GMATPrep question. Stacey, Ron, Testluv,help

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GMATPrep question. Stacey, Ron, Testluv,help

by tanviet » Tue Dec 07, 2010 4:00 am
The success of the program to eradicate smallpox has stimulated experts to pursue //what they had not previously considered possible - better control, if not eradication, of the other infections such as// measles and yaws.

1. what they had not previously considered possible - better control, if not eradication, of the other infections such as
2. what they had not previously considered possible - better control, if not eradication, of the other infections like
3. something they had not previously considered possible - better control, if not eradication, of such infections as
4. something had not considered a previous possibility- better control, and perhaps eradication, of other infections such as
5. the possibility of what they had not previously considered - better control and possibly eradication of infections like

Source: GMAT Prep.


THIS IS POSTED BUT NOT DISCUSSED PROPERLY. This is from good source. we have to study it. [/u]

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by Geva@EconomistGMAT » Tue Dec 07, 2010 5:39 am
I'm not Stacey, Ron, or Testluv, but I may be able to help.

I'll start by saying that I doubt this is from GMATPREP - it doesn't have the polished, clear cut feel of GMPREP questions. But here's my take on the elimination process:

"like" cannot be used to say "such as" - can only be used to compare things (this table is like that table), or as a verb (I like GMAT). Eliminate B and E.

D is eliminated by the missing pronoun "they", leaving the verb "had not considered" without a subject (is this a typo? seems unlike GMPREP to put this fairly obvious error)

Down to A and C. What I don't like about A is the "of the other infections" - the article "the" defines a specific, known group, much like "this" or "these" (think of the difference between "tables are green" and "the tables are green" to see what I mean) indicating that the other infections are part of a known, closed list, perhaps containing all infections - which doesn't make much sense, or at least cannot be determined form a single sentence without context.

I believe that the answer is C - C is preferable because it doesn't limit which infections can be used, but merely lists two examples: measles and yaw.
duongthang wrote:The success of the program to eradicate smallpox has stimulated experts to pursue //what they had not previously considered possible - better control, if not eradication, of the other infections such as// measles and yaws.

1. what they had not previously considered possible - better control, if not eradication, of the other infections such as
2. what they had not previously considered possible - better control, if not eradication, of the other infections like
3. something they had not previously considered possible - better control, if not eradication, of such infections as
4. something had not considered a previous possibility- better control, and perhaps eradication, of other infections such as
5. the possibility of what they had not previously considered - better control and possibly eradication of infections like

Source: GMAT Prep.


THIS IS POSTED BUT NOT DISCUSSED PROPERLY. This is from good source. we have to study it. [/u]
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by winner's attitude » Tue Dec 07, 2010 6:51 am
Geva@MasterGMAT wrote:I'm not Stacey, Ron, or Testluv, but I may be able to help.

I'll start by saying that I doubt this is from GMATPREP - it doesn't have the polished, clear cut feel of GMPREP questions. But here's my take on the elimination process:

"like" cannot be used to say "such as" - can only be used to compare things (this table is like that table), or as a verb (I like GMAT). Eliminate B and E.

D is eliminated by the missing pronoun "they", leaving the verb "had not considered" without a subject (is this a typo? seems unlike GMPREP to put this fairly obvious error)

Down to A and C. What I don't like about A is the "of the other infections" - the article "the" defines a specific, known group, much like "this" or "these" (think of the difference between "tables are green" and "the tables are green" to see what I mean) indicating that the other infections are part of a known, closed list, perhaps containing all infections - which doesn't make much sense, or at least cannot be determined form a single sentence without context.

I believe that the answer is C - C is preferable because it doesn't limit which infections can be used, but merely lists two examples: measles and yaw.
duongthang wrote:The success of the program to eradicate smallpox has stimulated experts to pursue //what they had not previously considered possible - better control, if not eradication, of the other infections such as// measles and yaws.

1. what they had not previously considered possible - better control, if not eradication, of the other infections such as
2. what they had not previously considered possible - better control, if not eradication, of the other infections like
3. something they had not previously considered possible - better control, if not eradication, of such infections as
4. something had not considered a previous possibility- better control, and perhaps eradication, of other infections such as
5. the possibility of what they had not previously considered - better control and possibly eradication of infections like

Source: GMAT Prep.


THIS IS POSTED BUT NOT DISCUSSED PROPERLY. This is from good source. we have to study it. [/u]

Thanks very muc for your responsee, i have one dobubt , can not we make 3/2 split on the basis of usage of 'as' and 'such as' , i mean i narrowed down the choice thinking 'such as' should only be used in place of 'as', because such as is generally used for showing specific examples.

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by Geva@EconomistGMAT » Tue Dec 07, 2010 7:13 am
winner's attitude wrote:

Thanks very muc for your responsee, i have one dobubt , can not we make 3/2 split on the basis of usage of 'as' and 'such as' , i mean i narrowed down the choice thinking 'such as' should only be used in place of 'as', because such as is generally used for showing specific examples.
Note that even the choices using as have "such" in there - it's just not immediately adjacent to "as", and that is acceptable and interchangeable:

I like dark colored ice cream flavors such as chocolate, mocha and fudge.

I like such dark colored ice cream flavors as chocolate, mocha and fudge.
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by nazar7ft » Tue Dec 07, 2010 7:54 am
The success of the program to eradicate smallpox has stimulated experts to pursue what they had not previously considered possible - better control, if not eradication, of the other infections such as measles and yaws.

1. what they had not previously considered possible - better control, if not eradication, of the other infections such as
2. what they had not previously considered possible - better control, if not eradication, of the other infections like
3. something they had not previously considered possible - better control, if not eradication, of such infections as
4. something had not considered a previous possibility- better control, and perhaps eradication, of other infections such as
5. the possibility of what they had not previously considered - better control and possibly eradication of infections like


The Splits:

Such as Vs Like:

Such as:

It is used to introduce example.

Like:

It is used to mean similarity.

-> This rule eliminates B and E.

Consider the skeleton of the sentence:

The success has stimulated experts to pursue what they had not previously considered possible - better control, if not eradication, of the other infections such as measles and yaws.

Fit the option D as follows:

The success has stimulated experts to pursue X had not considered. -Fine.

We need "X + Subject + verb".

We can write the sentence as follows.

The success has stimulated experts to pursue X they had not considered. -Fine.

Another problem with D is "the previous possibility". What does it mean? It means that "X was a previous possibility, and it has no more possibility". It is not the intended meaning of the sentence.
So, D is eliminated.

We are between A and C.

The split is between "the other infections Vs Infections":

A. what they had not previously considered possible - better control, if not eradication, of the other infections such as

In this option, we are giving examples of other infections by using such as, so it means that there could be more infections than just measles and yaws that were earlier considered not possible.

C. something they had not previously considered possible - better control, if not eradication, of such infections as..

=> This option limits the possibility to only measles and yaws.

Two students have requested me to say something about the use of "WHAT"

I have analyzed that "what"has been used correctly in OG and in GMATPREP.

I am giving a list of them.

The following examples are from GMATPEP:

The British sociologist and activist Barbara Wootton once noted as a humorous example of income maldistribution that the elephant that gave rides to children at the Whipsnade Zoo was earning annually exactly what she then earned as director of adult education for London.

What scientists know about dinosaur brains comes from studies of the cranium, the bony house of the brain located in the back of the skull.

The single-family house constructed by the Yana, a Native American people who lived in what is now northern California, was conical in shape, its framework of poles overlaid with slabs of bark, either cedar or pine, and banked with dirt to a height of three to four feet.

Those skeptical of the extent of global warming argue that short-term temperature data are an inadequate means of predicting long-term trends and point out that the scientific community remains divided over whether significant warming will occur and what impact it would have.

Researchers in Germany have unearthed 400,000-year-old wooden spears from what appears to be an ancient lakeshore hunting ground, stunning evidence that human ancestors systematically hunted big game much earlier than believed.
The electronics company has unveiled what it claims is the world's smallest network digital camcorder, which is as long as a handheld computer and weighs less than 11 ounces.

Scientists have found new evidence that people initially register emotions such as sadness or anger in much the same way as they experience heartburn--by monitoring what's going on within their bodies.

A leading figure in the Scottish enlightenment, Adam Smith wrote two major books that are to democratic capitalism what Marx's Das Kapital is to socialism.

The period when the great painted caves at Lascaux and Altamira were occupied by Upper Paleolithic peoples has been established by carbon dating, but what is much more difficult to determine is the use to which primitive peoples put the caves, the reason for their decoration, and the meaning of the magnificently depicted animals.

On August 13, 1868, the warship U. S. S. Wateree, anchored in the harbor of Arica, off the coast of what is now northern Chile, rode on the crest of a tsunami (seismic sea wave) and came to rest in the Atacama Desert, some three miles up the coast and almost two miles inland from its initial anchorage.]

The first trenches cut into a 500-acre site at Tell Hamoukar, Syria, have yielded strong evidence that centrally administered complex societies in northern regions of the Middle East arose simultaneously with but independently of the more celebrated city-states of southern Mesopotamia, in what is now southern Iraq.

The following examples are from Official Guides:

1� The period when the great painted caves at Lascaux and Altamira were occupied by Upper Paleolithic people has been established by carbon-14 dating, but what is much more difficult to determine is the reason for their decoration, the use to which primitive people put the caves, and the meaning of the magnificently depicted animals.

2� Carnivorous mammals can endure what would otherwise be lethal levels of body heat because they have a heat-exchange network that keeps the brain from getting too hot.

3� Scientists have recently discovered what could be the largest and oldest living organism on Earth, a giant fungus that is an interwoven filigree of mushrooms and root like tentacles spawned by a single fertilized spore some 10,000 years ago and extending for more than 30 acres in the soil of a Michigan forest.

4� His studies of ice-polished rocks in his Alpine homeland, far outside the range of present-day glaciers, led Louis Agassiz in 1837 to propose the concept of an age in which great ice sheets existed in what are now temperate areas.

Please analyze the how "what" has been used in the these correct sentences.

Thanks.

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by [email protected] » Thu Dec 22, 2011 11:26 pm
Final solution at one place:

Important: The purpose of this post (and all the other posts by me) is to give a complete solution to all GMAT-Prep Verbal questions at one place. Sometimes students have to wade through dozens of posts to get to the final answer. My posts will give one complete and crisp solution required to arrive at the correct answer by eliminating the wrong one. Some of the content in these posts may have been taken from various other sources (discussion forums).

Researchers in Germany have unearthed 400,000-year-old wooden spears from what it appears was an ancient lakeshore hunting ground as stunning evidence of human ancestors who systematically hunted big game much earlier than believed.
(A) it appears was an ancient lakeshore hunting ground as stunning evidence of human ancestors who
(B) it appears had been an ancient lakeshore hunting ground and is stunning evidence that human ancestors
(C) it appears to have been an ancient lakeshore hunting ground and is stunning evidence that human ancestors
(D) appears to be an ancient lakeshore hunting ground, stunning evidence that human ancestors
(E) appears that it is an ancient lakeshore hunting ground, stunning evidence of human ancestors who

Imagine the sentence:

From what happened yesterday, I have drawn a lesson for life. CORRECT

From what 'it' happened yesterday, I have drawn a lesson for life. WRONG, obviously.

This is a similar construction, so 'it' appears will be wrong. This eliminates A, B, and C.

The use of 'it is' is wrong in E because the entire sentence is a conjecture at best (from available data). 'It is' shows certainty. 'Evidence that' is preferred to 'evidence of' as per the preferences on the GMAT. So E is wrong.

From MGMAT SC Guide:

V-A-N Pattern 2: Prefer a That-Clause (with Verbs) to a Series of Phrases (with Nouns)

Wordy: The hypothesis ABOUT the COMPOSITION OF the universe AS largely dark energy seems strange.

Better: The hypothesis THAT the universe IS largely COMPOSED OF dark energy seems strange.

When you tack a long thought onto a noun, try to put the thought in a That-Clause rather than in a long series of prepositional phrases. A That-Clause starts with the word that and contains a working verb (one that, as is, can be the main verb of a sentence by itself). Is composed is a working verb.

"Idea" nouns, such as hypothesis, idea, or suggestion, lend themselves particularly well to this pattern. Other examples include belief, discovery, evidence, indication, and report. These sorts of nouns are often modified by That-Clauses that contain full sentences:

The BELIEF THAT the Earth is flat is contradicted by EVIDENCE THAT the Earth is round and the DISCOVERY THAT the Earth circles the Sun.

Correct: D
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by [email protected] » Sun Oct 09, 2016 10:15 am
The success of the program to eradicate smallpox has stimulated experts to pursue what they had not previously considered possible - better control, if not eradication, of the other infections such as measles and yaws.

A. what they had not previously considered possible -- better control, if not eradication, of the other infections such as - Again 2 pronouns used back to back. How is this usage correct? Any other errors.

C. something they had not previously considered possible -- better control, if not eradication, of such infections as - How are 2 pronouns used back to back. Is that correct usage? Any other errors.

D. something not considered a previous possibility -- better control and perhaps eradication, of other infections such as - Reasons to eliminate?

E. the possibility of what they had not previously considered possible -- better control and possibly eradication of infections like - This is incorrect option but does the possibility of what.... has a different meaning from what they had not previously considered possible. It seems redundant. Please confirm

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by DavidG@VeritasPrep » Fri Oct 14, 2016 8:24 am
[email protected] wrote:The success of the program to eradicate smallpox has stimulated experts to pursue what they had not previously considered possible - better control, if not eradication, of the other infections such as measles and yaws.

A. what they had not previously considered possible -- better control, if not eradication, of the other infections such as - Again 2 pronouns used back to back. How is this usage correct? Any other errors.
Here's A in its entirety: The success of the program to eradicate smallpox has stimulated experts to pursue what they had not previously considered possible - better control, if not eradication, of the other infections such as measles and yaws.


There's a logic issue here. The phrase "the other infections" implies that measles and yaws are the only other infections in existence.
That's illogical. (And there'd be no reason to introduce measles and yaws with "such as," because in this scenario, the diseases aren't examples of a larger set of conditions, but rather, they'd comprise the entire set of diseases themselves.)


(Another example, if I write "I ordered the steak, and my wife ordered the other item on the menu," then we have a very sad case of a menu that contains only two items. But if I write "I ordered the steak, and my wife ordered another item on the menu," then we (hopefully) have many other items on the menu, aside from the steak.)
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by DavidG@VeritasPrep » Fri Oct 14, 2016 8:33 am
C. something they had not previously considered possible -- better control, if not eradication, of such infections as - How are 2 pronouns used back to back. Is that correct usage? Any other errors.
This is the OA! (So we know this usage must be okay.) Remember, the litmus test with pronouns is clarity - can you tell what the pronouns refer to? And the GMAT allows some flexibility when it comes to ambiguous pronouns. So long as the pronoun has a logical antecedent, the usage is acceptable.

something = better control of infections
they = experts
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by DavidG@VeritasPrep » Fri Oct 14, 2016 8:39 am
D. something not considered a previous possibility -- better control and perhaps eradication, of other infections such as - Reasons to eliminate?
There's a meaning issue here. In the OA we have something they had not previously considered possible. The meaning: they had not, in the past, considered this a possibility, but now they might. Sounds logical

In D we have something not considered a previous possibility. A previous possibility means that something was possible in the past, but now it isn't. This isn't the intended meaning. The writer wishes to convey that the experts hadn't considered the possibility before, not that the experts believe that the possibility itself existed in the past.
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