2015 OG SC 68

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diegocml: Senior | Next Rank: 100 Posts; Posts: 67; Joined: Tue Mar 15, 2016 10:35 am; Thanked: 7 times; GMAT Score:410

by diegocml » Sun Apr 17, 2016 5:02 am

Outlining his strategy for nursing the troubled conglomerate back to health, the chief executive's plans were announced on Wednesday for cutting the company's huge debt by selling nearly $12 billion in assets over the next 18 months.

(A) executive's plans were announced on Wednesday for cutting the company's huge debt by selling nearly $12 billion in assets over the next 18 months
(B) executive's plans, which are to cut the company's huge debt by selling nearly $12 billion in assets over the next 18 months, were announced on Wednesday
(C) executive's plans for cutting the company's huge debt by selling nearly $12 billion in assets over the next 18 months were announced on Wednesday
(D) executive announced plans Wednesday to cut the company's huge debt by selling nearly $12 billion in assets over the next 18 months
(E) executive announced plans Wednesday that are to cut the company's huge debt by selling nearly $12 billion in assets over the next 18 months

I don't understand why the correct answer is D since it lacks the preposition 'on' before Wednesday. Does it mean that the name of the plan is Wednesday? Apologies if this is a silly question

Thank you for your help and time.
Cheers,

Diego

1st GMAT attemp: 410 (Q18 V27)
2nd GMAT attemp: 490 (Q35 V23)

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Source: Beat The GMAT — Sentence Correction | Sun Apr 17, 2016 5:02 am

DavidG@VeritasPrep: Legendary Member; Posts: 2663; Joined: Wed Jan 14, 2015 8:25 amFollowed by: 128 members; Location: Boston, MA; Thanked: 1153 times; GMAT Score:770

by DavidG@VeritasPrep » Sun Apr 17, 2016 7:24 am

diegocml wrote:Outlining his strategy for nursing the troubled conglomerate back to health, the chief executive's plans were announced on Wednesday for cutting the company's huge debt by selling nearly $12 billion in assets over the next 18 months.

(A) executive's plans were announced on Wednesday for cutting the company's huge debt by selling nearly $12 billion in assets over the next 18 months
(B) executive's plans, which are to cut the company's huge debt by selling nearly $12 billion in assets over the next 18 months, were announced on Wednesday
(C) executive's plans for cutting the company's huge debt by selling nearly $12 billion in assets over the next 18 months were announced on Wednesday
(D) executive announced plans Wednesday to cut the company's huge debt by selling nearly $12 billion in assets over the next 18 months
(E) executive announced plans Wednesday that are to cut the company's huge debt by selling nearly $12 billion in assets over the next 18 months

I don't understand why the correct answer is D since it lacks the preposition 'on' before Wednesday. Does it mean that the name of the plan is Wednesday? Apologies if this is a silly question

Thank you for your help and time.
Cheers,

Not a silly question at all. It's not as though there's an official rule that governs the usage of prepositions and days of the week. So far as I can tell, there's no major difference in the meaning of I'm going to the game on Wednesday and I'm going to the game Wednesday, (though I suppose one could argue that the first construction emphasizes that the game is on Wednesday and the second emphasizes that Wednesday is the day I'm going to the game, but it's hard to imagine any plausible scenario in which the GMAT would ask you to differentiate between the two.)

So in D, Wednesday is simply the day when the executive announced his plans. The bigger issue is that if you thought "on Wednesday" was the preferred construction, you should have seen that A, B, and C, all make it seem as though it's the "executive's plans" that are "outlining his strategy," as opposed to the executive himself. It's important to remember that logic and meaning often loom much larger than grammatical minutia on SC problems.

Last edited by DavidG@VeritasPrep on Sun Apr 17, 2016 7:56 am, edited 1 time in total.

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diegocml: Senior | Next Rank: 100 Posts; Posts: 67; Joined: Tue Mar 15, 2016 10:35 am; Thanked: 7 times; GMAT Score:410

by diegocml » Sun Apr 17, 2016 7:34 am

It's important to remember that logic and meaning often loom much larger than grammatical minutia on SC problems.

Thank you David! What you mentioned above is a great advice. I'll keep it in mind as I progress on SC.

Cheer,

Diego

1st GMAT attemp: 410 (Q18 V27)
2nd GMAT attemp: 490 (Q35 V23)

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rsarashi: Master | Next Rank: 500 Posts; Posts: 186; Joined: Sat Dec 24, 2016 12:38 amFollowed by: 3 members; Thanked: 5 times

by rsarashi » Wed May 10, 2017 10:10 am

(E) executive announced plans Wednesday that are to cut the company's huge debt by selling nearly $12 billion in assets over the next 18 months

Hi Experts ,

Everything is cleared. Just wanted to know that why E is incorrect?

Please explain.

Thanks.

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Ali Tariq: GMAT Instructor; Posts: 272; Joined: Wed Nov 09, 2016 11:11 amFollowed by: 204 members; Location: Lahore, Pakistan; Thanked: 87 times

by Ali Tariq » Thu May 11, 2017 1:24 am

rsarashi wrote:
Just wanted to know that why E is incorrect?

.

(D) executive announced plans Wednesday to cut the company's huge debt by selling nearly $12 billion in assets over the next 18 months
(E) executive announced plans Wednesday that are to cut the company's huge debt by selling nearly $12 billion in assets over the next 18 months

D says that using plans, debt can be cut.
E says that plans themselves can cut the debt.

OR

In D, plans are the means.
In E, plans is the subject.

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Ali Tariq: GMAT Instructor; Posts: 272; Joined: Wed Nov 09, 2016 11:11 amFollowed by: 204 members; Location: Lahore, Pakistan; Thanked: 87 times

by Ali Tariq » Thu May 11, 2017 1:35 am

This official SC is the reminder of the fact that infinitive vs that clause is an important decision point.

Following is a QP SC that tests the same distinction-

The Coast guard is conducting tests to see whether pigeons can be trained to help find survivors of wrecks at sea.

(A) to see whether pigeons can be trained to help find
(B) to see whether pigeons can be trained as help to find
(C) to see if pigeons can be trained for helping to find
(D) that see if pigeons are able to be trained in helping to find
(E) that see whether pigeons are able to be trained for help in finding
OA A

D and E say that tests see
i.e,tests( noun) are the subject of see(verb)--> illogical

OR

In A,B,andC, tests are the means.
In D and E, tests are the subject.

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Ali Tariq: GMAT Instructor; Posts: 272; Joined: Wed Nov 09, 2016 11:11 amFollowed by: 204 members; Location: Lahore, Pakistan; Thanked: 87 times

by Ali Tariq » Thu May 11, 2017 1:45 am

Another official SC with same split-

In the mid-1970's, since birds were overcome by pollution, and routinely falling from the sky above Los Angeles freeways, this prompted officials in California to devise a plan that reduced automobile emissions.
A. since birds were overcome by pollution, and routinely falling from the sky above Los Angeles freeways, this prompted officials in California to devise a plan that reduced
B. since birds that had been overcome by pollution were routinely falling from the sky above Los Angeles freeways, it prompted officials in California to devise a plan that would reduce
C. birds had been overcome by pollution and routinely fell from the sky above Los Angeles freeways, prompting officials in California to devise a plan that reduced
D. birds overcome by pollution routinely fell from the sky above Los Angeles freeways, prompting officials in California to devise a plan to reduce
E. birds overcome by pollution and routinely falling from the sky above Los Angeles freeways were prompting officials in California to devise a plan to reduce

OA : D

In A,B,andC, plans are the subject.
In D and E, plans are means to reduce emission.

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