Sentence Correction

Marconi's conception of the radio was as a substitute for the telephone, a tool for private conversation; instead, it is precisely the opposite, a tool for communicating with a large, public audience.

A. Marconi's conception of the radio was as a substitute for the telephone, a tool for private conversation; instead, it is
B. Marconi conceived of the radio as a substitute for the telephone, a tool for private conversation, but which is
C. Marconi conceived of the radio as a tool for private conversation that could substitute for the telephone; instead, it has become
D. Marconi conceived of the radio to be a tool for private conversation, a substitute for the telephone, which has become
E. Marconi conceived of the radio to be a substitute for the telephone, a tool for private conversation, other than what it is,


a Couple of doubts :
Is 'but which ' allowed as a part of sentence ?

in option C, what 'it' is referring to , generally it has to refer to the subject of the preceding clause, right ?
moreover, in C, ' Marconi conceived of the radio as a tool for private conversation that could substitute for the telephone', Still unsure if ' that' here is referring back to radio

Hi Experts ,

In OA how de we know that IT refers to the Radio? IT can also refers to the Telephone.

Please explain.

Many thanks in advance.

Kavin

Needgmat wrote:Hi Experts ,

In OA how de we know that IT refers to the Radio? IT can also refers to the Telephone.

Please explain.

Many thanks in advance.

Kavin

Logic - the gist of the sentence is that the radio was initially conceived as one thing, but it [the radio] has become something else. Note, also, that every answer choice has some kind of pronoun, so there's no avoiding pronoun usage here, and it surely wouldn't make sense to claim that a telephone is a tool for communicating with a large, public audience!

Logic - the gist of the sentence is that the radio was initially conceived as one thing, but it [the radio] has become something else. Note, also, that every answer choice has some kind of pronoun, so there's no avoiding pronoun usage here, and it surely wouldn't make sense to claim that a telephone is a tool for communicating with a large, public audience!

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Hi DavidG ,

Thank you so much for the explanation. All clear now.

Thanks,

Kavin

Hi Experts ,

Whats wrong in option D?

Thanks..

Hello Everyone!

This is another tricky GMAT question, so let's tackle it one problem at a time. To start, here is the original question, with any major differences between the options highlighted in orange:

Marconi's conception of the radio was as a substitute for the telephone, a tool for private conversation; instead, it is precisely the opposite, a tool for communicating with a large, public audience.

(A) Marconi's conception of the radio was as a substitute for the telephone, a tool for private conversation; instead, it is
(B) Marconi conceived of the radio as a substitute for the telephone, a tool for private conversation, but which is
(C) Marconi conceived of the radio as a tool for private conversation that could substitute for the telephone; instead, it has become
(D) Marconi conceived of the radio to be a tool for private conversation, a substitute for the telephone, which has become
(E) Marconi conceived of the radio to be a substitute for the telephone, a tool for private conversation, other than what it is,

There are a few things we can focus on here:

1. Marconi's conception of / Marconi conceived of (Meaning/Clarity)
2. as / to be (Idiom)
3. Endings (Punctuation/Conjunctions/Meaning)

Since #2 on our list will create an "either/or" split, let's start there. No matter which one we choose, it will eliminate 2-3 options right away. This is an issue of idioms! Here is how this particular idiom works:

conceive X as Y = CORRECT
conceive X to be Y = WRONG

So let's see how each option handles this idiom and eliminate the ones that use the wrong structure:

(A) Marconi's conception of the radio was as a substitute for the telephone, a tool for private conversation; instead, it is --> OK (doesn't use the idiom)
(B) Marconi conceived of the radio as a substitute for the telephone, a tool for private conversation, but which is --> OK
(C) Marconi conceived of the radio as a tool for private conversation that could substitute for the telephone; instead, it has become --> OK
(D) Marconi conceived of the radio to be a tool for private conversation, a substitute for the telephone, which has become --> WRONG
(E) Marconi conceived of the radio to be a substitute for the telephone, a tool for private conversation, other than what it is, --> WRONG

We can eliminate options D & E because they don't use the idiom "conceived X as Y" properly.

Now, let's go back to #1 on our list: Marconi's conception of vs. Marconi conceived of. This is an issue of clarity and meaning, so let's see which one works best:

(A) Marconi's conception of the radio was as a substitute for the telephone, a tool for private conversation; instead, it is

This is INCORRECT because it slightly changes the intended meaning. This sentence says that the conception of the radio is a substitute for the telephone, not the radio itself. Since this isn't as clear as stating that Marconi created the radio, let's rule it out.

(B) Marconi conceived of the radio as a substitute for the telephone, a tool for private conversation, but which is

(C) Marconi conceived of the radio as a tool for private conversation that could substitute for the telephone; instead, it has become

Let's eliminate option A because it changes the intended meaning.

Now that we're left with only 2 options, let's take a look at both options with the non-underlined parts added in and see if we can spot any problems:

(B) Marconi conceived of the radio as a substitute for the telephone, a tool for private conversation, but which is precisely the opposite, a tool for communicating with a large, public audience.

This is INCORRECT because it contains a misleading/misplaced modifier! The phrase "but which is precisely the opposite" SHOULD modify the word "radio." However, the ways this is worded, it actually modifies "telephone," which isn't what we're trying to say is "precisely the opposite" here.

(C) Marconi conceived of the radio as a tool for private conversation that could substitute for the telephone; instead, it has become precisely the opposite, a tool for communicating with a large, public audience.

This is CORRECT! It's clear how this is written that the phrase "it has become precisely the opposite" is referring back to the radio. We also don't have any other issues with meaning, modifiers, or punctuation.


There you have it - option C is the correct choice!


Don't study for the GMAT. Train for it.

What dies "that" refer to in option C?..
I think it can also refer to private conversation.