SC problem needing explanation

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deepak_tx: Newbie | Next Rank: 10 Posts; Posts: 1; Joined: Sat Nov 08, 2008 11:47 pm

by deepak_tx » Wed Nov 12, 2008 1:26 am

A firm that specializes in the analysis of handwriting claims from a one-page writing sample that it can assess more than three hundred personality traits, including enthusiasm, imagination, and ambition.
(A) from a one-page writing sample that it can assess
(B) from a one-page writing sample it has the ability of assessing
(C) the ability, from a one-page writing sample, of assessing
(D) to be able, from a one-page writing sample, to assess
(E) being able to assess, from a one-page writing sample,
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B, C & E have verb error but confused between A & D

A firm ... claims <that it can assess> more than ... -- which i picked
A firm ... claims <to be able to assess> more than ... -- the right ans

I am less than a week to GMAT idea so pardon if i missed something obvious

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Source: Beat The GMAT — Sentence Correction | Wed Nov 12, 2008 1:26 am

iamcste: Legendary Member; Posts: 940; Joined: Tue Aug 26, 2008 3:22 amFollowed by: 1 member; Thanked: 55 times

Re: SC problem needing explanation

by iamcste » Wed Nov 12, 2008 1:39 am

deepak_tx wrote:A firm that specializes in the analysis of handwriting claims from a one-page writing sample that it can assess more than three hundred personality traits, including enthusiasm, imagination, and ambition.
(A) from a one-page writing sample that it can assess
(B) from a one-page writing sample it has the ability of assessing
(C) the ability, from a one-page writing sample, of assessing
(D) to be able, from a one-page writing sample, to assess
(E) being able to assess, from a one-page writing sample,
-------------------------------------------

-----------------------------------------
B, C & E have verb error but confused between A & D

A firm ... claims <that it can assess> more than ... -- which i picked
A firm ... claims <to be able to assess> more than ... -- the right ans

I am less than a week to GMAT idea so pardon if i missed something obvious

Claim to be is the right idiom. D is correct

20 sec

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logitech: Legendary Member; Posts: 2134; Joined: Mon Oct 20, 2008 11:26 pmFollowed by: 25 members; Thanked: 237 times; GMAT Score:730

Re: SC problem needing explanation

by logitech » Wed Nov 12, 2008 1:43 am

Whenever you see a pronoun such as it, its, they, their , you have to check what they refer to. ( For example use of they is wrong in this sentence )

In the first option we have IT , which is intended to refer to firm but it is too far away from the noun it refers and there are other singular nouns in between : analysis and one-page writing sample

So in written English, this IT creates an ambiguity

Option D eliminates this pronoun - one way of fixing the pronoun issue - and gives us a better option.

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iamcste: Legendary Member; Posts: 940; Joined: Tue Aug 26, 2008 3:22 amFollowed by: 1 member; Thanked: 55 times

Re: SC problem needing explanation

by iamcste » Wed Nov 12, 2008 1:46 am

deepak_tx wrote:A firm that specializes in the analysis of handwriting claims from a one-page writing sample that it can assess more than three hundred personality traits, including enthusiasm, imagination, and ambition.
(A) from a one-page writing sample that it can assess
(B) from a one-page writing sample it has the ability of assessing
(C) the ability, from a one-page writing sample, of assessing
(D) to be able, from a one-page writing sample, to assess
(E) being able to assess, from a one-page writing sample,
-------------------------------------------
-------------------------------------------
B, C & E have verb error but confused between A & D

A firm ... claims <that it can assess> more than ... -- which i picked
A firm ... claims <to be able to assess> more than ... -- the right ans

I am less than a week to GMAT idea so pardon if i missed something obvious

or other way

Claims what??needs an object.

AB gone..since "from"cant be an object

E "Being" is almost always incorrect

Left with C and D

Here "able to " or "ability to" a popular idiom or reading instinct can help

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karmayogi: Master | Next Rank: 500 Posts; Posts: 467; Joined: Thu Nov 06, 2008 10:19 pmFollowed by: 1 member; Thanked: 27 times

by karmayogi » Wed Nov 12, 2008 2:20 am

A clearly can't be the answer as it distorts the meaning. "from a one-page writing sample that it can assess" means, from a one-page writing, the firm can claim more than 300 personalities rather than assess .

The main idea of the sentence is, the firm can assess x from y rather than the firm can claim x from y.

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singalong: Senior | Next Rank: 100 Posts; Posts: 95; Joined: Wed Feb 09, 2011 6:42 amFollowed by: 1 member; Thanked: 1 times

by singalong » Wed Aug 03, 2011 7:10 pm

logitech wrote:Whenever you see a pronoun such as it, its, they, their , you have to check what they refer to. ( For example use of they is wrong in this sentence )

In the first option we have IT , which is intended to refer to firm but it is too far away from the noun it refers and there are other singular nouns in between : analysis and one-page writing sample

So in written English, this IT creates an ambiguity

Would (1) have been right if the sentense was "A firm that specializes in the analysis of handwriting claims, from a one-page writing sample, that it can assess more than three hundred personality traits" ?
Note the use of commas.

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SticklorForDetails: GMAT Instructor; Posts: 66; Joined: Wed Jul 20, 2011 3:39 pmFollowed by: 22 members; Location: New York, NY; Thanked: 39 times; GMAT Score:780

by SticklorForDetails » Thu Aug 04, 2011 12:18 pm

singalong wrote:
logitech wrote:Whenever you see a pronoun such as it, its, they, their , you have to check what they refer to. ( For example use of they is wrong in this sentence )

In the first option we have IT , which is intended to refer to firm but it is too far away from the noun it refers and there are other singular nouns in between : analysis and one-page writing sample

So in written English, this IT creates an ambiguity
Would (1) have been right if the sentense was "A firm that specializes in the analysis of handwriting claims, from a one-page writing sample, that it can assess more than three hundred personality traits" ?
Note the use of commas.

No. "from a one-page writing sample" should be inside the clause about what the firm claims it can do. Your sentence makes it sound as if their claim was written on a one-page document. However, if you switched it around, it will work:

"A firm that specialized in the analysis of handwriting claims that, from a one-page writing sample, it can assess..."

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BlindVision: Master | Next Rank: 500 Posts; Posts: 253; Joined: Fri Dec 26, 2008 8:39 pmFollowed by: 1 member; Thanked: 8 times

by BlindVision » Thu Aug 04, 2011 4:30 pm

deepak_tx wrote:A firm that specializes in the analysis of handwriting claims from a one-page writing sample that it can assess more than three hundred personality traits, including enthusiasm, imagination, and ambition.
(A) from a one-page writing sample that it can assess
(B) from a one-page writing sample it has the ability of assessing
(C) the ability, from a one-page writing sample, of assessing
(D) to be able, from a one-page writing sample, to assess
(E) being able to assess, from a one-page writing sample,
-------------------------------------------

-------------------------------------------
B, C & E have verb error but confused between A & D

A firm ... claims <that it can assess> more than ... -- which i picked
A firm ... claims <to be able to assess> more than ... -- the right ans

I am less than a week to GMAT idea so pardon if i missed something obvious

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