jabhatta wrote:@GMATGuruNY
Not sure why the first is wrong but the second is accurate
Wrong : The building was demolished TO AVOID falling down accidentally.
Right : The contractors DEMOLISHED the building TO KEEP it from falling down accidentally
Mentioned that in the first case
-- TO AVOID : cannot modify building [This explanation makes sense to me]
-- In second case then, TO KEEP -- cannot modify contractors ...yet this statement is accurate ?
Correct:
The contractors demolished the building to keep it from falling.
Here,
to keep is not an adjective modifying
contractors but an ADVERB modifying
demolished, expressing WHY the contractors DEMOLISHED the building.
Question: WHY did the contractors demolish the building?
Answer: TO KEEP it from falling.
Incorrect:
The building was demolished to avoid falling.
Here, the usage of
to avoid makes no sense, since neither the building nor whoever demolished the building intends TO AVOID falling.
Generally, an infinitive modifying a passive verb such as
was demolished should serve to express the intent of whoever is responsible for the action of the passive verb.
An OA from GMAC:
A recently discovered chalice was buried to keep it from being stolen.
Here,
to keep it from being stolen expresses the intent of whoever buried the chalice.
Question: Why was the chalice buried?
Answer: Because whoever buried the chalice intended TO KEEP IT FROM BEING STOLEN.
The following sentence is viable:
The building was demolished to keep it from falling.
Here,
to keep it from falling logically expresses the intent of whoever demolished the building.
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