Abstract noun vs Concrete noun. Plz help

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The computer company has announced that it will purchase the color-printing division of a rival company for $950 million, which is part of a deal that will make it the largest manufacturer in the office color-printing market.
A) million, which is part of a deal that will make
B) million, a part of a deal that makes
C) million, a part of a deal making
D) million as a part of a deal to make
E) million as part of a deal that will make

OA: E
Source: verbal 2nd

I have a question regarding the noun modifier. How come " a part of a deal" ( choice B) is a concrete noun therefore can not stand for the whole preceding clause?

You can't touch, cant' feel a deal right ?
Plz help

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by Bill@VeritasPrep » Wed Feb 26, 2014 12:38 pm
You can see a deal, though. It is a tangible transaction.

Abstract nouns are for things that fall outside of sight, touch, taste, feeling, and sound. Emotions and moods are classic examples.
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by dominhtri1995 » Thu Feb 27, 2014 3:22 am
Hi Bill
Your examples : emotions and moods.
I think we can feel the emotion.
how can it be an abstract noun?

Regard,

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by GMATGuruNY » Thu Feb 27, 2014 4:06 am
dominhtri1995 wrote:The computer company has announced that it will purchase the color-printing division of a rival company for $950 million, which is part of a deal that will make it the largest manufacturer in the office color-printing market.
A) million, which is part of a deal that will make
B) million, a part of a deal that makes
C) million, a part of a deal making
D) million as a part of a deal to make
E) million as part of a deal that will make

OA: E
Source: verbal 2nd

I have a question regarding the noun modifier. How come " a part of a deal" ( choice B) is a concrete noun therefore can not stand for the whole preceding clause?

You can't touch, cant' feel a deal right ?
Plz help
A SUMMATIVE MODIFIER is an ABSTRACT NOUN that serves to SUM UP the preceding clause.
State lawmakers are considering a law that would allow children as young as seven whose parents are divorced to choose the parent with whom they will live, A POLICY that would likely dissuade those parents from disciplining or punishing their children.
Here, there is no specific noun that could serve as referent for A POLICY.
Thus, it is crystal clear that a policy must be serving as a SUMMATIVE MODIFIER, whose purpose is to SUM UP the ENTIRE PRECEDING CLAUSE.

B: The computer company has announced that it will purchase the color-printing division of a rival company for $950 MILLION, A PART OF A DEAL
Here, it is not crystal clear whether a part of a deal refers to the entire preceding clause or ONLY to $950 million (the immediately preceding noun).
Since the referent for a part is unclear, eliminate B.
Last edited by GMATGuruNY on Mon Apr 04, 2016 3:34 am, edited 1 time in total.
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by Bill@VeritasPrep » Thu Feb 27, 2014 10:24 am
dominhtri1995 wrote:Hi Bill
Your examples : emotions and moods.
I think we can feel the emotion.
how can it be an abstract noun?

Regard,
Ah, you're right. I meant feeling in the sense of touch. That wasn't clear.
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by [email protected] » Thu Feb 27, 2014 8:20 pm
Hi dominhtri1995,

This SC can be solved with parallelism and a removing redundancy.

1) Parallelism - The first half of the sentence tells us "The computer company.....WILL purchase...."; we need to second half of the sentence (which also refers to something that will happen in the future) to match the first. The phrase "...WILL make..." is the perfect match. Eliminate B, C and D.

2) Redundancy - As a general rule, your sentence should not use multiple words that mean the same thing. For example, the phrases "combined together" and "new initiative" are redundant because both words in each phrase mean the same thing. The phrase "purchase the ...division ...part of a deal..." would not need the words "which is..." - it would be redundant. Eliminate A.

Final Answer: E

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by ngk4mba3236 » Sun Apr 03, 2016 10:03 am
GMATGuruNY wrote: B: The computer company has announced that it will purchase the color-printing division of a rival company for $950 MILLION, A PART OF A DEAL that will make it the largest manufacturer.
hi gmatguru,
option B is actually given as : million, a part of a deal that makes.

so,the change of tense -- makes -- is NOT appropriate from the meaning perspective, i think. right ?

thoughts please ?

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by GMATGuruNY » Mon Apr 04, 2016 3:38 am
ngk4mba3236 wrote:
GMATGuruNY wrote: B: The computer company has announced that it will purchase the color-printing division of a rival company for $950 million, a part of a deal that makes it the largest manufacturer.
the change of tense -- makes -- is NOT appropriate from the meaning perspective, i think. right ?

thoughts please ?
Correct.
Whereas the usage of will purchase (future) implies a deal that will happen IN THE FUTURE, the usage of makes (present) implies a deal that is happening NOW.
Since the two tenses convey contradictory meanings, eliminate B.
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