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Ice caps

by ssgmatter » Mon May 03, 2010 8:30 am
Antarctica receives more solar radiation than does any other place on
Earth, yet the temperatures are so cold and the ice cap is reflective, so that
little polar ice melts during the summer; otherwise, the water levels of the
oceans would rise 250 feet and engulf most of the world's great cities.
A. is reflective, so that little polar ice melts during the summer; otherwise,
B. is so reflective that little of the polar ice melts during the summer; were it to do
so,
C. so reflective that little polar ice melts during the summer, or else
D. reflective, so that little of the polar ice melts during the summer, or
E. reflects so that little of the polar ice melts during the summer; if it did

Any thoughts?????......

Experts please advise and share your ideas on this one

Many thanks!
Best-
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Source: — Sentence Correction |
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by pradeepkaushal9518 » Mon May 03, 2010 9:12 am
imo C
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by beat_gmat_09 » Mon May 03, 2010 9:19 am
One more for C.
Idiom is so X that Y, which B and C has, B is wordy.
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by ssgmatter » Mon May 03, 2010 9:20 am
OA is B............:(
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by pradeepkaushal9518 » Mon May 03, 2010 10:00 am
can u tell me source
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by ssgmatter » Mon May 03, 2010 8:14 pm
Sets

Experts please share your views on this one..

Cheers!
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by frank1 » Mon May 03, 2010 8:25 pm
Well i also thought it was C
one reason i thought B was not right and is not right is
semicolon joins two independent sentences

here
were it to do so,......
i still dont feel it will be independent sentence,atleast meaning wise...
do so ...means do what...

so i eliminated B
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by kevincanspain » Tue May 04, 2010 1:51 am
were it to do so= if the polar ice were to melt

We need to clearly express that we are talking about a hypothetical situation, and C fails to do so.
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by neha.patni » Tue May 04, 2010 1:57 am
ssgmatter wrote:Antarctica receives more solar radiation than does any other place on
Earth, yet the temperatures are so cold and the ice cap is reflective, so that
little polar ice melts during the summer; otherwise, the water levels of the
oceans would rise 250 feet and engulf most of the world's great cities.
A. is reflective, so that little polar ice melts during the summer; otherwise,
B. is so reflective that little of the polar ice melts during the summer; were it to do
so,
C. so reflective that little polar ice melts during the summer, or else
D. reflective, so that little of the polar ice melts during the summer, or
E. reflects so that little of the polar ice melts during the summer; if it did

Any thoughts?????......

Experts please advise and share your ideas on this one

Many thanks!
Is it the answer - C?
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by neha.patni » Tue May 04, 2010 2:00 am
kevincanspain wrote:were it to do so= if the polar ice were to melt

We need to clearly express that we are talking about a hypothetical situation, and C fails to do so.
Can you please explain this answer in detail?
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by sumanr84 » Tue May 04, 2010 2:17 am
+1 for C.

B looks very awkward and even the usage of "IT" is ambiguous in were it to do so, what exactly "it" is referring to is not clear.
hypothetical situation is not clearly expressed in C and that is true. I doubt the source.
I am on a break !!
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by kevincanspain » Tue May 04, 2010 2:43 am
Make sure that you understand the following example so that you identify B as the correct answer

Few residents bother to weatherproof their homes; if they were to do so, they would not have to worry every time a hurricane approaches.

Here, they refers to residents and so refers to weatherproof their homes
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by FightWithGMAT » Tue May 04, 2010 5:55 am
kevincanspain wrote:Make sure that you understand the following example so that you identify B as the correct answer

Few residents bother to weatherproof their homes; if they were to do so, they would not have to worry every time a hurricane approaches.

Here, they refers to residents and so refers to weatherproof their homes
A good question irrespective of the source.
Not yet clear---
There are 3 singular nouns before semicolon.
Antarctica, ice cap, and polar ice.

Now, only two of these perform some action--
Antarctica receives
polar ice melts

My question to the experts is why "it" and "so" point to "polar ice" and "melts"
why not
it = Antarctica and so = receives

Is there any rule that says

The components (noun and action) of the clause after a semicolon can only point to the closest noun and action; a case here.

A good explanation is appreciated.
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by bichoo » Tue May 04, 2010 6:29 am
I chose B because there is a 'is' at the beginning of the sentence, whereas C does not have this. This made more sense to me. Could C be crossed off on this basis?
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by kevincanspain » Tue May 04, 2010 2:41 pm
FightWithGMAT wrote:
kevincanspain wrote:Make sure that you understand the following example so that you identify B as the correct answer

Few residents bother to weatherproof their homes; if they were to do so, they would not have to worry every time a hurricane approaches.

Here, they refers to residents and so refers to weatherproof their homes
A good question irrespective of the source.
Not yet clear---
There are 3 singular nouns before semicolon.
Antarctica, ice cap, and polar ice.

Now, only two of these perform some action--
Antarctica receives
polar ice melts

My question to the experts is why "it" and "so" point to "polar ice" and "melts"
why not
it = Antarctica and so = receives

Is there any rule that says

The components (noun and action) of the clause after a semicolon can only point to the closest noun and action; a case here.

A good explanation is appreciated.
This is is good guideline when dealing with ambiguity! Proximity is so important. Also remember that 'were it to do so' must refer to an something that in fact does NOT happen
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