BREAKING: Target Test Prep releases Brand New 2026 On Demand GMAT prep course

Redeem

By offering lower prices and a menu of personal

This topic has expert replies
Post new topic Locked
Previous Topic Next Topic
User avatar
Master | Next Rank: 500 Posts
Posts: 423
Joined: Thu Dec 27, 2007 1:29 am
Location: Hyderabad, India
Thanked: 36 times
Followed by:2 members
GMAT Score:770

By offering lower prices and a menu of personal

by simplyjat » Mon May 05, 2008 1:09 am
By offering lower prices and a menu of personal communications options, such as caller identification and voice mail, the new telecommunications company has not only captured customers from other phone companies but also forced them to offer competitive prices.

(A) has not only captured customers from other phone companies but also forced them
(B) has not only captured customers from other phone companies, but it also forced them
(C) has not only captured customers from other phone companies but also forced these companies
(D) not only has captured customers from other phone companies but also these companies have been forced
(E) not only captured customers from other phone companies, but it also has forced them

OA C
simplyjat
Top
Source: — Sentence Correction |
GMAT Instructor
Posts: 1223
Joined: Thu May 01, 2008 3:29 pm
Location: Los Angeles, CA
Thanked: 185 times
Followed by:15 members

by VP_Jim » Mon May 05, 2008 12:37 pm
Hi simplyjat:

This one uses a very common GMAT idiom, "not only.... but also". Answers B and E do not use the correct idiom since they insert the word "it" between the "but also".

Next, this is a list, and lists need to be parallel. So, the sentence needs to say "not only captured... but also forced". Answer D does not do this, so it is incorrect.

Finally, answer A uses the ambiguous pronoun "them" - is "them" the customers? The options? The companies? We can't tell.

Therefore, the answer is C.
Jim S. | GMAT Instructor | Veritas Prep
Top
User avatar
GMAT Instructor
Posts: 3225
Joined: Tue Jan 08, 2008 2:40 pm
Location: Toronto
Thanked: 1710 times
Followed by:614 members
GMAT Score:800

by Stuart@KaplanGMAT » Mon May 05, 2008 1:32 pm
I agree with the answer, but not the reason why (b) and (e) are wrong.

There will be cases in which we insert a word between "but" and "also", but only when doing so is necessary to preserve the meaning or paralellism of the rest of the sentence.

For example:

"Not only does Bob go to the gym 3 mornings a week, but he also runs on the weekend."

Of course, we also could have said:

"Bob not only goes to the gym 3 mornings a week, but also runs on the weekend."

Either of those sentences could appear on the GMAT (and we wouldn't have to choose between them).

The real problem with (b) and (e) is the ambiguous pronoun "them", which could refer to either customers or companies.

In this particular sentence, we don't want "it" between "but" and "also" because the antecedent (company) comes BEFORE "not only". If the company had come AFTER not only, then the it would have been appropriate.

In other words, if the sentence had begun:

"... not only has the company captured..."

then the second part would have read:

"... but it also forced...".
Image

Stuart Kovinsky | Kaplan GMAT Faculty | Toronto

Kaplan Exclusive: The Official Test Day Experience | Ready to Take a Free Practice Test? | Kaplan/Beat the GMAT Member Discount
BTG100 for $100 off a full course
Top
GMAT Instructor
Posts: 1223
Joined: Thu May 01, 2008 3:29 pm
Location: Los Angeles, CA
Thanked: 185 times
Followed by:15 members

by VP_Jim » Mon May 05, 2008 7:57 pm
Hi Stuart,

Thanks for chiming in. Good point about the "them" in B and E - I think that's also a good error to focus on, since the "them" problem appears in other answer choices as well.

As for the technical discussion of the idiom, I think your thorough explanation is great for study purposes. However, I try not to get students caught up in lots of grammatical details - my experience has been that students are better off remembering 10 rules that work 90% of the time than 100 rules that work 100% of the time, if that makes sense. On the actual test, I don't think students have time to go through such a technical thought process.

Just my two cents!
Jim S. | GMAT Instructor | Veritas Prep
Top
User avatar
Legendary Member
Posts: 546
Joined: Sun Nov 16, 2008 11:00 pm
Location: New Delhi , India
Thanked: 13 times

by ronniecoleman » Wed Dec 10, 2008 10:02 am
..
Last edited by ronniecoleman on Wed Dec 10, 2008 10:04 am, edited 1 time in total.
Admission champion, Hauz khaz
011-27565856
Top
User avatar
Legendary Member
Posts: 546
Joined: Sun Nov 16, 2008 11:00 pm
Location: New Delhi , India
Thanked: 13 times

by ronniecoleman » Wed Dec 10, 2008 10:04 am
By offering lower prices and a menu of personal communications options, such as caller identification and voice mail, the new telecommunications company has not only captured customers from other phone companies but also forced them to offer competitive prices.

(A) has not only captured customers from other phone companies but also forced them

"Them " -- customers or companies: OUT
(B) has not only captured customers from other phone companies, but it also forced them
out -- wrong idiom
(C) has not only captured customers from other phone companies but also forced these companies
Correct

(D) not only has captured customers from other phone companies but also these companies have been forced

Passive
(E) not only captured customers from other phone companies, but it also has forced them

incorrect idiom

Simplyjat :lol:
Admission champion, Hauz khaz
011-27565856
Top
User avatar
Master | Next Rank: 500 Posts
Posts: 293
Joined: Thu Jan 14, 2010 9:08 am
Location: India
Thanked: 36 times
Followed by:5 members
GMAT Score:730

by mohit11 » Sat Feb 06, 2010 11:13 pm
Hi, I know this is an old question, but i have a query,

in choice A, Them should refer to the noun closest to it, therefore, them should refer to companies right? Why should "them" refer to the customers?

Can some one please elaborate?
Top
User avatar
Master | Next Rank: 500 Posts
Posts: 407
Joined: Sun Nov 29, 2009 1:20 am
Location: India
Thanked: 20 times
Followed by:1 members

by hrishi19884 » Sun Feb 07, 2010 8:27 am
mohit11 wrote:Hi, I know this is an old question, but i have a query,

in choice A, Them should refer to the noun closest to it, therefore, them should refer to companies right? Why should "them" refer to the customers?

Can some one please elaborate?

That's the reason why A is wrong brother.

C correctly makes it by saying "these companies "
Hrishi

"As you sow, so shall you reap"
Top
User avatar
Master | Next Rank: 500 Posts
Posts: 293
Joined: Thu Jan 14, 2010 9:08 am
Location: India
Thanked: 36 times
Followed by:5 members
GMAT Score:730

by mohit11 » Sun Feb 07, 2010 8:58 am
No, what i am trying to convey here is that..

'Them' refers to the companies, which is what "them" should refer to, therefore Choice A is correct.
Top
User avatar
Master | Next Rank: 500 Posts
Posts: 407
Joined: Sun Nov 29, 2009 1:20 am
Location: India
Thanked: 20 times
Followed by:1 members

by hrishi19884 » Sun Feb 07, 2010 9:19 am
mohit11 wrote:No, what i am trying to convey here is that..

'Them' refers to the companies, which is what "them" should refer to, therefore Choice A is correct.
In this case "them" can refer to customers and also can refer to companies(or also can refer to collectively both of them) ...it is quite ambiguous.

You said it correctly that - pronoun should be always close to the noun. But this is only in case of simple sentence.

The above sentence is a complex sentence with "not only......but also" .

The ambiguity increases in complex sentence and we cannot always refer pronoun to its nearest noun.

Hope you get it.
Hrishi

"As you sow, so shall you reap"
Top
User avatar
Master | Next Rank: 500 Posts
Posts: 293
Joined: Thu Jan 14, 2010 9:08 am
Location: India
Thanked: 36 times
Followed by:5 members
GMAT Score:730

by mohit11 » Sun Feb 07, 2010 9:42 am
Ermm, i'll keep that in mind. Thanks :)
Top
Legendary Member
Posts: 941
Joined: Sun Dec 27, 2009 12:28 am
Thanked: 20 times
Followed by:1 members

by bhumika.k.shah » Sun Feb 07, 2010 12:05 pm
C it is.
Top
Junior | Next Rank: 30 Posts
Posts: 26
Joined: Thu Dec 23, 2010 3:38 pm

by robosc9 » Tue Oct 18, 2011 6:04 pm
In choice C
"has not only captured customers from other phone companies but also forced these companies"

There is no comma before but

In "not only...but also", do we not always need comma in between?
Top
Legendary Member
Posts: 2789
Joined: Tue Jul 26, 2011 12:19 am
Location: Chennai, India
Thanked: 206 times
Followed by:43 members
GMAT Score:640

by GmatKiss » Wed Oct 19, 2011 9:28 am
easily C
Top
User avatar
Newbie | Next Rank: 10 Posts
Posts: 1
Joined: Wed Jul 25, 2012 10:37 am

by flogro » Wed Jul 25, 2012 10:41 am
When I tried to solve this question, I was looking for parallel verbs and did not find them in any solution.
Solution C: "has captured" - present perfect tense and "forced" - past tense.

Now I figured that maybe the "has" from "has captured" also refers to "forced", making it "has forced", because the "not only" comes in between, "has not only captured"

Is that reasoning correct?

Thank you
Top
Post new topic Locked