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by sagarock » Wed Oct 19, 2016 2:01 pm

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The tourism commission has conducted surveys of hotels in the most popular resorts, with the ultimate goal of reducing the guests who end up expressing overall dissatisfaction with the service in the hotels .

(A) with the ultimate goal of reducing the guests who end up expressing overall dissatisfaction with the service in the hotels.
(B) with the goal to ultimately reduce the number of guests who end up expressing overall dissatisfaction with the hotels' service
(C) ultimately with the goal to reduce expressions of overall dissatisfaction by the guests with the hotel service
(D) in an ultimate attempt to reduce the number of guests that ends up expressing overall dissatisfaction with the hotels' service
(E) with the ultimate goal of reducing the number of guests who express overall dissatisfaction with the hotels' service


Any experts ,kindly explain each options especialy goal to vs goal of and option D.thank you.
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by ceilidh.erickson » Thu Oct 20, 2016 7:42 pm

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This question is primarily testing LOGICAL MEANING.
The tourism commission has conducted surveys of hotels in the most popular resorts, with the ultimate goal of reducing the guests who end up expressing overall dissatisfaction with the service in the hotels.

(A) with the ultimate goal of reducing the guests who end up expressing overall dissatisfaction with the service in the hotels.
(B) with the goal to ultimately reduce the number of guests who end up expressing overall dissatisfaction with the hotels' service
(C) ultimately with the goal to reduce expressions of overall dissatisfaction by the guests with the hotel service
(D) in an ultimate attempt to reduce the number of guests that ends up expressing overall dissatisfaction with the hotels' service
(E) with the ultimate goal of reducing the number of guests who express overall dissatisfaction with the hotels' service
(A) with the ultimate goal of reducing the guests who end up expressing overall dissatisfaction with the service in the hotels.
"Reducing the guests" is illogical, when compared with "reducing the number of guests" in other answer choices. "Reducing the guests" might mean shrinking them down somehow! Furthermore, "end up expressing overall dissatisfaction" is redundant. If it's overall, we know that that's where they end up.

(B) with the goal to ultimately reduce the number of guests who end up expressing overall dissatisfaction with the hotels' service
"with the goal to" is not idiomatic; "with the goal of" is correct in this structure.
"ultimately" has switched positions - it is now modifying "reduce" rather than "goal," creating a slight meaning change.
"end up" is again redundant.

(C) ultimately with the goal to reduce expressions of overall dissatisfaction by the guests with the hotel service
"ultimately" is now modifying "with," making this an expression of time, rather than giving us information about the goal.
There is a slight meaning difference between reducing the number of guests who express dissatisfaction, and reducing "expressions of overall dissatisfaction." The number of expressions total? The number of different types of expression?
"dissatisfaction by the guests" is not as clearly expressed as it is in other answer choices.

(D) in an ultimate attempt to reduce the number of guests that ends up expressing overall dissatisfaction with the hotels' service
We can't say "guests that." For people, we always use "who."
"ends up" is again redundant.
To your question, "in an attempt to" is very slightly different from "with the goal of," but I think that the two are close enough in meaning and usage that this wasn't an issue here.

(E) with the ultimate goal of reducing the number of guests who express overall dissatisfaction with the hotels' service
Correct! The meaning is clear and concise, with the right modifiers in the right places.

The answer is E.
Ceilidh Erickson
EdM in Mind, Brain, and Education
Harvard Graduate School of Education
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by sagarock » Sat Oct 22, 2016 6:51 am

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Thank you celidh,i can see why d is wrong but i have following doubt.the patchwork of green fields that surround / surrounds the San Joaquin Valley town bustles with farm workers, many of themin the area just for the season.i choose surrounds because of one of + that always singular.AM i right/
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by ceilidh.erickson » Thu Oct 27, 2016 6:02 pm

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Thank you celidh,i can see why d is wrong but i have following doubt.the patchwork of green fields that surround / surrounds the San Joaquin Valley town bustles with farm workers, many of themin the area just for the season.i choose surrounds because of one of + that always singular.AM i right/
I think you're applying a rule in a context that doesn't fit.

What I think you're referencing is the fact that "the number of" or "a number of" are structures sometimes referred to as SANAM pronouns, and they behave differently than their structure would suggest.

Usually, when we have a collective noun or indefinite pronoun followed by a prepositional phrase, it is singular. For example, all of the following would be singular:
The group of students is advanced.
The board of directors is meeting tomorrow.
Each of the consultants has an MBA.
Either of the answers is correct.

However, there are exceptions that we call the SANAM pronouns: Some, Any, None, All, More/Most (there are others that behave this way, but these are the most common, hence the name). These can be either singular or plural, depending on the object of the preposition. Both of the following are correct:

Most of the money was stolen.
Most of the items were stolen.

Other expressions such as "majority of," "the bulk of," etc, will behave in this way. "A number of" would also theoretically behave this way, except that it would be strange to say "a number of [singular noun]," so we almost always use it with a plural.

But none of that even applies in this problem. In D: "... to reduce the number of guests that ends..." The issue was not whether "number of ___" had taken the correct verb, because that expression was not the subject, it was the object of "to reduce." The verb in question was part of a modifying dependent clause. When we use "that" to create a modifying clause, it will be singular or plural depending on whether the noun it's modifying is singular or plural. If it's the GUESTS who are doing the EXPRESSING, then "guests" is the subject of that verb.

The example that you gave is similar. Imagine diagramming it like this:
the patchwork ... bustles with farm workers
...................... \ of green fields
............................................ \ that surround the San Joaquin Valley town

"that surround" is a dependent clause modifying "fields," so it's plural. The fact that it's preceded by "patchwork of" is irrelevant - that subject has its own verb, "bustles."

Does that help?
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by aflaam » Wed Dec 14, 2016 6:56 pm

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(B) with the goal to ultimately reduce the number of guests who end up expressing overall dissatisfaction with the hotels' service
"with the goal to" is not idiomatic; "with the goal of" is correct in this structure.
Hello Ceilidh,
Can you please elaborate a little on the difference between goal to and goal of?
I had always thought that goal of is incorrect until i encountered this SC.
Any help will be of great importance in understanding the underlying concept.
Thank you
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by ceilidh.erickson » Wed Dec 14, 2016 8:15 pm

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aflaam wrote: Hello Ceilidh,
Can you please elaborate a little on the difference between goal to and goal of?
I had always thought that goal of is incorrect until i encountered this SC.
Any help will be of great importance in understanding the underlying concept.
Thank you
Idioms... by far the worst part of studying for the GMAT! Or of learning English, for that matter. So often, there are constructions that are non-idiomatic in certain contexts but idiomatic in others. (Sometimes these will be labeled as simply "wrong" in textbooks because the writer can't remember the context in which they might be correct! Idioms are by nature an inexact science).

All I can ever tell you is how I, as a native English speaker (and professional writer), have encountered these.

- "goal of" is correct within the construction "WITH the goal of": "I gave my teacher a gift, with the goal of bribing her into changing my grade."

- "goal to" is used with verbs, and is much more common: "My goal is to get the teacher to change my grade."

... I can't think of other idiomatically correct usages off the top of my head (nor does a very cursory google search help), but that doesn't mean that they don't exist.

Most of the time (as in the example sentence here), the idiom difference does not need to be a deciding factor in eliminating answer choices in SC. If you're unsure, look to meaning and grammar first, and save idiomatic issues for last.
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by aflaam » Wed Dec 14, 2016 11:11 pm

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Thank you very much for the very prompt addressing of the querry.
It has indeed cleared a lot of confusion.
God bless ya
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by prab.sahi01 » Thu Nov 01, 2018 6:33 am

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ceilidh.erickson wrote:This question is primarily testing LOGICAL MEANING.
The tourism commission has conducted surveys of hotels in the most popular resorts, with the ultimate goal of reducing the guests who end up expressing overall dissatisfaction with the service in the hotels.

(A) with the ultimate goal of reducing the guests who end up expressing overall dissatisfaction with the service in the hotels.
(B) with the goal to ultimately reduce the number of guests who end up expressing overall dissatisfaction with the hotels' service
(C) ultimately with the goal to reduce expressions of overall dissatisfaction by the guests with the hotel service
(D) in an ultimate attempt to reduce the number of guests that ends up expressing overall dissatisfaction with the hotels' service
(E) with the ultimate goal of reducing the number of guests who express overall dissatisfaction with the hotels' service
(A) with the ultimate goal of reducing the guests who end up expressing overall dissatisfaction with the service in the hotels.
"Reducing the guests" is illogical, when compared with "reducing the number of guests" in other answer choices. "Reducing the guests" might mean shrinking them down somehow! Furthermore, "end up expressing overall dissatisfaction" is redundant. If it's overall, we know that that's where they end up.

(B) with the goal to ultimately reduce the number of guests who end up expressing overall dissatisfaction with the hotels' service
"with the goal to" is not idiomatic; "with the goal of" is correct in this structure.
"ultimately" has switched positions - it is now modifying "reduce" rather than "goal," creating a slight meaning change.
"end up" is again redundant.

Sorry to differ here but probably are the correct structures.

..with the goal of reducing waste..
..with the goal to connect twenty million more americans..

Please correct me if I am wrong.

(C) ultimately with the goal to reduce expressions of overall dissatisfaction by the guests with the hotel service
"ultimately" is now modifying "with," making this an expression of time, rather than giving us information about the goal.
There is a slight meaning difference between reducing the number of guests who express dissatisfaction, and reducing "expressions of overall dissatisfaction." The number of expressions total? The number of different types of expression?
"dissatisfaction by the guests" is not as clearly expressed as it is in other answer choices.

(D) in an ultimate attempt to reduce the number of guests that ends up expressing overall dissatisfaction with the hotels' service
We can't say "guests that." For people, we always use "who."
"ends up" is again redundant.
To your question, "in an attempt to" is very slightly different from "with the goal of," but I think that the two are close enough in meaning and usage that this wasn't an issue here.

(E) with the ultimate goal of reducing the number of guests who express overall dissatisfaction with the hotels' service
Correct! The meaning is clear and concise, with the right modifiers in the right places.

The answer is E.
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by [email protected] » Mon Apr 01, 2019 8:55 am

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Hello Everyone!

Let's take a closer look at this sentence, one thing at a time, to determine the best course of action. To begin, here is the original sentence with the major differences between each option highlighted in orange:

The tourism commission has conducted surveys of hotels in the most popular resorts, with the ultimate goal of reducing the guests who end up expressing overall dissatisfaction with the service in the hotels.

(A) with the ultimate goal of reducing the guests who end up expressing overall dissatisfaction with the service in the hotels
(B) with the goal to ultimately reduce the number of guests who end up expressing overall dissatisfaction with the hotels' service
(C) ultimately with the goal to reduce expressions of overall dissatisfaction by the guests with the hotel service
(D) in an ultimate attempt to reduce the number of guests that ends up expressing overall dissatisfaction with the hotels' service
(E) with the ultimate goal of reducing the number of guests who express overall dissatisfaction with the hotels' service

While there are a lot of differences between the options, 3 major ones jumped out that we can focus on:

1. Where to place the word ultimate/ultimately
2. Idiom structure: to reduce / of reducing
3. Their endings: the service in the hotels / the hotels' service / the hotel service

Since #2 on our list (to reduce / of reducing) will eliminate 2-3 options right off the bat, let's start there. This is an issue of using the proper idiom structure! Here is how this particular idiom works:

with to goal to do something = WRONG
with the goal of doing something = RIGHT

So let's rule out the options that use "with the goal to" because it's not idiomatically correct:

(A) with the ultimate goal of reducing the guests who end up expressing overall dissatisfaction with the service in the hotels
(B) with the goal to ultimately reduce the number of guests who end up expressing overall dissatisfaction with the hotels' service
(C) ultimately with the goal to reduce expressions of overall dissatisfaction by the guests with the hotel service
(D) in an ultimate attempt to reduce the number of guests that ends up expressing overall dissatisfaction with the hotels' service
(E) with the ultimate goal of reducing the number of guests who express overall dissatisfaction with the hotels' service

We can eliminate options B and C because they don't use the proper "with the goal of verb+ing" structure. We'll also keep option D for now because it's reworded to avoid using the idiom altogether. Now let's focus on the remaining 3 options and look for any red flags:

(A) with the ultimate goal of reducing the guests who end up expressing overall dissatisfaction with the service in the hotels

This is INCORRECT because the meaning is a bit odd. This sentence says that the goal is to reduce the guests - not reduce the number of guests. Since we cannot reduce the size of the guests (which is what this is implying), we should rule this out for awkward/unintended meaning issues.

(D) in an ultimate attempt to reduce the number of guests that ends up expressing overall dissatisfaction with the hotels' service

This is INCORRECT because we have a subject-verb agreement problem! The verb "ends up" is singular, but it's referring to a plural subject "guests." Since these don't agree in number, let's rule this out.

(E) with the ultimate goal of reducing the number of guests who express overall dissatisfaction with the hotels' service

We're left with only option E left, which is our CORRECT choice! This sentence is written clearly, the overall meaning is logical, and it doesn't have any issues with subject-verb agreement!

There you have it - option E is the correct choice!

Don't study for the GMAT. Train for it.
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by vietnam47 » Thu Aug 08, 2019 9:20 am

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sagarock wrote:The tourism commission has conducted surveys of hotels in the most popular resorts, with the ultimate goal of reducing the guests who end up expressing overall dissatisfaction with the service in the hotels .

(A) with the ultimate goal of reducing the guests who end up expressing overall dissatisfaction with the service in the hotels.
(B) with the goal to ultimately reduce the number of guests who end up expressing overall dissatisfaction with the hotels' service
(C) ultimately with the goal to reduce expressions of overall dissatisfaction by the guests with the hotel service
(D) in an ultimate attempt to reduce the number of guests that ends up expressing overall dissatisfaction with the hotels' service
(E) with the ultimate goal of reducing the number of guests who express overall dissatisfaction with the hotels' service


Any experts ,kindly explain each options especialy goal to vs goal of and option D.thank you.[/quote

for non native , remembering idiom "goal to reduce/of reducing' is hard or even impossible
focusing on meaning help us avoid remembering idiom.
"ultimate" must modify "goal". so, C,D and B are gone. 'reducing guest" in A is wrong. choice E is left
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