Please help - When presented with only circumstantial eviden

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vinni.k: Master | Next Rank: 500 Posts; Posts: 421; Joined: Sun Apr 17, 2011 4:27 amFollowed by: 2 members; Location: India; Thanked: 6 times; GMAT Score:620

by vinni.k » Mon Aug 19, 2013 11:11 am

When presented with only circumstantial evidence, a juror tends to decide a case according to his or her gut instinct, which are not formally sanctioned or prohibited means of reaching a verdict.

(A)which are not formally
(B)which are not a formally
(C)which is not a formally
(D)which is formally not a
(E)which is not formally

OA is C

The two choices, C and E, in this question are very confusing, and after reading so many posts about these two choices, i have become more confused. What exactly is the difference between C and E? Is it an idiom or something else. I really need expert advice on C and E.

Thanks & Regards
Vinni

Source: Beat The GMAT — Sentence Correction | Mon Aug 19, 2013 11:11 am

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by [email protected] » Mon Aug 19, 2013 1:09 pm

Hi vinni.k

To correctly answer this SC, you'll need to notice 3 things:

1) "gut instinct" is a singular noun, so we need the verb "is" Eliminate A and B
2) Read to the end of the sentence and you'll see that using "gut instinct" is A MEANS of reaching a verdict, so we need the "...a..." somewhere in the sentence. Eliminate E
3) The phrase "which is formally not a" sounds clunky. Eliminate D

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tarik: Senior | Next Rank: 100 Posts; Posts: 45; Joined: Tue May 21, 2013 10:22 am

by tarik » Tue Aug 20, 2013 2:41 pm

I chose E for this question. I was confused about answers C and E.

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[email protected]: Elite Legendary Member; Posts: 10391; Joined: Sun Jun 23, 2013 6:38 pmFollowed by: 511 members; Location: Palo Alto, CA; Thanked: 2867 times; GMAT Score:800

by [email protected] » Tue Aug 20, 2013 4:36 pm

Hi tarik,

The Sentence refers to "gut instinct" as A MEANS of reaching a verdict. The word "a" needs to be in the sentence to properly describe "gut instinct." Since answer E doesn't have "a", it's wrong.

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Rich

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