Sentence Correction

Hi, there. I'm happy to help with this.

"...candidates ... often make statements about an opponent that they may not think ____ true."

So, first of all, the pronoun "that" refers to "statements" (plural), so it needs to take a plural verb. That's why (A) + (E) are wrong.

Between (B) and (C), it's a matter of idiom.

Suppose someone asks me about such-and-such rumor. Consider these responses:
(1) I think [that] the rumor is true.
(2) I think the rumor to be true.
The first is very natural, the correct idiom. The second is awkward, less smooth --- typical of the sound of something not idiomatically correct. The verb "think" does not take an infinitive; rather, it naturally takes a "that" clause with a subject & verb.

This is why we need the ordinary verb "are" in (B), rather than the infinitive in (C). Does this make sense?

Let me know if you have any further questions.

Mike

ihatemaths wrote:how good it is to say
1.I think the rumours to be true
2.I think the rumours are true.

Mike@Magoosh wrote:Suppose someone asks me about such-and-such rumor. Consider these responses:
(1) I think [that] the rumor is true.
(2) I think the rumor to be true.
The first is very natural, the correct idiom. The second is awkward, less smooth --- typical of the sound of something not idiomatically correct. The verb "think" does not take an infinitive; rather, it naturally takes a "that" clause with a subject & verb.

vietmoi999 wrote:think of something as true

is wrong idiom. that is why D is wrong? is that right.

please, tell me all the idioms with the verb "thinks"

Dear Vietmoi,
That's an excellent question, and I'm happy to respond.
First of all, here's a free idiom ebook,
https://magoosh.com/gmat/2013/gmat-idiom-ebook/

The idioms with the verb "to think". The primary idiom, the one that appears most frequently on the GMAT, is
think that ...
In this idiom, the word "that" opens a subordinate clause, so it has to be followed by a full [noun]+[verb] structure.

You are correct, the idiom "to think of X as Y" is also correct, but less common on the GMAT. This has more the connotation of something less seriously held, more of a personal opinion. This is something very subtle. Consider these two statements:
(a) I think that Casablanca is the greatest movie of all time.
(b) I think of Casablanca as the greatest movie of all time.
Both are grammatically and idiomatically correct. They mean almost exactly the same thing. There is a very subtle difference in connotation. For (a), it sounds as if I am ready to present a formal argument supporting my point --- it's something I believe, and I think others should believe it as well. For (b), it sounds more like a purely personal opinion --- yes, I believe this, but I really have no sound reason other than my tastes, and I couldn't really convince anyone else. Statement (a) is a little more definite, and statement (b) is a little more tentative, but again, it's a very subtle difference.

Within this context,
... make statements about an opponent that they may not think are true
is more definitive. The implication is that a politician should say only facts, that is, only things that he thinks are true. Trustworthy, definitive, and clear facts.
By contrast,
... make statements about an opponent that they may not think of as true
is more wishy-washy. It sounds as though we want a politician to say things that he thinks of as true --- i.e., his unsupported opinions, his fantasies, his biases, etc. That's not the sense of the sentence. We don't want the politicians biases --- we want information that we can trust as factual.

Does all this make sense?
Mike

shobhitk wrote:Hi Mike,
I have a quick question on the above mentioned SC problem.
While solving it, I got confused thinking that "that" refers to opponent?
Don't you think there is pronoun ambiguity? I'm pretty sure I'm not thinking straight on this one.
Can you help me clarify the rule?
Thanks!!

Dear shobhitk,
I'm happy to help.

This sentence is tricky, but there is no pronoun ambiguity. Here's the OA again:
A recent poll of elected officials suggests that candidates, when in the midst of a tough campaign, often make statements about an opponent that they may not think are true.

The phrase "about an opponent" is what is known in grammar as a vital noun modifier. See:
https://magoosh.com/gmat/2012/gmat-gramm ... modifiers/

A vital noun modifier can come between a noun and a non-vital modifier. That is why the noun "statements" does not have to touch its modifier, "that they may not think are true."

Does this make sense?
Mike