sub-four minute mile

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siddhu161: Senior | Next Rank: 100 Posts; Posts: 59; Joined: Sun Nov 24, 2013 8:42 am; Thanked: 4 times

sub-four minute mile

by siddhu161 » Sat Feb 01, 2014 6:28 am

With his sub-four minute mile Bannister broke a psychological barrier, inspiring thousands of others to attempt overcoming seemingly insurmountable hurdles.

A. inspiring thousands of others to attempt overcoming
B. inspiring thousands of others to attempt to overcome
C. inspiring thousands of others to overcome
D. and inspired thousands of others to attempt to overcome
E. and inspired thousands of others to attempt overcoming

I dont have OA now.
My answer is C.
Can anyone help?

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Source: Beat The GMAT — Sentence Correction | Sat Feb 01, 2014 6:28 am

ershovici: Senior | Next Rank: 100 Posts; Posts: 91; Joined: Tue Aug 25, 2009 7:50 am; Location: Washington DC; Thanked: 2 times; GMAT Score:600

by ershovici » Sat Feb 01, 2014 8:19 am

Hi,
As far as I see: first we need to make both parts parallel - "broke barrier" - "inspired", so A,B,C incorrect.
In addition to this, C changes the implied meaning of the original sentence - he inspired people to try to overcome, therefore you cannot miss 'attempt', so C is wrong.

Second - from D and E, - I chose D, since 'to attempt to overcome' sounds more legit for me in this case.

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by [email protected] » Sat Feb 01, 2014 3:08 pm

Hi siddhu161,

What is the source of this SC? I ask because there's an uncertainty with the "intent" of the sentence. Bannister broke a psychological barrier in the PAST, so the "intent" could be that the moment/event and the resulting inspiration both took place in the past. It's also possible that the inspiration is "timeless", meaning that people are still inspired, even today (and likely into the future), by the event that took place in the past. Each interpretation would change the sentence (specifically, the verb tense). The GMAT doesn't tend to force these issues into its SCs.

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