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After several years of rapid growth

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After several years of rapid growth

by kvcpk » Mon Aug 23, 2010 3:37 am
After several years of rapid growth, the health care company became one of the largest health care providers in the metropolitan area, while it then proved unable to handle the increase in business, falling months behind in its payment to doctors and hospitals.
A. while it then proved unable to handle the increase in business, falling months
behind in its payment to
B. while it then proved unable to handle the increase in business and fell months
behind in its payment to
C. but then it proved unable to handle the increase in business, falling months behind
in its paying
D. but then proving unable to handle the increase in business, falling months behind
in paying
E. but then proved unable to handle the increase in business, falling months behind
in paying

Source: GMATPREP

Please provide detailed explanations.
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by paes » Mon Aug 23, 2010 3:59 am
IMO C

A, B : usage of while is wrong.
while is used to show 'same time'

D : verb is missing

tough between C and E

(i) because we are putting comma after area [ ...area, ... ]
so we should repeat the subject 'it' for clarity.

So selected C over E.

(ii) Another reason :

its is required
its paying : makes sense [ possessive + gerund ]
only paying doesn't make sense here.
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by clock60 » Mon Aug 23, 2010 4:38 am
between A and C
and finally C
while in A is really ambiguous, but it has payments to
but in C in its paying doctors..also does not look perfect
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by ankurmit » Mon Aug 23, 2010 4:49 am
Same here confused between C and E.

Finally I will go with C
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by clock60 » Mon Aug 23, 2010 5:53 am
guys to me E is wrong,because of the comma

the company became......, but then proved....
two || words must be connected only with conjunction, here-but
the company became but then proved- is right
after comma we need independent clause with subject and verb
the company became, but it then proved.... is also right
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by selango » Mon Aug 23, 2010 6:57 am
IMO E is correct one.
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by scorpionz » Mon Aug 23, 2010 8:02 am
IMO: E

What's the OA?
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by FightWithGMAT » Mon Aug 23, 2010 8:02 am
kvcpk wrote:After several years of rapid growth, the health care company became one of the largest health care providers in the metropolitan area, while it then proved unable to handle the increase in business, falling months behind in its payment to doctors and hospitals.
A. while it then proved unable to handle the increase in business, falling months
behind in its payment to
B. while it then proved unable to handle the increase in business and fell months
behind in its payment to
C. but then it proved unable to handle the increase in business, falling months behind
in its paying
D. but then proving unable to handle the increase in business, falling months behind
in paying
E. but then proved unable to handle the increase in business, falling months behind
in paying

Source: GMATPREP

Please provide detailed explanations.
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by paes » Mon Aug 23, 2010 8:19 am
OA is E, from above post.

But no convincing answer why E is better than C.
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by kvcpk » Mon Aug 23, 2010 8:53 am
OA is E.

I had no clue how to approach it.

Request detailed explanation.
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by scorpionz » Mon Aug 23, 2010 10:30 am
kvcpk wrote:OA is E.

I had no clue how to approach it.

Request detailed explanation.
Well I don't really have a "formal" explanation, but I'll just pen down my logic for selecting E.

A, B and D are quite plainly incorrect. A and B use "while" and D is illogically constructed. The only confusion was between E & C.

I chose to go with E over C because "falling months behind in its paying " seems incorrect to me. My understanding is that, a possessive pronoun can be followed by a noun, gerund or a verb (which is not in the verb-ing form). In C, "paying" is not a gerund but rather a verb in the verb-ing form and this makes it incorrect.

Can't point you to any source for the above info. It's just the way we were taught grammar as kids... :)

Had option C been "falling months behind in its payment to..." as it is mentioned in the original sentence, I would have certainly chosen C over E.

Within the given options "falling months behind in paying" as mentioned in E is more logical and hence the correct option.

Feel free to correct me if you think I'm wrong...

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by tomada » Mon Aug 23, 2010 12:42 pm
I'm nobody special, but I think scorpionz' explanation is very good. I also happen to agree with he: E.
scorpionz wrote:
kvcpk wrote:OA is E.

I had no clue how to approach it.

Request detailed explanation.
Well I don't really have a "formal" explanation, but I'll just pen down my logic for selecting E.

A, B and D are quite plainly incorrect. A and B use "while" and D is illogically constructed. The only confusion was between E & C.

I chose to go with E over C because "falling months behind in its paying " seems incorrect to me. My understanding is that, a possessive pronoun can be followed by a noun, gerund or a verb (which is not in the verb-ing form). In C, "paying" is not a gerund but rather a verb in the verb-ing form and this makes it incorrect.

Can't point you to any source for the above info. It's just the way we were taught grammar as kids... :)

Had option C been "falling months behind in its payment to..." as it is mentioned in the original sentence, I would have certainly chosen C over E.

Within the given options "falling months behind in paying" as mentioned in E is more logical and hence the correct option.

Feel free to correct me if you think I'm wrong...

Cheers!!
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by GMATGuruNY » Mon Aug 23, 2010 1:56 pm
kvcpk wrote:After several years of rapid growth, the health care company became one of the largest health care providers in the metropolitan area, while it then proved unable to handle the increase in business, falling months behind in its payment to doctors and hospitals.
A. while it then proved unable to handle the increase in business, falling months
behind in its payment to
B. while it then proved unable to handle the increase in business and fell months
behind in its payment to
C. but then it proved unable to handle the increase in business, falling months behind
in its paying
D. but then proving unable to handle the increase in business, falling months behind
in paying
E. but then proved unable to handle the increase in business, falling months behind
in paying

Source: GMATPREP

Please provide detailed explanations.
Eliminate A and B because while doesn't imply contrast.

Eliminate D because proving needs to be in the same tense as became.

Eliminate C because the pronoun it could be referring either to the health care company or to the metropolitan area, since either could have proved unable to handle the increase in business. If it's not crystal clear which noun is being replaced by a pronoun, eliminate the answer choice. So C is out.

The correct answer is E.

I received a PM asking me to discuss the comma before the conjunction but. The GMAT doesn't really test punctuation. Look for better reasons to eliminate answer choices.
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by paes » Mon Aug 23, 2010 7:52 pm
Thanks Guru,

I agree that 'comma + but' usage is not a valid rule to eliminate an answer choice.

But usage of 'it' in C is looking quiet clear. Both 'it' and 'health care company' are working as a subject of the sentence.
Also, many times I have seen that pronoun ambiguity is not a must rule to eliminate any choice.

Keeping above in mind,

the next difference between C and E is
C : ...its paying doctors and hospitals.
E : ... paying doctors and hospitals.

Can you please put some light on the above usage.
Whether both are correct or only E is correct.

I thought C as : possessive + gerund [its + paying ] -> correct usage.
Is there anything wrong with my thinking here ?
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by GMATGuruNY » Tue Aug 24, 2010 3:06 am
paes wrote:Thanks Guru,

I agree that 'comma + but' usage is not a valid rule to eliminate an answer choice.

But usage of 'it' in C is looking quiet clear. Both 'it' and 'health care company' are working as a subject of the sentence.
Also, many times I have seen that pronoun ambiguity is not a must rule to eliminate any choice.

Keeping above in mind,

the next difference between C and E is
C : ...its paying doctors and hospitals.
E : ... paying doctors and hospitals.

Can you please put some light on the above usage.
Whether both are correct or only E is correct.

I thought C as : possessive + gerund [its + paying ] -> correct usage.
Is there anything wrong with my thinking here ?
Remember that our job is to pick not the correct answer choice but the best answer choice. The issue is not whether C is wrong but whether E is better. The pronouns it and its in C are not needed; they make the sentence longer and less clear. If two answer choices both seem correct but one is more concise, we should eliminate the longer answer choice and choose the shorter one.
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