Following are some logical splits typically one would see in GMAT sentence correction -- there are tons of such sentence correction questions in official sources that test us on meaning based logical splits. But we still encounter many new questions that would create doubts in our mind. Objective of this thread is to capture such logical splits one would have encountered
1) What do you add to the payroll ?
a) Workers
b) Number of workers
2) What's the difference between ?
a) Only one of the law firms
b) One of the only law firms
3) What's the difference between ? And which one is better ?
a) In 1989, Amazon was the only company that used credit card for payments.
b) In 1989, Amazon was the only company to use credit card for payments.
4) What do you do to the period/era of revolution (say) ?
a) Initiate an era of revolution
b) Cause an era of revolution
c) Start an era of revolution
Adding more to it
6) a) Why "work environment" is more appropriate than "working environment" - eg: hostile work environment
b) but, "working conditions" is more appropriate than "work conditions" - eg: unsafe working conditions
Logical Meaning In Sentence Correction
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Last edited by shailendra.sharma on Thu Aug 08, 2013 8:22 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Adding to this -
5)
a) The bowerbirds of Australia derive their name from the fact that.....
or
b) The bowerbirds of Australia derive their name from the the elaborate bowers of sticks....
My question is that something derives its name by A FACT about something OR by SOMETHING?
Thanks.
5)
a) The bowerbirds of Australia derive their name from the fact that.....
or
b) The bowerbirds of Australia derive their name from the the elaborate bowers of sticks....
My question is that something derives its name by A FACT about something OR by SOMETHING?
Thanks.
shailendra.sharma wrote:Following are some logical splits typically one would see in GMAT sentence correction -- there are tons of such sentence correction questions in official sources that test us on meaning based logical splits. But we still encounter many new questions that would create doubts in our mind. Objective of this thread is to capture such logical splits one would have encountered
1) What do you add to the payroll ?
a) Workers
b) Number of workers
2) What's the difference between ?
a) Only one of the law firms
b) One of the only law firms
3) What's the difference between ? And which one is better ?
a) In 1989, Amazon was the only company that used credit card for payments.
b) In 1989, Amazon was the only company to use credit card for payments.
4) What do you do to the period/era of revolution (say) ?
a) Initiate an era of revolution
b) Cause an era of revolution
c) Start an era of revolution
If my post was helpful, then please click "Thank".
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you can figure this one out by thinking through it (as you can with most decisions like this).sameerballani wrote:Adding to this -
5)
a) The bowerbirds of Australia derive their name from the fact that.....
or
b) The bowerbirds of Australia derive their name from the the elaborate bowers of sticks....
My question is that something derives its name by A FACT about something OR by SOMETHING?
the sentence is saying that the bowerbirds derive their name from something. that's only going to make sense if it's followed by something that has a similar name.
* the piles of sticks and stuff are called "bowers", so that makes total sense here -- the birds are called "bowerbirds" because of the bowers.
* facts don't have names, so the "fact" thing doesn't make sense.
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i received a private message about this thread.
the good part is that you've realized that this stuff is based on intended meaning (as opposed to thinking that everything in the world is an "idiom", as is all too common around here).
the bad part, though, is that you haven't fully realized that meaning comes from the surrounding context. i.e., you can't just rip these phrases completely out of their original context, put them here by themselves, and ask "how would i resolve this split?" ... because you need an actual context in which to put them.
what i'm saying is this: you just took these phrases all by themselves and posted them as a question ... which indicates that you don't fully appreciate the role of context in giving the sentence a meaning.
please post the actual context(s) in which you found these phrases; without that context, it's going to be impossible to make most of these decisions.
well... there's both good and bad here.shailendra.sharma wrote:Following are some logical splits typically one would see in GMAT sentence correction -- there are tons of such sentence correction questions in official sources that test us on meaning based logical splits.
the good part is that you've realized that this stuff is based on intended meaning (as opposed to thinking that everything in the world is an "idiom", as is all too common around here).
the bad part, though, is that you haven't fully realized that meaning comes from the surrounding context. i.e., you can't just rip these phrases completely out of their original context, put them here by themselves, and ask "how would i resolve this split?" ... because you need an actual context in which to put them.
what i'm saying is this: you just took these phrases all by themselves and posted them as a question ... which indicates that you don't fully appreciate the role of context in giving the sentence a meaning.
please post the actual context(s) in which you found these phrases; without that context, it's going to be impossible to make most of these decisions.
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Hi Ron,
I am posting the sentences that are similar to what I saw. These sentences might have few other small mistakes as I have tried to recall them from my memory - you can suggest me on those mistakes too, but my biggest questions are on the logical differences that I have asked :--
1)
a) The numbers of workers added to the payroll have increased more than employer had expected, increasing the pressure on company financials.
b) Workers added to the payroll have increased more than employer had expected, increasing the pressure on company financials.
My question: In above two sentences, what is more appropriate to say
a) Workers added to the payroll have increased
b) Number of workers added to the payroll have increased
2)
a) Amazon was only one of the internet company to use credit card for payments.
b) Amazaon was one of the only internet company to use credit card for payments.
c) Amazon was only one of the internet company that used credit card for payments.
d) Amazaon was one of the only internet company that used credit card for payments.
My question: Above sentences has two splits: Colored in red and colored in blue
Can you please explain what are the best usage ? In general too, I seem to struggle with different placements of "only".
3)
a) In 1729 Century Newton developed laws of motion, initiating an era of development that led to quantam field theory.
b) In 1729 Century Newton developed laws of motion, starting an era of development that led to quantam field theory.
c) In 1729 Century Newton developed laws of motion, causing an era of development that led to quantam field theory.
My Question: In above sentence, we have split colored in red. Newton's development led to further development - essentially an era (or phase) of development. So, what would be best usage : his development initiated/started/caused an era of development ?
4)
a) Hostile work environment and unsafe working conditions have been found as the most common reasons for high attrition rate.
b) Hostile working environment and unsafe working conditions have been found as the most common reasons for high attrition rate.
c) Hostile work environment and unsafe work conditions have been found as the most common reasons for high attrition rate.
d) Hostile working environment and unsafe work conditions have been found as the most common reasons for high attrition rate.
My Question: Above sentences has two splits: one colored in red, and other one colored in blue. I think the correct and most appropriate version is sentence (a).
Regards
I am posting the sentences that are similar to what I saw. These sentences might have few other small mistakes as I have tried to recall them from my memory - you can suggest me on those mistakes too, but my biggest questions are on the logical differences that I have asked :--
1)
a) The numbers of workers added to the payroll have increased more than employer had expected, increasing the pressure on company financials.
b) Workers added to the payroll have increased more than employer had expected, increasing the pressure on company financials.
My question: In above two sentences, what is more appropriate to say
a) Workers added to the payroll have increased
b) Number of workers added to the payroll have increased
2)
a) Amazon was only one of the internet company to use credit card for payments.
b) Amazaon was one of the only internet company to use credit card for payments.
c) Amazon was only one of the internet company that used credit card for payments.
d) Amazaon was one of the only internet company that used credit card for payments.
My question: Above sentences has two splits: Colored in red and colored in blue
Can you please explain what are the best usage ? In general too, I seem to struggle with different placements of "only".
3)
a) In 1729 Century Newton developed laws of motion, initiating an era of development that led to quantam field theory.
b) In 1729 Century Newton developed laws of motion, starting an era of development that led to quantam field theory.
c) In 1729 Century Newton developed laws of motion, causing an era of development that led to quantam field theory.
My Question: In above sentence, we have split colored in red. Newton's development led to further development - essentially an era (or phase) of development. So, what would be best usage : his development initiated/started/caused an era of development ?
4)
a) Hostile work environment and unsafe working conditions have been found as the most common reasons for high attrition rate.
b) Hostile working environment and unsafe working conditions have been found as the most common reasons for high attrition rate.
c) Hostile work environment and unsafe work conditions have been found as the most common reasons for high attrition rate.
d) Hostile working environment and unsafe work conditions have been found as the most common reasons for high attrition rate.
My Question: Above sentences has two splits: one colored in red, and other one colored in blue. I think the correct and most appropriate version is sentence (a).
Regards
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this one you can figure out with everyday common sense.shailendra.sharma wrote:1)
a) The numbers of workers added to the payroll have increased more than employer had expected, increasing the pressure on company financials.
b) Workers added to the payroll have increased more than employer had expected, increasing the pressure on company financials.
can workers themselves "increase"?
nope
can a number of workers "increase?"
yep
there you go.
by the way, there are two other things here that don't make sense:
* "numbers" doesn't work here; it should be "number" (since we're presumably talking about only one number here).
* the use of both "added" and "increased" doesn't make sense, either. i.e., you should say that the # of workers ON the payroll (not added to it) is increasing.
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none of these makes any sense. go back and check the original.2)
a) Amazon was only one of the internet company to use credit card for payments.
b) Amazaon was one of the only internet company to use credit card for payments.
c) Amazon was only one of the internet company that used credit card for payments.
d) Amazaon was one of the only internet company that used credit card for payments.
also, i've said everything i can possibly say about this whole "only one..." thing on this thread:
https://www.beatthegmat.com/one-of-the-t ... tml#174075
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first... well, a "century" is 100 years. 1729 is a year, not a century. (the year 1729 was in the 18th century.)shailendra.sharma wrote:3)
a) In 1729 Century Newton developed laws of motion, initiating an era of development that led to quantam field theory.
b) In 1729 Century Newton developed laws of motion, starting an era of development that led to quantam field theory.
c) In 1729 Century Newton developed laws of motion, causing an era of development that led to quantam field theory.
again, there's no rule for this -- you just have to think about what the words mean.
an "era" is a time period.
can you initiate a time period? sure.
can you start a time period? sure.
can you cause a time period? ...nah.
the usual versions here are "working conditions" and "work environment", but i certainly wouldn't say that the alternatives (i.e., "work conditions" and "working environment") are wrong.4)
a) Hostile work environment and unsafe working conditions have been found as the most common reasons for high attrition rate.
b) Hostile working environment and unsafe working conditions have been found as the most common reasons for high attrition rate.
c) Hostile work environment and unsafe work conditions have been found as the most common reasons for high attrition rate.
d) Hostile working environment and unsafe work conditions have been found as the most common reasons for high attrition rate.
basically, these are business-related "buzzwords", rather than true idioms of the english language. (they may even be the result of american legal terminology, since both of these phrases are used quite often in US labor law.)
did you actually see this in a GMAT-related problem? because there's no way GMAC would ever test something like this.
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Thanks Ron.
- First 3 question were from a good gmat mock test - but I do not have access to check the source.
- Regarding first question above, the numbers was my typing mistake. After mock I checked on google too and got confused, so I posed the question. Few of the sentences in the article (https://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-07-0 ... -7-6-.html) use payroll and workers and their rise.
- Regarding third question, 1729 century was also my typing mistake, first I started writing 17th Century and then looked into wikipedia and changed it to year - I missed to remove the Century word. Sorry for those.
- 4th question was from some SC question on gmatclub.
- Thanks for your write-up on "only" - I will read it through.
- First 3 question were from a good gmat mock test - but I do not have access to check the source.
- Regarding first question above, the numbers was my typing mistake. After mock I checked on google too and got confused, so I posed the question. Few of the sentences in the article (https://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-07-0 ... -7-6-.html) use payroll and workers and their rise.
- Regarding third question, 1729 century was also my typing mistake, first I started writing 17th Century and then looked into wikipedia and changed it to year - I missed to remove the Century word. Sorry for those.
- 4th question was from some SC question on gmatclub.
- Thanks for your write-up on "only" - I will read it through.
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I read your post and did more research on the usage of "only one of the X", and "one of the only X" -- here are my findings, please verify :--lunarpower wrote:none of these makes any sense. go back and check the original.2)
a) Amazon was only one of the internet company to use credit card for payments.
b) Amazaon was one of the only internet company to use credit card for payments.
c) Amazon was only one of the internet company that used credit card for payments.
d) Amazaon was one of the only internet company that used credit card for payments.
also, i've said everything i can possibly say about this whole "only one..." thing on this thread:
https://www.beatthegmat.com/one-of-the-t ... tml#174075
1) In their own, both the phrase "only one of the X" and "one of the only X" are correct.
2) "Y is only one of the X" means there are many X, but Y is just one of them.
Eg: Tenacity is the only one of the four methods which presents any distinction of a right and a wrong way.
3) "Y is one of the only X" means there are only few X available, and Y is one of them.
Eg: Mr. Joseph is one of the only Harvard graduate in the town.
Thanks.
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shailendra, you really shouldn't be taking this approach. i.e., you shouldn't be trying to make these things "formulaic".
that's really, really hard to do -- and, by contrast, it's easy just to think through each situation.
these constructions mean different things. so, in any specific context -- i.e., where the intended meaning is established -- one of them will fail to convey that meaning.
that's really, really hard to do -- and, by contrast, it's easy just to think through each situation.
this is impossible to judge without context.1) In their own, both the phrase "only one of the X" and "one of the only X" are correct.
these constructions mean different things. so, in any specific context -- i.e., where the intended meaning is established -- one of them will fail to convey that meaning.
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your example here is unrelated. the addition of "the" before "only one" changes the meaning significantly.2) "Y is only one of the X" means there are many X, but Y is just one of them.
Eg: Tenacity is the only one of the four methods which presents any distinction of a right and a wrong way.
also, this example is a nonsense sentence; "tenacity" has nothing to do with distinguishing right from wrong.
the problem is that i can't tell what this sentence is supposed to mean (because none of the possible meanings makes logical sense), so it's impossible to judge whether the sentence is doing what you think it's doing.
here are two examples.
Jake is (only) one of our players who have spent over 10 years in the league.
--> we have some players who've been in the league for that long; one of them is jake.
Jake is the only one of our players who has spent over 10 years in the league.
--> no one else on our team has played for that long.
again, there is absolutely no reason to try to remember a "formula" for this stuff. as long as your understand what "the" means, the function of these sentences is very easy to figure out.
just remember what "the" means in this sort of context: it means, basically, "that's all; there are no more".
e.g.,
Jim and Ray were two witnesses to the crime --> there were other witnesses
Jim and Ray were the two witnesses to the crime --> there were no other witnesses
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... well, meaning-wise, you can't really write this without some sort of qualifier/modifier on the "x" part. otherwise, the "only" is at best unnecessary, and at worst nonsense. (e.g., the sentence above makes a lot more sense if you take away "only".)3) "Y is one of the only X" means there are only few X available, and Y is one of them.
Eg: Mr. Joseph is one of the only Harvard graduate in the town.
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Thanks Ron.
I understand there is a fine difference between trying to register usage of different common phrases in mind and formulaic approach - I am falling for later again and again.
I seem to get it now, until I again fall in the same trap
I understand there is a fine difference between trying to register usage of different common phrases in mind and formulaic approach - I am falling for later again and again.
I seem to get it now, until I again fall in the same trap
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i'd suggest that the problem starts with your thinking of these things as "phrases" in the first place.shailendra.sharma wrote:Thanks Ron.
I understand there is a fine difference between trying to register usage of different common phrases in mind and formulaic approach - I am falling for later again and again.
I seem to get it now, until I again fall in the same trap :)
your calling them "phrases" suggests that you're thinking of things as units, when they aren't actually units. (by "unit" i mean a piece that has one definite function within the sentence.)
i mean, if you don't already know how the sentence works intuitively, then obviously you have to break it down into some kind of units. the key, though, is that you have to break it down into the things that are actually units.
and, don't forget -- this is the thing that's missing from your analysis in a lot of these cases -- you can't tell which parts of a sentence are functional units until you understand its meaning.
e.g., take the sentences i gave you above.
if the intention is to say that our team has exactly one player with more than 10 years of experience in the league, then ...
Jake is the only one of our players who has spent over 10 years in the league.
the orange and blue things can be thought of as "functional units" here. i.e., the whole blue thing is describing the whole orange thing. but you can't figure that out until you understand what the sentence is actually supposed to say.
on the other hand, if the intention is to say that Jake is one of a whole bunch of players with that level of experience, then ...
Jake is only one of our players who has spent over 10 years in the league.
here, the blue thing is a group of people. the orange thing describes something in that group. but, again, you can't figure that out until you understand what the sentence is supposed to mean.
Ron has been teaching various standardized tests for 20 years.
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Pueden hacerle preguntas a Ron en castellano
Potete chiedere domande a Ron in italiano
On peut poser des questions à Ron en français
Voit esittää kysymyksiä Ron:lle myös suomeksi
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Quand on se sent bien dans un vêtement, tout peut arriver. Un bon vêtement, c'est un passeport pour le bonheur.
Yves Saint-Laurent
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Learn more about ron
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Pueden hacerle preguntas a Ron en castellano
Potete chiedere domande a Ron in italiano
On peut poser des questions à Ron en français
Voit esittää kysymyksiä Ron:lle myös suomeksi
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Quand on se sent bien dans un vêtement, tout peut arriver. Un bon vêtement, c'est un passeport pour le bonheur.
Yves Saint-Laurent
--
Learn more about ron