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mundasingh123: Legendary Member; Posts: 2330; Joined: Fri Jan 15, 2010 5:14 am; Thanked: 56 times; Followed by:26 members

BTG Practice Question Expert Help Required

by mundasingh123 » Sun Jan 16, 2011 1:26 pm

A majority of observers interviewed see the Middle East as unstable at present but that it will, or could, become less volatile in the future.
A)that it will, or could,
B)that it would, or could,
C)it will be or could
D)believe that it will be or could
E)think the Middle East would or could

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Source: Beat The GMAT — Sentence Correction | Sun Jan 16, 2011 1:26 pm

prachich1987: Legendary Member; Posts: 752; Joined: Sun Sep 12, 2010 2:47 am; Thanked: 20 times; Followed by:10 members; GMAT Score:700

by prachich1987 » Mon Jan 17, 2011 12:01 am

Obviously not an expert
But would like to make an attempt

IMO : B

A)that it will, or could, -------verb is interviewed.Hence we can't use WILL here.
B)that it would, or could, -----Parallel Correct usage of would ,could
C)it will be or could -------Not parallel
D)believe that it will be or could -------Not parallel
E)think the Middle East would or could------no need to use Middle East.IT can refer only to Middle East

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mundasingh123: Legendary Member; Posts: 2330; Joined: Fri Jan 15, 2010 5:14 am; Thanked: 56 times; Followed by:26 members

by mundasingh123 » Mon Jan 17, 2011 12:05 am

prachich1987 wrote:Obviously not an expert
But would like to make an attempt

IMO : B

A)that it will, or could, -------verb is interviewed.Hence we can't use WILL here.
B)that it would, or could, -----Parallel Correct usage of would ,could
C)it will be or could -------Not parallel
D)believe that it will be or could -------Not parallel
E)think the Middle East would or could------no need to use Middle East.IT can refer only to Middle East

Wrong ! Nice try though

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AIM GMAT: Legendary Member; Posts: 857; Joined: Wed Aug 25, 2010 1:36 am; Thanked: 56 times; Followed by:15 members

by AIM GMAT » Mon Jan 17, 2011 1:26 am

mundasingh123 wrote:A majority of observers interviewed see the Middle East as unstable at present but that it will, or could, become less volatile in the future.
A)that it will, or could,
B)that it would, or could,
C)it will be or could
D)believe that it will be or could
E)think the Middle East would or could

IMO A .

Not sure about the reason.

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mundasingh123: Legendary Member; Posts: 2330; Joined: Fri Jan 15, 2010 5:14 am; Thanked: 56 times; Followed by:26 members

by mundasingh123 » Mon Jan 17, 2011 1:28 am

AIM GMAT wrote:
mundasingh123 wrote:A majority of observers interviewed see the Middle East as unstable at present but that it will, or could, become less volatile in the future.
A)that it will, or could,
B)that it would, or could,
C)it will be or could
D)believe that it will be or could
E)think the Middle East would or could

IMO A .

Not sure about the reason.

2 Down .
3 More to Go

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diebeatsthegmat: Legendary Member; Posts: 1119; Joined: Fri May 07, 2010 8:50 am; Thanked: 29 times; Followed by:3 members

by diebeatsthegmat » Mon Jan 17, 2011 9:02 am

mundasingh123 wrote:A majority of observers interviewed see the Middle East as unstable at present but that it will, or could, become less volatile in the future.
A)that it will, or could,
B)that it would, or could,
C)it will be or could
D)believe that it will be or could
E)think the Middle East would or could

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mundasingh123: Legendary Member; Posts: 2330; Joined: Fri Jan 15, 2010 5:14 am; Thanked: 56 times; Followed by:26 members

by mundasingh123 » Mon Jan 17, 2011 9:36 am

Hey why not E

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Adam@Knewton: GMAT Instructor; Posts: 132; Joined: Mon Jan 10, 2011 12:26 pm; Location: New York City; Thanked: 68 times; Followed by:37 members; GMAT Score:780

by Adam@Knewton » Mon Jan 17, 2011 2:08 pm

mundasingh123 wrote:A majority of observers interviewed see the Middle East as unstable at present but that it will, or could, become less volatile in the future.
A)that it will, or could,
B)that it would, or could,
C)it will be or could
D)believe that it will be or could
E)think the Middle East would or could

"see the Middle East as... but" requires a verb for parallel structure, not a noun clause as in (A) or (B). (C) changes the meaning of the sentence by making the latter clause a statement of fact, not an opinion of the observers. This leaves us with (D) and (E).

(E) seems promising but "would" is the wrong meaning -- there is no hypothetical or conditional structure here (such as, "if capable leaders were to emerge in the region, it would become less volatile.")

(D) works: "believe" is parallel to "see" and "will be" is parallel to "could become," with the correct meaning retained.

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www.knewton.com

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Reva: Senior | Next Rank: 100 Posts; Posts: 93; Joined: Fri Feb 19, 2010 11:52 am; Thanked: 1 times

by Reva » Mon Jan 17, 2011 3:08 pm

mundasingh123 wrote:A majority of observers interviewed see the Middle East as unstable at present but that it will, or could, become less volatile in the future.
A)that it will, or could,
B)that it would, or could,
C)it will be or could
D)believe that it will be or could
E)think the Middle East would or could

still not able to understand why B is wrong. isn't interviewed a past so " would "should be used "future in past". Please correct me. can anyone give one more explanation?
THANKS

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Adam@Knewton: GMAT Instructor; Posts: 132; Joined: Mon Jan 10, 2011 12:26 pm; Location: New York City; Thanked: 68 times; Followed by:37 members; GMAT Score:780

by Adam@Knewton » Mon Jan 17, 2011 3:23 pm

Reva wrote:
mundasingh123 wrote:A majority of observers interviewed see the Middle East as unstable at present but that it will, or could, become less volatile in the future.
A)that it will, or could,
B)that it would, or could,
C)it will be or could
D)believe that it will be or could
E)think the Middle East would or could
still not able to understand why B is wrong. isn't interviewed a past so " would "should be used "future in past". Please correct me. can anyone give one more explanation?
THANKS

"Interviewed" is not a past-tense verb; it is the past partciple of "to interview," yes, but here it's just being used as an adjective, describing the observers. The main verb of the sentence, "see" is in the present tense, and thus "will" is correct instead of "would."

Furthermore, neither of the choices beginning with "that" are acceptable. This would require a parallel "that" noun clause earlier in the sentence, such as, "A majority of observers interviewed think THAT the Middle East is unstable at present but THAT it will be less volatile...." Here, however, the first clause is a simple verb-predicate contruction: they "see the Middle East as unstable." We need another verb to be parallel to "see" as the second verb of which the "majority of observers" are the subject. Only (D) and (E) provide this option (see my above post).

Prep Smarter, Score Higher
www.knewton.com

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Reva: Senior | Next Rank: 100 Posts; Posts: 93; Joined: Fri Feb 19, 2010 11:52 am; Thanked: 1 times

by Reva » Mon Jan 17, 2011 3:35 pm

AdamKnewton wrote:
Reva wrote:
mundasingh123 wrote:A majority of observers interviewed see the Middle East as unstable at present but that it will, or could, become less volatile in the future.
A)that it will, or could,
B)that it would, or could,
C)it will be or could
D)believe that it will be or could
E)think the Middle East would or could
still not able to understand why B is wrong. isn't interviewed a past so " would "should be used "future in past". Please correct me. can anyone give one more explanation?
THANKS
"Interviewed" is not a past-tense verb; it is the past partciple of "to interview," yes, but here it's just being used as an adjective, describing the observers. The main verb of the sentence, "see" is in the present tense, and thus "will" is correct instead of "would."
thanks a lot for the explanation . no more doubts left.
Furthermore, neither of the choices beginning with "that" are acceptable. This would require a parallel "that" noun clause earlier in the sentence, such as, "A majority of observers interviewed think THAT the Middle East is unstable at present but THAT it will be less volatile...." Here, however, the first clause is a simple verb-predicate contruction: they "see the Middle East as unstable." We need another verb to be parallel to "see" as the second verb of which the "majority of observers" are the subject. Only (D) and (E) provide this option (see my above post).

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Reva: Senior | Next Rank: 100 Posts; Posts: 93; Joined: Fri Feb 19, 2010 11:52 am; Thanked: 1 times

by Reva » Mon Jan 17, 2011 4:03 pm

AdamKnewton wrote:
mundasingh123 wrote:A majority of observers interviewed see the Middle East as unstable at present but that it will, or could, become less volatile in the future.
A)that it will, or could,
B)that it would, or could,
C)it will be or could
D)believe that it will be or could
E)think the Middle East would or could
"see the Middle East as... but" requires a verb for parallel structure, not a noun clause as in (A) or (B). (C) changes the meaning of the sentence by making the latter clause a statement of fact, not an opinion of the observers. This leaves us with (D) and (E).

(E) seems promising but "would" is the wrong meaning -- there is no hypothetical or conditional structure here (such as, "if capable leaders were to emerge in the region, it would become less volatile.")

(D) works: "believe" is parallel to "see" and "will be" is parallel to "could become," with the correct meaning retained.

sorry but one more doubt how is "will be " parallel to " could become"

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Adam@Knewton: GMAT Instructor; Posts: 132; Joined: Mon Jan 10, 2011 12:26 pm; Location: New York City; Thanked: 68 times; Followed by:37 members; GMAT Score:780

by Adam@Knewton » Mon Jan 17, 2011 4:11 pm

Reva wrote: sorry but one more doubt how is "will be " parallel to " could become"

Fair enough. You're right that they are different constructions, in that one is a future tense verb form and the other is a conditional verb form; however, at least they are two-part verb constructions. In all fairness, ALL of the 5 choices have parallel constructions at the end, although some of them have different meanings.

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www.knewton.com

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Reva: Senior | Next Rank: 100 Posts; Posts: 93; Joined: Fri Feb 19, 2010 11:52 am; Thanked: 1 times

by Reva » Mon Jan 17, 2011 6:49 pm

AdamKnewton wrote:
Reva wrote: sorry but one more doubt how is "will be " parallel to " could become"
Fair enough. You're right that they are different constructions, in that one is a future tense verb form and the other is a conditional verb form; however, at least they are two-part verb constructions. In all fairness, ALL of the 5 choices have parallel constructions at the end, although some of them have different meanings.

thanks a lot sir.