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Budget surplus debate

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by sam2304 » Sun Dec 25, 2011 9:41 am
Recently there has been increased debate over if a budget surplus should towards lower taxes or increased spending on social programs.
(A) over if a budget surplus should go towards lower taxes or increased spending
(B) over whether a budget surplus should go towards lowering taxes or increasing spending
(C) about a budget surplus going towards lower taxes or increasing spending
(D) about if lower taxes should come from a budget surplus or spending increases
(E) concerning a budget surplus and its going towards lower taxes or increased spending

OA after some discussions.
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Source: — Sentence Correction |
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by mskgmat » Sun Dec 25, 2011 9:59 am
Debate over is the correct idiom.
If - only hypothetical

(A) over if a budget surplus should go towards lower taxes or increased spending
Wrong if usage
(B) over whether a budget surplus should go towards lowering taxes or increasing spending
Correct
(C) about a budget surplus going towards lower taxes or increasing spending
Wrong idiom usage
(D) about if lower taxes should come from a budget surplus or spending increases
Wrong idiom usage
(E) concerning a budget surplus and its going towards lower taxes or increased spending
Wrong idiom usage

Please note: Recently people who took GMAT told that they did not see any question with idiom usage. Please confirm with experts.
Last edited by mskgmat on Sun Dec 25, 2011 10:00 am, edited 1 time in total.
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by happymanocha » Sun Dec 25, 2011 10:00 am
I am newbie here but trying to do SC as much as i can do.

I believe answer is B. Here is the justification.

A - If is a wrong conjunction here. Also lower taxes and increased spending are not parallel.
B- Over whether
C - Lower taxes or increasing spending are not parallel. I am not sure "About a budget" is correct/incorrect though it does not sound correct.
D- This is changing the meaning of the sentence.
E - Its pronoun referring to Budget surplus which is correct but not matching with going towards. This sentence seems to be written in a way that its referring to debate and debate is going towards lower taxes or increased spending.
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by akhil.gupta.aspire » Sun Dec 25, 2011 10:35 am
B

debate over is correct idiom
Whether should be used rather than if. whether is used for choices and if for conditions
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by shekhar.kataria » Sun Dec 25, 2011 10:52 pm
Here is my take for B.

Whenever we are given options we use whether not if so A,D out.

C, lowering taxes is not parallel to increasing spending.

E, Noun referent for its is ambiguous, it could refer either to a debate or to a budget surplus.


sam2304 wrote:Recently there has been increased debate over if a budget surplus should towards lower taxes or increased spending on social programs.
(A) over if a budget surplus should go towards lower taxes or increased spending
(B) over whether a budget surplus should go towards lowering taxes or increasing spending
(C) about a budget surplus going towards lower taxes or increasing spending
(D) about if lower taxes should come from a budget surplus or spending increases
(E) concerning a budget surplus and its going towards lower taxes or increased spending

OA after some discussions.
Restlessness and discontent are the first necessities of progress.--Thomas A. Edison

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by sam2304 » Mon Dec 26, 2011 9:44 am
OA B
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