fri Jan 13, 2012 10:44 am
Hi,

I received a PM to solve this question.

Before I begin the analysis of this sentence, I would like to mention that this question does not seem to be from any official source. Questions from official sources generally do not follow this kind of sentence structure. This sentence reads like one of those lines in a newspaper article where something/someone is quoted and then the reporting verb follows.

An international convention regulating trade in endangered species, especially bears and tigers, could be significantly weakened were it not for restrictions on captive breeding of endangered species, warn conservation and animal welfare groups.

(If I were to write this sentence, I would begin it as: Conservation and animal welfare groups warn that...)

Image

The meaning of the sentence is not very clear. So we have to infer to infer the logical intended meaning of the sentence. This sentence is talking about a warning that has been issued by conservation and animal welfare groups. They warn that if restrictions on captive breeding of endangered species, especially bears and tigers, are eased, then an international convention regulating trade in endangered species can be significantly weakened. This is the only logical intended meaning.

Sentence Structure:
Cl 1: An international convention regulating trade in endangered species, especially bears and tigers, could be significantly weakened
Cl 2: were it not for restrictions on captive breeding of endangered species,
Cl 3: warn conservation and animal welfare groups.

Image

Conservation and animal welfare groups have issues a warning. Since we are talking about a warning here, the sentence should follow the 'if... then...' structure. But the way the sentence has been written it suggests that conversation and animal welfare groups warn that if there were no restrictions on captive breeding of endangered species, an international convention regulating trade in endangered species could be significantly weakened. This does not sound like a warning. This sounds like a hypothetical situation. For example:
She could roam around freely were she not this famous.
In order to convey that the sentence talks about a warning, it must use "if... then..." construction. This sentence has meaning error.

POE:

(A) could be significantly weakened were it not for restrictions on captive breeding of endangered species, warn conservation and animal welfare groups.: Incorrect.

(B) could be significantly weakened if restrictions on captive breeding of endangered species aren't eased, warn conservation and animal welfare groups.: Incorrect. This choice is grammatically correct but reverses the intended meaning of the sentence.

(C) couldn't be significantly weakened without restrictions on captive breeding of endangered species being eased, warn conservation and animal welfare groups.: Incorrect. This choice again reverses the logical intended meaning of the sentence.

(D) can't be significantly weakened if restrictions on captive breeding of endangered species are eased, warn conservation and animal welfare groups. Incorrect. This choice also reverses the meaning of the sentence.

(E) could be significantly weakened if restrictions on captive breeding of endangered species are eased, warn conservation and animal welfare groups.: Correct. This choice follows the correct sentence structure to communicate the logical intended meaning of the sentence.

Thanks.
Shraddha

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by ArunangsuSahu » Fri Jan 13, 2012 4:38 pm
trade needs to be regulated...so restrictions need to be there on captive breeding

(E) is the answer
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by satishchandra » Sat Jan 14, 2012 3:03 am
I have two questions.

1)I agree to the fact that the indended meaning in 'A' is silly(looks not true in first read).

Question is: Can we go for change of meaning just as in this case? In doing so, we wouldn't keep the original indended meaning anymore.

2)I read a few (if,then) clause rules, ONLY which are acceptable in Gmat

If (present), then (present)
If (Present), then (will/can/may)
If (Past), then (would/could)
If (had+PP), then (would/could have)

The answer choices do not pass the above mentioned criteria except for 'D'
'D' keeps the original indended meaning and has Gmatlike (if then) clause.
However, OA is E

Question is: Can give question numbers in OG12 or OG Verbal review in which correct choice does not have the above mentioned (if,then) clause constructions
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