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GMATPrep Q on SC

by Auzbee » Tue Jan 01, 2008 5:13 pm
Radiocarbon dating of fossils taken from caves on islands along southeastern Alaska's coast suggest that at least a portion of the area was remaining ice-free during the last ice age.

a. suggest that at least a portion of the area was remaining
b. suggest at least a portion of the area remaining
c. suggests that a least a portion of the area remained
d. suggests at least a portion of the area that had remained
e. suggests at least a portion of the area to have remained.

What would be the correct answer and why?
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by camitava » Tue Jan 01, 2008 8:36 pm
Auzbee, IMO E.
Because it is having sub-verb problem as well as idioms and tense problem. According to the subject - Radiocarbon dating of fossils - verb should be SUGGESTS and 'AT LEAST' is the correct idiom to chose. What's the OA?
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by Auzbee » Tue Jan 01, 2008 9:10 pm
OA is C. Even I went for E but according to GMAT Prep it is C. If you don't believe it, see the included screenshot :(

I think there is a typo in the option C text.

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by camitava » Tue Jan 01, 2008 9:14 pm
Auzbee, really I selected C at first without looking at "A LEAST A". but when this came to my eyes, I canceled the option and chose E. Hey god if this kind of things happen what to do?
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by Auzbee » Tue Jan 01, 2008 9:22 pm
I am hoping that the main exam won't have such things.
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by beingAndNothing » Wed Jan 02, 2008 10:04 am
Auzbee/Camitava:

Assuming that there was a typo, I still have a doubt. Should we be using present perfect (have remained) or just simple past (remained) for this sentence?

thanks.
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by Danielle » Wed Jan 02, 2008 12:44 pm
The answer is definitely C.

First you need to check the verb agreement. The subject of the sentence is dating, not fossils, so "suggests" is the correct verb tense. Eliminate A and B.

The next thing that you should be looking for the verb tense of the form of "remaining, remained, etc." at the end of the statement.

C -- correct. Simple past tense is correct in this case because the verb tense here is describing how the area was DURING THE LAST ICE AGE. That means over the entire period. But the ice age itself is firmly in the past also.

D -- wrong verb tense

E -- wrong verb tense
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by camitava » Wed Jan 02, 2008 9:33 pm
Danielle, here I would like to mention one thing - In C, it is having "a least a" phrase with it. My question is - Is "a least a " a correct phrase / idiom? If it is, then obviously C is the best option to chose but if not, is E not the next better option to chose? Hey Danielle, don't take in other sense! I am just looking for your concern.
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by beatthegmat » Thu Jan 03, 2008 12:34 pm
C should be "at least a". There is no such English phrase as "a least a", this is a typo on GMATPrep!
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by Auzbee » Thu Jan 03, 2008 11:47 pm
Thanks Eric. This option really did not made sense and took me by surprise.
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by beatthegmat » Fri Jan 04, 2008 12:12 am
Auzbee wrote:Thanks Eric. This option really did not made sense and took me by surprise.
Yeah me too. This is a horrible error on the part of GMAC! I'm worried that a lot of non-native English speakers will become confused by this question!
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by Danielle » Fri Jan 04, 2008 11:48 am
Whoops! Guys, to be honest I didn't even SEE the typo -- I guess it's one of those things where your brain fills it in for you, or I might have been just as confused. Thanks Eric for stepping in on this one!
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by rajibgmat » Mon Dec 01, 2008 8:01 pm
What a relief.........To ERR IS HUMAN(GMAC).
I am gonna get u my love(GMAT)
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by niraj_a » Mon Dec 01, 2008 9:09 pm
yep

all the BS / outlier questions get dropped onto Gprep i guess
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by maihuna » Sun Dec 28, 2008 5:34 am
dating .. suggests that....C typo will be because of the poster...no way gmatprep will have typo... iwould like one to be posted otherwise..
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