In February 1995, Doris Schopper became president

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In February 1995, Doris Schopper became president of the international council of Medecins sans Frontieres, known in English as "Doctors Without Borders," the world's largestindependent, international, voluntary emergency medical assistance and relief organization.

A) known in English as "Doctors Without Borders,"

B) the English for "Doctors Without Borders,"

C) in English named as "Doctors Without Borders,"

D) "Doctors Without Borders," as they are known in English

E) "Doctors Without Borders," which is in English


my doubt: i got this question correct but what troubles me is option C . i eliminated it because the construction "in English named as "Doctors Without Borders" gives me a sense that "this naming" was intentionally done.is this reasoning correct?

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by [email protected] » Thu Aug 21, 2014 8:42 pm
Hi aditya8062,

Yes, your reasoning for eliminating Answer C is correct. The intent of the sentence is that the name of the organization is different in different languages because of the languages themselves, not because someone chose a different name.

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by aditya8062 » Thu Aug 21, 2014 9:00 pm
Thanks Rich
i got this question from the gmat prep . what amazes me is the fact that now GMAC is making options a lot more difficult to eliminate . unlike previously, where one could eliminate the options based on bad grammar , now MEANING is playing a very important role . i feel that this CHANGE gives natives a lot more advantage than it gives to non natives .

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by GMATGuruNY » Fri Aug 22, 2014 6:19 am
C: Doris Schopper became president of the international council of Medecins sans Frontieres, in English named as "Doctors Without Borders."

Aditya, as you and Rich have noted, the organization was NAMED not in English but in the original language.
"Doctors without Borders" is simply a TRANSLATION of the original name.
Hence, C does not convey the intended meaning.

Other reasons to eliminate C:

In A, known is placed adjacent to what it's modifying (Medecins sans Frontieres).
In C, named is NOT placed adjacent to what it's modifying (Medecins sans Frontieres).
Since a modifier should be placed AS CLOSE AS POSSIBLE to what it's modifying, eliminate C and choose A.

named as is unidiomatic.
Incorrect: John was named as president.
Correct: John was named president.

Also, if you are debating between A and another answer choice, and you cannot cite a concrete error in A, eliminate the other answer choice and pick A.
In general, it's safer to stick with the original sentence.
aditya8062 wrote:Thanks Rich
i got this question from the gmat prep . what amazes me is the fact that now GMAC is making options a lot more difficult to eliminate . unlike previously, where one could eliminate the options based on bad grammar , now MEANING is playing a very important role . i feel that this CHANGE gives natives a lot more advantage than it gives to non natives .
Consider this change an OPPORTUNITY.
Previously, test-takers were required to know arcane idioms and little-used grammatical structures.
Recent GMATs enable test-takers to eliminate answer choices simply by applying a bit of reasoning.
Before examining the answer choices, try to determine what the sentence is trying to say.
In many cases, several answer choices can be eliminated simply because they do not convey a sensical meaning.
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by richachampion » Wed Jun 22, 2016 8:53 pm
GMATGuruNY wrote:C: Doris Schopper became president of the international council of Medecins sans Frontieres, in English named as "Doctors Without Borders."

Aditya, as you and Rich have noted, the organization was NAMED not in English but in the original language.
"Doctors without Borders" is simply a TRANSLATION of the original name.
Hence, C does not convey the intended meaning.

Other reasons to eliminate C:

In A, known is placed adjacent to what it's modifying (Medecins sans Frontieres).
In C, named is NOT placed adjacent to what it's modifying (Medecins sans Frontieres).
Since a modifier should be placed AS CLOSE AS POSSIBLE to what it's modifying, eliminate C and choose A.

named as is unidiomatic.
Incorrect: John was named as president.
Correct: John was named president.

Also, if you are debating between A and another answer choice, and you cannot cite a concrete error in A, eliminate the other answer choice and pick A.
In general, it's safer to stick with the original sentence.
aditya8062 wrote:Thanks Rich
i got this question from the gmat prep . what amazes me is the fact that now GMAC is making options a lot more difficult to eliminate . unlike previously, where one could eliminate the options based on bad grammar , now MEANING is playing a very important role . i feel that this CHANGE gives natives a lot more advantage than it gives to non natives .
Consider this change an OPPORTUNITY.
Previously, test-takers were required to know arcane idioms and little-used grammatical structures.
Recent GMATs enable test-takers to eliminate answer choices simply by applying a bit of reasoning.
Before examining the answer choices, try to determine what the sentence is trying to say.
In many cases, several answer choices can be eliminated simply because they do not convey a sensical meaning.
So name here is functioning as a Verb-ed Modifier?

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by GMATGuruNY » Thu Jun 23, 2016 2:18 am
richachampion wrote:So name here is functioning as a Verb-ed Modifier?
C: Medecins sans Frontieres, in English named as "Doctors Without Borders"
Here, named is a modifier serving to describe Medecins sans Frontieres.

Incorrect: John was named as president.
Here, was named is a verb, whose subject is John.

In each case, named as is unidiomatic.
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by richachampion » Thu Jun 23, 2016 2:28 am
GMATGuruNY wrote:
richachampion wrote:So name here is functioning as a Verb-ed Modifier?
C: Medecins sans Frontieres, in English named as "Doctors Without Borders"
Here, named is a modifier serving to describe Medecins sans Frontieres.

Incorrect: John was named as president.
Here, was named is a verb, whose subject is John.

In each case, named as is unidiomatic.
Sir, Is it a Verb-ed Modifier?

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by GMATGuruNY » Thu Jun 23, 2016 2:48 am
richachampion wrote:
GMATGuruNY wrote:
richachampion wrote:So name here is functioning as a Verb-ed Modifier?
C: Medecins sans Frontieres, in English named as "Doctors Without Borders"
Here, named is a modifier serving to describe Medecins sans Frontieres.

Incorrect: John was named as president.
Here, was named is a verb, whose subject is John.

In each case, named as is unidiomatic.
Sir, Is it a Verb-ed Modifier?
Like any other VERBed form, named can function as a VERB or as a VERBed modifier.
In C, named as is functioning as a VERBed modifier.
In the red sentence, was named as is functioning NOT as a modifier but as a VERB.
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by alanforde800Maximus » Sat Jun 09, 2018 12:15 am
Can anyone share reasons to eliminate other options? I'm unable to figure out the structure of the sentence.

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by GMATGuruNY » Sat Jun 09, 2018 3:10 am
aditya8062 wrote:In February 1995, Doris Schopper became president of the international council of Medecins sans Frontieres, known in English as "Doctors Without Borders," the world's largest independent, international, voluntary emergency medical assistance and relief organization.

A) known in English as "Doctors Without Borders,"

B) the English for "Doctors Without Borders,"

C) in English named as "Doctors Without Borders,"

D) "Doctors Without Borders," as they are known in English

E) "Doctors Without Borders," which is in English
the
B: Doris Schopper became president of the international council of Medecins sans Frontieres, the English for "Doctors Without Borders"
Here, the English seems to refer to the phrase in red, conveying that the phrase in red = ENGLISH.
Not so.
The phrase in red is composed of FRENCH words.
Eliminate B.

In C, named as is unidiomatic, as discussed in my earlier post.

D: They are known in English, the world's largest...relief organization.
Here, the phrase in red seems to refer to English, conveying that ENGLISH = the world's largest relief organization.
This meaning is nonsensical.
Eliminate D.

E: "Doctors Without Borders," which is in English the world's largest..relief organization.
Here, the clause in blue seems to convey that the group in red serves as a relief organization IN ENGLISH but not in other languages.
This meaning is nonsensical.
The intended meaning is that the phrase in red is the English TRANSLATION for Medecins sans Frontieres.
Eliminate E.

The correct answer is A.
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