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Severely hindered by problems with local suppliers, the fact

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by AbeNeedsAnswers » Fri May 03, 2019 4:29 pm

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Severely hindered by problems with local suppliers, the fact that the AQ division also had a new management team to adapt to was not seen by the board of directors as a legitimate excuse for such low productivity.

A. Severely hindered by problems with local suppliers, the fact that the AQ division also had a new management team to adapt to
B. Though severely hindered by local supply problems, the fact that the AQ division also had a new management team to which to adapt
C. Severely hindered by problems with local suppliers, the AQ division also had to adapt to a new management team, but this
D. Severely hindered by local supply problems, that the AQ division also had to adapt to a new management team
E. Though severely hindered by problems with local suppliers, the AQ division's also having a new management team to which it had to adapt

C

Source: Official Guide 2020
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Source: — Sentence Correction |

by [email protected] » Wed Jun 05, 2019 2:18 pm
Hello Everyone,

This is a great example of a MODIFIER question you might find on the GMAT! Let's start off by taking a quick look at the original question, and highlighting any major differences in orange:

Severely hindered by problems with local suppliers, the fact that the AQ division also had a new management team to adapt to was not seen by the board of directors as a legitimate excuse for such low productivity.

A. Severely hindered by problems with local suppliers, the fact that the AQ division also had a new management team to adapt to
B. Though severely hindered by local supply problems, the fact that the AQ division also had a new management team to which to adapt
C. Severely hindered by problems with local suppliers, the AQ division also had to adapt to a new management team, but this
D. Severely hindered by local supply problems, that the AQ division also had to adapt to a new management team
E. Though severely hindered by problems with local suppliers, the AQ division's also having a new management team to which it had to adapt

After a quick scan over the options, there are a few differences that jump out:

1. Severely hindered / Though severely hindered (Meaning)
2. the fact that the AQ division / the AQ division / that the AQ division / the AQ division's (Modifier Agreement)
3. to adapt to / to which to adapt / to which it had to adapt (Wordiness/Meaning)


Since this is a modifier question, let's start with #2 on our list: Modifier Agreement. We need to make sure that the modifier is paired up with what it's modifying. To help answer this, ask yourself "WHO/WHAT has been severely hindered by local supply problems?" The AQ division! Let's see how each option works out:

A. Severely hindered by problems with local suppliers, the fact that the AQ division also had a new management team to adapt to
B. Though severely hindered by local supply problems, the fact that the AQ division also had a new management team to which to adapt
C. Severely hindered by problems with local suppliers, the AQ division also had to adapt to a new management team, but this
D. Severely hindered by local supply problems, that the AQ division also had to adapt to a new management team
E. Though severely hindered by problems with local suppliers, the AQ division's also having a new management team to which it had to adapt

There you have it - only option C correctly states that the AQ division is the one hindered by problems with local suppliers! All the other options attribute that modifier to having a new management team to adapt to, which isn't the intended meaning we're going for.

If you can identify GMAT SC questions that deal with modifiers, it's easy to do a quick check to ensure the modifier and subject match up! You can narrow down your options rather quickly, and in some cases, get to the correct choice even quicker!


Don't study for the GMAT. Train for it.
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by vietnam47 » Sat Jul 27, 2019 1:22 am
this problem shows that "this" as a stand alone pronoun can be correct on gmat land. "this" as stand alone pronoun is inferior not incorrect.
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