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MGMAT CAT - 1

by Ryandmitri » Wed Apr 27, 2011 4:26 am
Having more than the usual numbers of fingers or toes on the hands or feet is termed polydactyly.

Having more than the usual numbers of fingers or toes
Having had more than the usual number of fingers or toes
Having more than the usual number of fingers or toes
To have more than the usual number of fingers or toes
To have more than the usual numbers of fingers or toes

OA after discussion.
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Source: — Sentence Correction |
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by HSPA » Wed Apr 27, 2011 5:19 am
Number - correct

Having X is called Y.
To have X is same as to have Y.
X - unusual number of fingers
Y- polydactyly


IMO C
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by atulmangal » Wed Apr 27, 2011 7:13 am
IMO C

Numbers of -----> Incorrect, drop A and E

use of past tense had followed by present perfect in Op B is wrong so drop B

Op C / Op D

I prefer the use of Gerund "Having" over an infinite here...can't explain the reason as i don't have any :D ...it just i have seen sentences starting with gerund a no of times thats why...
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by GMATGuruNY » Wed Apr 27, 2011 7:47 am
Ryandmitri wrote:Having more than the usual numbers of fingers or toes on the hands or feet is termed polydactyly.

Having more than the usual numbers of fingers or toes
Having had more than the usual number of fingers or toes
Having more than the usual number of fingers or toes
To have more than the usual number of fingers or toes
To have more than the usual numbers of fingers or toes

OA after discussion.
The argument for choosing C over D is more stylistic than grammatical. When an infinitive is used as the subject, the meaning is usually abstract or philosophical:

To know the GMAT is to love the GMAT.

Notice also that the sentence above offers a very parallel structure: To X is to Y.

For concrete situations, we tend to use the gerund:

Knowing the rules of grammar is important.

I seriously doubt that the GMAT would ever force us to make such a choice. If the SC above were to appear on the GMAT, either C or D would contain a separate, clear grammatical error that could not be debated.
Last edited by GMATGuruNY on Wed Apr 27, 2011 7:48 am, edited 1 time in total.
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by Stendulkar » Wed Apr 27, 2011 7:47 am
Same guy who started the post...diff account....OA is indeed C.

A,B and E are blatantly wrong...was confused between C and D......chose D because starting a sentence with an -ing form didnt look right....this is what is given as an explanation for not choosing D :

This choice correctly replaces "numbers of" with "number of." Moreover, in theory, an infinitive (such as "To have") CAN be used as a noun, even as a subject. For instance, you can properly say "To err is human." However, a long infinitive phrase (such as "To have more than the usual number of fingers and toes") is considered stylistically awkward as a subject at the beginning of a sentence. For one thing, we often start sentences with infinitives to indicate purpose: "To make money, I worked extra hours." In keeping with good prose style, the GMAT strongly prefers that you move such an infinitive subject to the end of the sentence and put a "Placeholder IT" at the beginning of the sentence: "It is human to err." Furthermore, even a postponed infinitive subject may be considered awkward in comparison to a gerund subject (such as "having"). Note that a gerund subject does not require you to specify who is performing the action in question: "Running is fun" is a perfectly
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by Stendulkar » Wed Apr 27, 2011 7:49 am
Same guy who started the post...diff account....OA is indeed C.

A,B and E are blatantly wrong...was confused between C and D......chose D because starting a sentence with an -ing form didnt look right....this is what is given as an explanation for not choosing D :

This choice correctly replaces "numbers of" with "number of." Moreover, in theory, an infinitive (such as "To have") CAN be used as a noun, even as a subject. For instance, you can properly say "To err is human." However, a long infinitive phrase (such as "To have more than the usual number of fingers and toes") is considered stylistically awkward as a subject at the beginning of a sentence. For one thing, we often start sentences with infinitives to indicate purpose: "To make money, I worked extra hours." In keeping with good prose style, the GMAT strongly prefers that you move such an infinitive subject to the end of the sentence and put a "Placeholder IT" at the beginning of the sentence: "It is human to err." Furthermore, even a postponed infinitive subject may be considered awkward in comparison to a gerund subject (such as "having"). Note that a gerund subject does not require you to specify who is performing the action in question: "Running is fun" is a perfectly
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by force5 » Wed Apr 27, 2011 8:17 am
i agree with most of the members that they didn't have a reason to choose between C and D. I strongly disagree if it can be chosen whether sentence starting with a gerund is correct or the one starting with an infinitive is correct. There are no said rules regarding this. Its always the author's writing style as what he prefers. i might use an infinitive too in concrete situations and vice versa. I feel its not a good question to be given in a test like GMAT where everyone doesnt have English as their first language.
I would have definitely marked it wrong though!!
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by pingu » Thu Apr 28, 2011 4:40 pm
There is a reason. Start of a sentence with an infinitive (To+Verb) is considered stylistically awkward in GMAT, so a Gerund(Verb+ing) is preferred. Check this - https://www.beatthegmat.com/to-err-is-hu ... 81827.html
atulmangal wrote:IMO C

Numbers of -----> Incorrect, drop A and E

use of past tense had followed by present perfect in Op B is wrong so drop B

Op C / Op D

I prefer the use of Gerund "Having" over an infinite here...can't explain the reason as i don't have any :D ...it just i have seen sentences starting with gerund a no of times thats why...
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by adi_800 » Sat Oct 15, 2011 8:45 am
Mgmat has mentioned below reason to eliminate option B..
(B) This choice correctly replaces "numbers of" with "number of." However, the present perfect tense verb "having had" is incorrectly used. The present perfect tense is used to indicate an event that started in the past and remains true in the present. Since this sentence simply defines the term "polydactyly," the present perfect tense is inappropriate. Instead, in order to maintain parallel structure, the phrase "is termed polydactyly" must be preceded by a normal gerund, a verb that acts as a noun, such as "having."

I guess they have incorrectly mentioned having had as a present perfect tense. Not sure whether having had is a past perfect but im sure that having had is surely not present perfect !!
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by adi_800 » Sat Oct 15, 2011 9:02 am
Just read one more problem explanation from Mgmat and Mgmat mentions that Having had is a past perfect construction !!
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by GmatKiss » Sat Oct 15, 2011 10:24 am
IMO:C
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