Early administrative decisions in China's Ming Dynasty eventually caused a drastic fall in tax revenues, a reduction in military preparedness, the collapse of the currency system, and failed to make sufficient investment in vital transportation infrastructure.
A. the collapse of the currency system, and failed
B. the collapse of the currency system, and failing
C. and the collapse of the currency system, also failed
D. the collapse of the currency system, as well as failing
E. and the collapse of the currency system, as well as a failure
OA: E.
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OG VERBAL REVIEW 2018 - Early administrative decisions in
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MartyMurray
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The original sentence contains a list of things caused by the "Early administrative decisions".
- a drastic fall
- a reduction
- the collapse
- failed to make
Notice, the last item, "failed to make" does not fit in the list of things caused by the decisions.
It would not make sense to say the following.
Early administrative decisions caused failed to make sufficient investment.
So, in order for the sentence to work, we need for the list to somehow make sense.
In choice E we have the following list.
Early administrative decisions caused
- a drastic fall
- a reduction
- the collapse
- a failure to make sufficient investment
Notice that the following works.
Early administrative decisions caused a failure to make sufficient investment.
The correct answer is E.
- a drastic fall
- a reduction
- the collapse
- failed to make
Notice, the last item, "failed to make" does not fit in the list of things caused by the decisions.
It would not make sense to say the following.
Early administrative decisions caused failed to make sufficient investment.
So, in order for the sentence to work, we need for the list to somehow make sense.
In choice E we have the following list.
Early administrative decisions caused
- a drastic fall
- a reduction
- the collapse
- a failure to make sufficient investment
Notice that the following works.
Early administrative decisions caused a failure to make sufficient investment.
The correct answer is E.
Marty Murray
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Perfect Scoring Tutor With Over a Decade of Experience
MartyMurrayCoaching.com
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could anyone explain what is wrong with option D?
D. the collapse of the currency system, as well as failing
As well as must follow as noun, and ...ing can function as a noun.
So, we have a parallel list of four nouns:
i. a drastic fall,
ii. a reduction,
iii. the collapse and
iv. failing.
We also have an official problem in which emitting, followed by as well as, is parallel to burn
Diesel engines burn as much as 30% less fuel than gasoline engines of comparable size, as well as emitting far less carbon dioxide gas and far fewer of the other gases that have been implicated in global warming.
Thanks.
D. the collapse of the currency system, as well as failing
As well as must follow as noun, and ...ing can function as a noun.
So, we have a parallel list of four nouns:
i. a drastic fall,
ii. a reduction,
iii. the collapse and
iv. failing.
We also have an official problem in which emitting, followed by as well as, is parallel to burn
Diesel engines burn as much as 30% less fuel than gasoline engines of comparable size, as well as emitting far less carbon dioxide gas and far fewer of the other gases that have been implicated in global warming.
Thanks.
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ceilidh.erickson
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You're right - a fall, a reduction, the collapse, and the failing - could have been a parallel list of 4 things. The main issue is that "as well as" is not a conjunction, and thus cannot take the place of "and." We can't say W, X, Y, as well as Z. It must be W, X, Y, and Z.parry wrote:could anyone explain what is wrong with option D?
D. the collapse of the currency system, as well as failing
As well as must follow as noun, and ...ing can function as a noun.
So, we have a parallel list of four nouns:
i. a drastic fall,
ii. a reduction,
iii. the collapse and
iv. failing.
We also have an official problem in which emitting, followed by as well as, is parallel to burn
Diesel engines burn as much as 30% less fuel than gasoline engines of comparable size, as well as emitting far less carbon dioxide gas and far fewer of the other gases that have been implicated in global warming.
Thanks.
The other issue is that when we want to use an -ing word as a gerund (noun) in a list of action nouns, we must put the word "the" before it. Otherwise, an -ing after a comma will be interpreted as a participial modifier.
Here's a breakdown of all answer choices:
Early administrative decisions in China's Ming Dynasty eventually caused a drastic fall in tax revenues, a reduction in military preparedness, the collapse of the currency system, and failed to make sufficient investment in vital transportation infrastructure.
A. the collapse of the currency system, and failed
- "failed" is not parallel
B. the collapse of the currency system, and failing
- "failing" is not parallel. We'd have to say "the failing" to make this a gerund (action noun) rather than a participle.
C. and the collapse of the currency system, also failed
- "and the collapse" completes a parallel list of 3 items (rather than 4), but "also failed" is not correctly modifying the list.
D. the collapse of the currency system, as well as failing
- "as well as" is not a conjunction. If this were changed to "and the failing," it would be fine.
E. and the collapse of the currency system, as well as a failure
- correct list: X, Y, and Z
- "as well as" is now a phrase modifying the entire list, and not a 4th list item. This is perfectly correct.
The answer is E.
Ceilidh Erickson
EdM in Mind, Brain, and Education
Harvard Graduate School of Education
EdM in Mind, Brain, and Education
Harvard Graduate School of Education
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I really appreciate the time you took to give such a thorough reply. Thank you.
After reading your post, I also realized that reading as well as failing to make sufficient investment.. is very awkward in comparison to read as well as a failure to make sufficient investment....
Regards,
PS
After reading your post, I also realized that reading as well as failing to make sufficient investment.. is very awkward in comparison to read as well as a failure to make sufficient investment....
Regards,
PS
ceilidh.erickson wrote:You're right - a fall, a reduction, the collapse, and the failing - could have been a parallel list of 4 things. The main issue is that "as well as" is not a conjunction, and thus cannot take the place of "and." We can't say W, X, Y, as well as Z. It must be W, X, Y, and Z.parry wrote:could anyone explain what is wrong with option D?
D. the collapse of the currency system, as well as failing
As well as must follow as noun, and ...ing can function as a noun.
So, we have a parallel list of four nouns:
i. a drastic fall,
ii. a reduction,
iii. the collapse and
iv. failing.
We also have an official problem in which emitting, followed by as well as, is parallel to burn
Diesel engines burn as much as 30% less fuel than gasoline engines of comparable size, as well as emitting far less carbon dioxide gas and far fewer of the other gases that have been implicated in global warming.
Thanks.
The other issue is that when we want to use an -ing word as a gerund (noun) in a list of action nouns, we must put the word "the" before it. Otherwise, an -ing after a comma will be interpreted as a participial modifier.
Here's a breakdown of all answer choices:
Early administrative decisions in China's Ming Dynasty eventually caused a drastic fall in tax revenues, a reduction in military preparedness, the collapse of the currency system, and failed to make sufficient investment in vital transportation infrastructure.
A. the collapse of the currency system, and failed
- "failed" is not parallel
B. the collapse of the currency system, and failing
- "failing" is not parallel. We'd have to say "the failing" to make this a gerund (action noun) rather than a participle.
C. and the collapse of the currency system, also failed
- "and the collapse" completes a parallel list of 3 items (rather than 4), but "also failed" is not correctly modifying the list.
D. the collapse of the currency system, as well as failing
- "as well as" is not a conjunction. If this were changed to "and the failing," it would be fine.
E. and the collapse of the currency system, as well as a failure
- correct list: X, Y, and Z
- "as well as" is now a phrase modifying the entire list, and not a 4th list item. This is perfectly correct.
The answer is E.
