It seemed that hardly any vote was cast on the Senate

killer1387 wrote:It seemed that hardly any vote was cast on the Senate or House floor without some calculation as to how it might affect the midterm election.

A. without some calculation as to how

B. without there is some calculation as to how

C. without that there is some calculation as to how

D. without some calculation as how

E. without some calculation to how

OA:[spoiler] A
Source: GMATCLUB Forum
PS; guys, I selected A because of clear construction, but, still cant figure out any rule or anything that nullify Option D. [/spoiler]

Awaiting a good discussion ahead

"AS TO HOW" is concise and is the correct construction.

I got trapped into the answer D. .....that......as is this parallel structure?
Is ' as to how' the idiom required to remember in GMAT grammar? Thanks

Yep, the correct idiom is "as to". D omits "to," which makes it incorrect and leaves us with A.

It seemed that hardly any vote was cast on the Senate or House floor without some calculation as to how it might affect the midterm election.

A. without some calculation as to how

B. without there is some calculation as to how

C. without that there is some calculation as to how

D. without some calculation as how

E. without some calculation to how


This sentence basically is a case of proper construction or proper idiomatic usage...

Option B: 'without there is' is the wrong usage as it makes the sentence awkward and is not concise.

Option C: 'without that there is' same thing not concise in the sentence.

Option D: 'as' in grammar is usually to compare or to reason or give a reasoning of a particular thing. Non of the things are happening and it is calling for something different. It is like giving an example or sharing an experience and hence 'as to' is the correct idiom and not only 'as'.

Option E: completely awkward and not concise construction.


Hence option A is the correct answer...

killer1387 even I got the answer as A but was confused between the options A and D and more difficulty was that I was not able to give a valid reasoning for the answer that I chose. I had to think a lot and then I could give the above explanation...

Really hope killer1387 this would have solved your doubt...

we can not use a preposition before THAT+CLAUSE/NOUN CLAUSE.

in B, "without" is used before THAT +CLAUSE, so B is wrong.

is my thinking correct? pls, comment.