Sentence Correction

Bioconservatives, a group who believe that technological innovation threatens the existing social order, predict the opposite as techno-progressives, who believe that, when properly regulated, technology can empower and emancipate.

A) a group who believe that technological innovation threatens the existing social order, predict the opposite as techno-progressives, who believe that, when properly regulated, technology can empower and emancipate

B) a group who believes that technological innovation threatens the existing social order, predict the opposite of what techno-progressive, who believe that, when properly regulated, technology can empower and emancipate, forecast

C) a group that believes that technological innovation threatens the existing social order, predicts the opposite of techno-progressives, who believe that, when properly regulated technology can empower and emancipate

D) a group who believe that technological innovation threatens the existing social order, predict the opposite of believing that, when properly regulated, technology can empower and emancipate

E) believing that technological innovation threatens the existing social order, predict the opposite of techno-progressives, who believe that, when properly regulated, technology can empower and emancipate

OA will be provided.

Source: VeritasPrep Advanced

A, B and D are eliminated because only people receive the pronoun who. In these sentences who refers to the group and not the bioconservatives themselves.

C is then eliminated because bioconservatives uses the verb predicts, and these verbs are not in agreement


The Answer is E

Jim@StratusPrep wrote:A, B and D are eliminated because only people receive the pronoun who. In these sentences who refers to the group and not the bioconservatives themselves.

C is then eliminated because bioconservatives uses the verb predicts, and these verbs are not in agreement


The Answer is E

I chose the same answer, but according to the official answer "who" can refer to people.
Also, my tutor from VeritasPrep said that E is wrong because of wrong comparison in predict.

As I understood him it should be "predict the opposite that of techno-progressives. But I doubt about this point.

Any ideas?

OA is [spoiler]B[/spoiler]

There is a comparison issue, that I did not see because of the group/who issue. Who cannot be used with group.

Actually, the Veritas Prep tutor mentioned above is exactly right. I also am doing tutoring through Veritas Prep, and my instructor showed me this is an incredibly easy problem. The "who" vs. "that" issue is actually a false alarm. Because "who" can be either singular or plural, the fact that it refers to a "group" of people is actually okay. In this context, "who" vs. "that" is a trap designed by the test maker to cause novice test-takers into evaluating an issue that is actually a non-issue. Not every difference in sentence correction is meaningful.

The basic idea behind this problem is simple. Large modifiers hide what is actually going on. As we read the problem, we should notice the phrase, "the opposite of." This sets up a comparison, and the items within the comparison must be comparable. However, we need to get rid of the modifiers to see the underlying structure. My tutor calls these modifiers "weapons of mass distraction." The comparison is between what bioconservatives predict and what techno-progressives predict. Here is a breakdown of each answer choice, with the large modifying phrases removed to show the structure:

(A) "Bioconservatives...predict the opposite as techno-progressives" (Can't work... we can't compare a prediction to a group)

(B) "Bioconservatives...predict the opposite of what techno-progressives...forecast" (Works! We are now comparing a prediction to a forecast -- two things that are actually comparable. The test maker included the modifiers in this question to make it sound very awkward, but awkward doesn't mean it is grammatically incorrect. "It sounds weird" is not grounds for eliminating an answer.)

(C) "Bioconservatives...predicts the opposite of techno-progressives" (Again, fails with the comparison. We also have a subject-verb agreement issue here, but at this point, two wrongs don't make a right.)

(D) "Bioconservatives...predict the opposite of believing that" (Again, the comparison issue...)

(E) "Bioconservatives...predict the opposite of techno-progressives" (Once again, we can't compare the verb "predict" to a noun, "techno-progressives.")

Anyone who misses this question is missing the comparison issue (or is getting lost in the modifiers)

mase2w wrote:Actually, the Veritas Prep tutor mentioned above is exactly right. I also am doing tutoring through Veritas Prep, and my instructor showed me this is an incredibly easy problem. The "who" vs. "that" issue is actually a false alarm. Because "who" can be either singular or plural, the fact that it refers to a "group" of people is actually okay. In this context, "who" vs. "that" is a trap designed by the test maker to cause novice test-takers into evaluating an issue that is actually a non-issue. Not every difference in sentence correction is meaningful.

The basic idea behind this problem is simple. Large modifiers hide what is actually going on. As we read the problem, we should notice the phrase, "the opposite of." This sets up a comparison, and the items within the comparison must be comparable. However, we need to get rid of the modifiers to see the underlying structure. My tutor calls these modifiers "weapons of mass distraction." The comparison is between what bioconservatives predict and what techno-progressives predict. Here is a breakdown of each answer choice, with the large modifying phrases removed to show the structure:

(A) "Bioconservatives...predict the opposite as techno-progressives" (Can't work... we can't compare a prediction to a group)

(B) "Bioconservatives...predict the opposite of what techno-progressives...forecast" (Works! We are now comparing a prediction to a forecast -- two things that are actually comparable. The test maker included the modifiers in this question to make it sound very awkward, but awkward doesn't mean it is grammatically incorrect. "It sounds weird" is not grounds for eliminating an answer.)

(C) "Bioconservatives...predicts the opposite of techno-progressives" (Again, fails with the comparison. We also have a subject-verb agreement issue here, but at this point, two wrongs don't make a right.)

(D) "Bioconservatives...predict the opposite of believing that" (Again, the comparison issue...)

(E) "Bioconservatives...predict the opposite of techno-progressives" (Once again, we can't compare the verb "predict" to a noun, "techno-progressives.")

Anyone who misses this question is missing the comparison issue (or is getting lost in the modifiers)

B) a group who believes that technological innovation threatens the existing social order, predict the opposite of what techno-progressive, who believe that, when properly regulated, technology can empower and emancipate, forecast

You are dead right that there is a comparison issue in choices A,C,D,E.

but dont you think that in choice B , subject 'techno-progressive' should be plural ?

techno-progressives forecast makes more sense !!

Bioconservatives, a group who believes that technological innovation threatens the existing social order, predict the opposite

Singular to Plural

Can someone explain this variation ?