Large drop in oil prices....

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gmatrant: Master | Next Rank: 500 Posts; Posts: 416; Joined: Wed Oct 03, 2007 9:08 am; Thanked: 10 times; Followed by:1 members

Large drop in oil prices....

by gmatrant » Tue Oct 30, 2007 3:28 pm

One view of the economy contends that a large drop in oil prices should eventually lead to lowering interest
rates, as well as lowering fears about inflation, a rally in stocks and bonds, and a weakening of the dollar.
(A) lowering interest rates, as well as lowering fears about inflation,
(B) a lowering of interest rates and of fears about inflation,
(C) a lowering of interest rates, along with fears about inflation,
(D) interest rates being lowered, along with fears about inflation,
(E) interest rates and fears about inflation being lowered, with

Confused with B and C. Pls give an explanation on why you chose one of them.

OA is B

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Source: Beat The GMAT — Sentence Correction | Tue Oct 30, 2007 3:28 pm

Danielle: Master | Next Rank: 500 Posts; Posts: 215; Joined: Tue Oct 09, 2007 2:59 pm; Location: Mississippi; Thanked: 21 times; Followed by:3 members

by Danielle » Tue Oct 30, 2007 8:28 pm

B is the answer because this is a question of parallelism. In this case, it's a sentence with a simple list in which all of the subjects must presented in the same way. The un-underlined portion guides the answer choice -- we see 'a rally' and 'a weakening'. This means that only B and C are possible answer choices because they are the only ones that correct the underlined portion of the sentence with 'a lowering'. What makes B the right choice over C is that 'along with' is not concise where a simple 'and' will do.

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gmatrant: Master | Next Rank: 500 Posts; Posts: 416; Joined: Wed Oct 03, 2007 9:08 am; Thanked: 10 times; Followed by:1 members

by gmatrant » Wed Oct 31, 2007 5:01 pm

Danielle wrote:B is the answer because this is a question of parallelism. In this case, it's a sentence with a simple list in which all of the subjects must presented in the same way. The un-underlined portion guides the answer choice -- we see 'a rally' and 'a weakening'. This means that only B and C are possible answer choices because they are the only ones that correct the underlined portion of the sentence with 'a lowering'. What makes B the right choice over C is that 'along with' is not concise where a simple 'and' will do.

1.Doubt 1
a lowering of interest rates and of fears about inflation - is this the same as reading it as a lowering of interest rates and a lowering of fears about inflation. If this is right, please read on with by doubt 2, else answering this would suffice.

2. Doubt 2

isn't it true that if interest rates go up, inflation comes down, higher interest rate is used to cut the supply side of money and this reduces inflation as there is less liquidity in the market. Well this might sound like economics, but I got to understand this through a friend of mine, please spare me for bringing the above into SC, but this was how I proceeded.

So (B) states -"a lowering of interest rates and of fears about inflation," - so doesn't this mean a lowering of interest rates and a lowering of fears about inflation, but is this right. How can lowering of interest rates also lower fears about inflation.

(C) a lowering of interest rates, along with fears about inflation,
- i thought this was right because of the explanation I gave above.

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Danielle: Master | Next Rank: 500 Posts; Posts: 215; Joined: Tue Oct 09, 2007 2:59 pm; Location: Mississippi; Thanked: 21 times; Followed by:3 members

by Danielle » Wed Oct 31, 2007 7:51 pm

In response to doubt 1:
yes, it is the same as saying a lowering of interest rates and a lowering of fears.

In response to doubt 2:
you're right, that did sound like economics to me! You have to avoid doing that, trying to evaluate the sentences on a factual basis. That makes it hard to choose the best answer. Notice I said best and not correct answer. The GMAT is going to have many examples where you may or may not agree with the facts as they are presented. It's a simple evaluation of grammar. The sentence clearly intends to say that lowering oil prices will lead to lowering interest rates and lowering fears, whether it's true in reality or not.

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kvcpk: Legendary Member; Posts: 1893; Joined: Sun May 30, 2010 11:48 pm; Thanked: 215 times; Followed by:7 members

by kvcpk » Fri Jun 18, 2010 2:45 am

I am still confudsed why B has to be chosen over C? What is wrong with "along with fears "?

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martin.jonson007: Master | Next Rank: 500 Posts; Posts: 226; Joined: Wed Jun 02, 2010 1:46 am; Thanked: 2 times

by martin.jonson007 » Fri Jun 18, 2010 3:16 am

as i knw , there shouldn't be a comma (,) before ALONG

Still , Expert can better comment...

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hardik.jadeja: Legendary Member; Posts: 535; Joined: Fri Jun 08, 2007 2:12 am; Thanked: 87 times; Followed by:5 members; GMAT Score:730

by hardik.jadeja » Fri Jun 18, 2010 9:57 am

kvcpk wrote:I am still confudsed why B has to be chosen over C? What is wrong with "along with fears "?

Read the original sentence, it says "lowering interest rates, as well as lowering fears about inflation".

C says "oil prices should eventually lead to a lowering of interest rates, along with fears about inflation" - this sentence means that oil prices should eventually lead to fears about inflation.

Do you see the difference in the meaning?

Observe parallelism in B,

B) One view of the economy contends that a large drop in oil prices should eventually lead to a lowering of interest rates and of fears about inflation, a rally in stocks and bonds, and a weakening of the dollar.

Hope that helps..