Sentence Correction

In recent years cattle breeders have increasingly used crossbreeding, in part that their steers should acquire certain characteristics and partly because crossbreeding is said to provide hybrid vigor.
(A) in part that their steers should acquire certain characteristics
(B) in part for the acquisition of certain characteristics in their steers
(C) partly because of their steers acquiring certain characteristics
(D) partly because certain characteristics should be acquired by their steers
(E) partly to acquire certain characteristics in their steers

OA: E

hi experts,
please share your analysis on C,D,E...completely lost with this sc.

GMATGuruNY wrote: C: partly because of their steers
Here, the implication is that the use of crossbreeding is caused by the STEERS themselves.
This meaning is nonsensical.
Eliminate C.

apart from what you mentioned above, please let me know whether this is also an error in C!

grammatically,"because + prepositional phrase" is NOT parallel to "because + clause". right ?

GMATGuruNY wrote:D: partly because certain characteristics should be acquired
Here, the usage of should implies that certain characteristics have a DUTY to be acquired and that this duty CAUSES the use of crossbreeding.
This meaning is nonsensical.
Eliminate D.

doesn't D mean that steers should do X because "characteristics should be acquired by steers" implies steers are the doer of the action acquire , I think.

so,any form of DUTY that attributes to steers,causing the use of crossbreeding is nonsensical. steers can't have any DUTY - hence D is wrong! am I correct ?

GMATGuruNY wrote:

ngk4mba3236 wrote:In recent years cattle breeders have increasingly used crossbreeding, in part that their steers should acquire certain characteristics and partly because crossbreeding is said to provide hybrid vigor.
(A) in part that their steers should acquire certain characteristics
(B) in part for the acquisition of certain characteristics in their steers
(C) partly because of their steers acquiring certain characteristics
(D) partly because certain characteristics should be acquired by their steers
(E) partly to acquire certain characteristics in their steers

C: partly because of their steers
Here, the implication is that the use of crossbreeding is caused by the STEERS themselves.
This meaning is nonsensical.
Eliminate C.
.

I read somewhere in the forum that preposition noun verbing is incorrect?
Can it also be applied, apart from errors you have pointed out, in C to cross it out?

aflaam wrote: I read somewhere in the forum that preposition noun verbing is incorrect?

PREPOSITION + NOUN + VERBing is a valid construction.
SC26 in the OG12:
over a period beginning a few years before Susan's marriage
Here, the portion in red = PREPOSITION (over) + NOUN (a period) + VERBing (beginning).

GMATGuruNY wrote: By extension, the GMAT may consider because + of + NOUN (a non-clause) parallel with because + SUBJECT + VERB (a clause).

is this pretty common occurrence on GMAT or rare to see ?

any such official instance to cite offhand ?

GMATGuruNY wrote:

GMATGuruNY wrote:D: partly because certain characteristics should be acquired
Here, the usage of should implies that certain characteristics have a DUTY to be acquired and that this duty CAUSES the use of crossbreeding.
This meaning is nonsensical.
Eliminate D.

doesn't D mean that steers should do X because "characteristics should be acquired by steers" implies steers are the doer of the action acquire , I think.

so,any form of DUTY that attributes to steers,causing the use of crossbreeding is nonsensical. steers can't have any DUTY - hence D is wrong! am I correct ?

D: Characteristics should be acquired by their steers.
Here, the subject of should is not steers but characteristics.
The implication is that CHARACTERISTICS should do something.
What should characteristics do?
They SHOULD BE ACQUIRED.
by their steers serves to express HOW the characteristics are to be acquired.

Consider an analogous case:
Characteristics should be acquired every month.
As in D, the implication here is that CHARACTERISTICS have a duty to be acquired, with every month serving to express WHEN the the characteristics are to be acquired.

though I understand your explanation above, slight doubt remains.

in construction such as X does Y ---> in passive voice, Y is done by X.
so in passive voice, although subject and object change their places mutually, the implied doer of the "verb" remains the original subject (X) of the sentence in active voice.

another example: coming fifa world cup should be won by Brazil ---> that means, Brazil should win the coming fifa world cup. ---> doer of the "verb - win" should be Brazil in any case.

correct me please if wrong! (from this logic I said that steers are the actual doer of the action acquire -- although this is also nonsensical)

gmatguru,
any thoughts on these concerns ? curious to know your thoughts on the above doubts!

thank you!

ngk4mba3236 wrote:

GMATGuruNY wrote: By extension, the GMAT may consider because + of + NOUN (a non-clause) parallel with because + SUBJECT + VERB (a clause).

is this pretty common occurrence on GMAT or rare to see ?

any such official instance to cite offhand ?

An OA in GMATPrep employs the following construction:
The average tripled as a result of improvements and because coal replaced charcoal.
Here, as a result of improvements (a non-clause) is considered parallel with because coal replace charcoal (a clause) because both are ADVERBS serving to express WHY the average TRIPLED.

The prevalence of this sort of parallelism is irrelevant.
What matters is that this sort of parallelism is considered CORRECT.

though I understand your explanation above, slight doubt remains.

in construction such as X does Y ---> in passive voice, Y is done by X.
so in passive voice, although subject and object change their places mutually, the implied doer of the "verb" remains the original subject (X) of the sentence in active voice.

another example: coming fifa world cup should be won by Brazil ---> that means, Brazil should win the coming fifa world cup. ---> doer of the "verb - win" should be Brazil in any case.

correct me please if wrong! (from this logic I said that steers are the actual doer of the action acquire -- although this is also nonsensical)

Case 1: Steers should acquire characteristics.
Case 2: Characteristics should be acquired by steers.

While the action in each case is the same, Cases 1 and 2 express different recommendations.
In Case 1, a recommendation is offered with regard to STEERS (they should acquire characteristics).
In Case 2, a recommendation is offered with regard to CHARACTERISTICS (they should be acquired by a certain type of animal).

Case 1: Brazil should win the World Cup.
Case 2: The World Cup should be won by Brazil.

While the action in each case is the same, Cases 1 and 2 express different recommendations.
In Case 1, a recommendation is offered with regard to BRAZIL (it should win the World Cup).
In Case 2, a recommendation is offered with regard to THE WORLD CUP (it should be won by a particular country).

Another example:
The role should be played by a very tall actress.
Here, a recommendation is offered with regard to THE ROLE (it should be played by a certain type of actress).
No recommendation is offered about very tall actresses.

Choice E is best; it best indicates purpose for crossbreeding-- partly to acquire. In A, in part that does not grammatically connect the underlined portion to the first part of the sentence (the independent clause). In both A and B, in part is not parallel with and partly in the nonunderlined portion. Choice C causes a misreading, suggesting that the steers' acquisition has caused the crossbreeding. D awkwardly and illogically shifts to the passive voice: certain characteristics should be acquired by their steers; the steers, however, are not agents in the acquisition.

ngk4mba3236 wrote:In recent years cattle breeders have increasingly used crossbreeding, in part that their steers should acquire certain characteristics and partly because crossbreeding is said to provide hybrid vigor.
(A) in part that their steers should acquire certain characteristics
(B) in part for the acquisition of certain characteristics in their steers
(C) partly because of their steers acquiring certain characteristics
(D) partly because certain characteristics should be acquired by their steers
(E) partly to acquire certain characteristics in their steers

OA: E

hi experts,
please share your analysis on C,D,E...completely lost with this sc.

in choice e, the breeder acquire the certain characteristics. in d, steers acquire. i think the intended meaning is choice e.

but this point is hard. i dont see somthing illogic in choice d.