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The vice-president of engineering

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The vice-president of engineering

by conquistador » Sat Apr 25, 2015 11:39 am
Source: Magoosh

The vice-president of engineering argued that the biggest advantage of the proposed alloy for the designs of the new fuselage would lay in not its unusually light weight but in its superior resistance to the corrosive influence of the elements.
a. would lay in not its
b. would lie not in its
c. will lie in not their
d. will lay not in its
e. would lay in not their

I m confused between b and d and explain why it is not right.
OA is B
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by brianlange77 » Sat Apr 25, 2015 1:12 pm
Mechmeera wrote:Source: Magoosh

The vice-president of engineering argued that the biggest advantage of the proposed alloy for the designs of the new fuselage would lay in not its unusually light weight but in its superior resistance to the corrosive influence of the elements.
a. would lay in not its
b. would lie not in its
c. will lie in not their
d. will lay not in its
e. would lay in not their

I m confused between b and d and explain why it is not right.
OA is B
'Argued' is past tense... needs to match up with 'would' instead of 'will.'
Hope this helps.
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by Aman verma » Sat Apr 25, 2015 9:16 pm
Mechmeera wrote:Source: Magoosh

The vice-president of engineering argued that the biggest advantage of the proposed alloy for the designs of the new fuselage would lay in not its unusually light weight but in its superior resistance to the corrosive influence of the elements.
a. would lay in not its
b. would lie not in its
c. will lie in not their
d. will lay not in its
e. would lay in not their

I m confused between b and d and explain why it is not right.
OA is B
Hello Mechmeera,

Option D is wrong because of two reasons. First, the sentence is in the past tense signaled by the word 'argued' hence we need the past equivalent of 'will' which is would. Second, the word 'lay' requires an object to follow it , so 'lay' will be an inappropriate word in the given construction. The word 'lie' does not require an object to follow it.
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by conquistador » Sat Apr 25, 2015 9:38 pm
Aman verma wrote:
Mechmeera wrote:Source: Magoosh

The vice-president of engineering argued that the biggest advantage of the proposed alloy for the designs of the new fuselage would lay in not its unusually light weight but in its superior resistance to the corrosive influence of the elements.
a. would lay in not its
b. would lie not in its
c. will lie in not their
d. will lay not in its
e. would lay in not their

I m confused between b and d and explain why it is not right.
OA is B
Hello Mechmeera,

Option D is wrong because of two reasons. First, the sentence is in the past tense signaled by the word 'argued' hence we need the past equivalent of 'will' which is would. Second, the word 'lay' requires an object to follow it , so 'lay' will be an inappropriate word in the given construction. The word 'lie' does not require an object to follow it.
Can you emphasize on Lay/lie concept.
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by Brent@GMATPrepNow » Sun Apr 26, 2015 9:11 am
Mechmeera wrote: The vice-president of engineering argued that the biggest advantage of the proposed alloy for the designs of the new fuselage would lay in not its unusually light weight but in its superior resistance to the corrosive influence of the elements.
a. would lay in not its
b. would lie not in its
c. will lie in not their
d. will lay not in its
e. would lay in not their
The word lay is something we call a transitive verb, which means it must be used with a stated object. In other words, if we use the word lay, we must state the object that is the recipient of this verb.

For example, in the sentence Kwan lays the book on the table, the verb is lays. Kwan is the SUBJECT performing that action, and the book is the OBJECT that is receiving the action.
Since we have a clear, stated object receiving the action, the word lay is correctly used.

Conversely, we use the word lie when there is NO stated object receiving the action.
For example, in the sentence Cornelius lies on the sofa, the verb is lies, and Cornelius is the SUBJECT performing that action.
Notice that there is no stated object receiving the action. Sure, one might say that Cornelius is the object here, but this is implied, not stated. Since there is no stated object receiving the action, the word lies is correctly used.
---------------------------------

Now onto the question....

The vice-president of engineering argued that the biggest advantage of the proposed alloy for the designs of the new fuselage would lay in not its unusually light weight but in its superior resistance to the corrosive influence of the elements.
When we see the word lay, we should ask "What is being laid?" Since there is no stated object (that is being laid), the word lay is incorrect here.
ELIMINATE A, D and E

This leaves
B) would lie not in its
C) will lie in not their

We know that the advantage . . . lies in
Since advantage is SINGULAR, we need the SINGULAR "its"
Answer: B

Cheers,
Brent
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by DavidG@VeritasPrep » Mon Apr 27, 2015 5:49 am
Quick note: one confusing aspect of the lie/lay issue is that 'lay' can be used both as a present tense transitive verb that requires a direct object (as Brent noted) and as the past tense of lie, which is intransitive, and does not require a direct object.

Examples:
Present transitive: I lay the book on the table
Past transitive: Yesterday, I laid the book on the table.
Present Perfect transitive: I have laid the book on the table.

Present intransitive: I lie down on the bed.
Past intransitive: I lay down on the bed.
Present Perfect intransitive: I have lain down on the bed.

Not a huge GMAT issue, but a good thing to know (and an excellent way to annoy your wife.)
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