That educators have not anticipated the impact of microcompu

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aspirant2011: Legendary Member; Posts: 1574; Joined: Fri Jan 28, 2011 2:52 amFollowed by: 13 members; Thanked: 88 times

by aspirant2011 » Sat May 14, 2011 7:05 am

That educators have not anticipated the impact of microcomputer technology can hardly be said that it is their fault: Alvin Toffler, one of the most prominent students of the future, did not even mention microcomputers in Future Shock, published in 1970.

(A) That educators have not anticipated the impact of microcomputer technology can hardly be said that it is their fault
(B) That educators have not anticipated the impact of microcomputer technology can hardly be said to be at fault
(C) It can hardly be said that it is the fault of educators who have not anticipated the impact of microcomputer technology
(D) It can hardly be said that educators are at fault for not anticipating the impact of microcomputer technology
(E) The fact that educators are at fault for not anticipating the impact of microcomputer technology can hardly be said

[spoiler]OA: D vs E. Which one is better and why?????[/spoiler]

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Source: Beat The GMAT — Sentence Correction | Sat May 14, 2011 7:05 am

HSPA: Legendary Member; Posts: 1101; Joined: Fri Jan 28, 2011 7:26 amFollowed by: 13 members; Thanked: 47 times; GMAT Score:640

by HSPA » Sat May 14, 2011 7:09 am

IMO D.. A is also not that bad

First take: 640 (50M, 27V) - RC needs 300% improvement
Second take: coming soon..
Regards,
HSPA.

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aspirant2011: Legendary Member; Posts: 1574; Joined: Fri Jan 28, 2011 2:52 amFollowed by: 13 members; Thanked: 88 times

by aspirant2011 » Sat May 14, 2011 7:47 am

whats wrong with option E??????

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VivianKerr: GMAT Instructor; Posts: 1035; Joined: Fri Dec 17, 2010 11:13 amFollowed by: 365 members; Location: Los Angeles, CA; Thanked: 474 times

by VivianKerr » Sat May 14, 2011 11:04 am

D is correct here.

Think of "that educators have not anticipated the impact of microcomputers technology" as one long noun. We could replace it with something like "This fact...." If we did that the original sentence would read:

This fact can hardly be said that it is their fault.

"that it is their fault" is incorrect. Something is "said TO BE" something, idiomatically. It would need to read, "can hardly be said TO BE their fault."

Thus, A is eliminated.

E takes a different approach. If we replaced the full noun again with "this fact," the sentence would read: "This fact can hardly be said." This meaning is unclear. The focus is not that this fact literally can't be said; the focus is that there are no grounds for saying the educators are at fault.

Looking at D, it makes it very clear what "can hardly be said" by neatly putting the noun-verb "educators are" after the "that." Everything starting with "for..." is a long prepositional phrase that we could eliminate.

D would then read: "It can hardly be said that it is the fault of educators." Clear, concise, logical.

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aspirant2011: Legendary Member; Posts: 1574; Joined: Fri Jan 28, 2011 2:52 amFollowed by: 13 members; Thanked: 88 times

by aspirant2011 » Sat May 14, 2011 11:11 am

VivianKerr wrote:D is correct here.

Think of "that educators have not anticipated the impact of microcomputers technology" as one long noun. We could replace it with something like "This fact...." If we did that the original sentence would read:

This fact can hardly be said that it is their fault.

"that it is their fault" is incorrect. Something is "said TO BE" something, idiomatically. It would need to read, "can hardly be said TO BE their fault."

Thus, A is eliminated.

E takes a different approach. If we replaced the full noun again with "this fact," the sentence would read: "This fact can hardly be said." This meaning is unclear. The focus is not that this fact literally can't be said; the focus is that there are no grounds for saying the educators are at fault.

Looking at D, it makes it very clear what "can hardly be said" by neatly putting the noun-verb "educators are" after the "that." Everything starting with "for..." is a long prepositional phrase that we could eliminate.

D would then read: "It can hardly be said that it is the fault of educators." Clear, concise, logical.

Hi Vivian,

Thanks a lot for your explanation

.................I agree that in this sentence "the fact" changes meaning but I have seen in many GMAT sentences that option starting with "the fact" is always almost wrong.........so can we take this thing for granted that in GMAT we can reject the options which uses the words like "due to the fact or the fact"????????[/i]

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VivianKerr: GMAT Instructor; Posts: 1035; Joined: Fri Dec 17, 2010 11:13 amFollowed by: 365 members; Location: Los Angeles, CA; Thanked: 474 times

by VivianKerr » Sat May 14, 2011 11:17 am

I wish we could! But sadly there are no hard and fast rules governing "the fact", "due to the fact", or "owing to the fact." At least none that I know. Look for grammar errors FIRST to eliminate, then compare wordiness. It always comes down to context.

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divineacclivity: Senior | Next Rank: 100 Posts; Posts: 78; Joined: Wed May 16, 2012 8:57 pm; Thanked: 2 times

by divineacclivity » Tue Sep 04, 2012 9:28 am

VivianKerr,

I'm not able to understand why the use of "for" is correct here. Please help me understand this one.
Pls consider the following 2 sentences:
I picked up the pen to (/in order to) write a letter - CORRECT
A pen is for writing
I picked up the pen for writing a letter - INCORRECT
for - specifies the purpose of an object and "in order to" specifies purpose of an action.
So, here also, isn't the usage ".. for not anticipating .." incorrect? Please explain.
Thanks
~ Divine

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divineacclivity: Senior | Next Rank: 100 Posts; Posts: 78; Joined: Wed May 16, 2012 8:57 pm; Thanked: 2 times

by divineacclivity » Tue Sep 04, 2012 6:29 pm

VivianKerr wrote:I wish we could! But sadly there are no hard and fast rules governing "the fact", "due to the fact", or "owing to the fact." At least none that I know. Look for grammar errors FIRST to eliminate, then compare wordiness. It always comes down to context.

I'm not able to understand why the use of "for" is correct here. Please help me understand this one.
Pls consider the following 2 sentences:
I picked up the pen to (/in order to) write a letter - CORRECT
A pen is for writing
I picked up the pen for writing a letter - INCORRECT
for - specifies the purpose of an object and "in order to" specifies purpose of an action.
So, here also, isn't the usage ".. for not anticipating .." incorrect? Please explain.
Thanks
~ Divine

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divineacclivity: Senior | Next Rank: 100 Posts; Posts: 78; Joined: Wed May 16, 2012 8:57 pm; Thanked: 2 times

by divineacclivity » Thu Sep 06, 2012 7:16 pm

Please reply

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Mission2012: Master | Next Rank: 500 Posts; Posts: 184; Joined: Sun Aug 19, 2012 10:04 pmFollowed by: 2 members; Thanked: 10 times

by Mission2012 » Fri Sep 07, 2012 6:02 am

I found a good explanation here

https://www.beatthegmat.com/toughest-que ... tml#313438

If you find my post useful -> please click on "Thanks"

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divineacclivity: Senior | Next Rank: 100 Posts; Posts: 78; Joined: Wed May 16, 2012 8:57 pm; Thanked: 2 times

by divineacclivity » Sun Sep 23, 2012 6:18 am

VivianKerr wrote:D is correct here.

Think of "that educators have not anticipated the impact of microcomputers technology" as one long noun. We could replace it with something like "This fact...." If we did that the original sentence would read:

This fact can hardly be said that it is their fault.

"that it is their fault" is incorrect. Something is "said TO BE" something, idiomatically. It would need to read, "can hardly be said TO BE their fault."

Thus, A is eliminated.

E takes a different approach. If we replaced the full noun again with "this fact," the sentence would read: "This fact can hardly be said." This meaning is unclear. The focus is not that this fact literally can't be said; the focus is that there are no grounds for saying the educators are at fault.

Looking at D, it makes it very clear what "can hardly be said" by neatly putting the noun-verb "educators are" after the "that." Everything starting with "for..." is a long prepositional phrase that we could eliminate.

D would then read: "It can hardly be said that it is the fault of educators." Clear, concise, logical.

hey thanks for a great explanation.
I have a v different question here. I've seen a lot of gmat questions being rejected on the basis of preference of "to do" over "for doing".
e.g. A pen is for writing --> purpose of the object pen
I picked up the pen to write a letter. --> purpose of the action picked up

So, in option D, "for not participating .." - isn't the use of for here violating the above rule?

I just can't figure it out in my own mind what is that I'm missing and why I keep confusing over the use of "for.." v often. I used "for" & "to" interchangeably before I searched the difference between the two for getting the questions right on gmat. Please help here. I've already gone through a lot of explanations for the "for/to" difference.

thanks

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vietmoi999: Senior | Next Rank: 100 Posts; Posts: 96; Joined: Mon Apr 08, 2013 6:48 am

by vietmoi999 » Thu Jul 31, 2014 12:11 am

there is no pattern in E. end of story. the pattern in D is idiomatic and the only one idiomatic.

If anyone in this gmat forum is in England, pls email to me([email protected]) . I have some problems and need your advise. Thank a lot

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Crystal W: Master | Next Rank: 500 Posts; Posts: 154; Joined: Wed Mar 02, 2016 9:34 am; Thanked: 2 times

by Crystal W » Sat Mar 12, 2016 2:38 pm

VivianKerr wrote:D is correct here.

Think of "that educators have not anticipated the impact of microcomputers technology" as one long noun. We could replace it with something like "This fact...." If we did that the original sentence would read:

This fact can hardly be said that it is their fault.

"that it is their fault" is incorrect. Something is "said TO BE" something, idiomatically. It would need to read, "can hardly be said TO BE their fault."

Thus, A is eliminated.

E takes a different approach. If we replaced the full noun again with "this fact," the sentence would read: "This fact can hardly be said." This meaning is unclear. The focus is not that this fact literally can't be said; the focus is that there are no grounds for saying the educators are at fault.

Looking at D, it makes it very clear what "can hardly be said" by neatly putting the noun-verb "educators are" after the "that." Everything starting with "for..." is a long prepositional phrase that we could eliminate.

D would then read: "It can hardly be said that it is the fault of educators." Clear, concise, logical.

I think you are right about explanations of choice A and E. Can you explain more about the B, C choices? I believe tht C is right. The answer B is wrong, is that because at? Also, Do you think the structure subordinate + main verb + subordinate is wrong? Also, you say "for ..." is a long prepositional phrase that we could elimate, why you think D is right?
Thanks in advance!

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prabsahi: Senior | Next Rank: 100 Posts; Posts: 53; Joined: Wed Jun 04, 2014 10:50 amFollowed by: 2 members; Thanked: 6 times

by prabsahi » Thu Sep 15, 2016 10:52 pm

aspirant2011 wrote:That educators have not anticipated the impact of microcomputer technology can hardly be said that it is their fault: Alvin Toffler, one of the most prominent students of the future, did not even mention microcomputers in Future Shock, published in 1970.

(A) That educators have not anticipated the impact of microcomputer technology can hardly be said that it is their fault
(B) That educators have not anticipated the impact of microcomputer technology can hardly be said to be at fault
(C) It can hardly be said that it is the fault of educators who have not anticipated the impact of microcomputer technology
(D) It can hardly be said that educators are at fault for not anticipating the impact of microcomputer technology
(E) The fact that educators are at fault for not anticipating the impact of microcomputer technology can hardly be said

[spoiler]OA: D vs E. Which one is better and why?????[/spoiler]

The opening sentence has that-that...Can we assume that its a dependent clause,dependent clause.
This sentence lacks a main independent clause.

Please correct me experts if I am going wrong

If you want to fly,you have to give up the things that weighs you down!

PS

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MartyMurray: Legendary Member; Posts: 2135; Joined: Mon Feb 03, 2014 9:26 amFollowed by: 140 members; Location: https://martymurraycoaching.com/; Thanked: 955 times; GMAT Score:800

by MartyMurray » Thu Sep 15, 2016 11:59 pm

prabsahi wrote:
aspirant2011 wrote:That educators have not anticipated the impact of microcomputer technology can hardly be said that it is their fault: Alvin Toffler, one of the most prominent students of the future, did not even mention microcomputers in Future Shock, published in 1970.

(A) That educators have not anticipated the impact of microcomputer technology can hardly be said that it is their fault
(B) That educators have not anticipated the impact of microcomputer technology can hardly be said to be at fault
(C) It can hardly be said that it is the fault of educators who have not anticipated the impact of microcomputer technology
(D) It can hardly be said that educators are at fault for not anticipating the impact of microcomputer technology
(E) The fact that educators are at fault for not anticipating the impact of microcomputer technology can hardly be said

[spoiler]OA: D vs E. Which one is better and why?????[/spoiler]
The opening sentence has that-that...Can we assume that its a dependent clause,dependent clause.
This sentence lacks a main independent clause.

Please correct me experts if I am going wrong

Actually the original version is almost correct.

Check out the following example.

That Jim did not know how to skate became quickly apparent.

That Jim did not know how to skate is a noun clause and is subject of the sentence.

So in the original version, That educators have not anticipated the impact of microcomputer technology is the subject, and can hardly be said is the verb.

So the original would be a well constructed sentence except for the fact that after the verb there is an issue. said that it is their fault does not make sense. The point is not that there is someone who said that it is their fault. The point is that that educators have not anticipated the impact can hardly be SAID TO BE their fault.

Marty Murray
Perfect Scoring Tutor With Over a Decade of Experience
MartyMurrayCoaching.com
Contact me at [email protected] for a free consultation.

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