OG-10-SC-103

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paes: Legendary Member; Posts: 995; Joined: Tue Apr 13, 2010 11:56 pmFollowed by: 1 member; Thanked: 31 times

by paes » Thu Jul 29, 2010 5:32 pm

Students in the metropolitan school district lack math skills to such a large degree as to make it difficult to absorb them into a city economy becoming ever more dependent on information-based industries.

(A) lack math skills to such a large degree as to make it difficult to absorb them into a city economy becoming
(B) lack math skills to a large enough degree that they will be difficult to absorb into a city's economy that becomes
(C) lack of math skills is so large as to be difficult to absorb them into a city's economy that becomes
(D) are lacking so much in math skills as to be difficult to absorb into a city's economy becoming
(E) are so lacking in math skills that it will be difficult to absorb them into a city economy becoming

[spoiler]Please explain D and E.
I am always confuse between the Idion 'so...as' and 'so ....that..'[/spoiler]

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Source: Beat The GMAT — Sentence Correction | Thu Jul 29, 2010 5:32 pm

uwhusky: Legendary Member; Posts: 1172; Joined: Wed Apr 28, 2010 6:20 pmFollowed by: 4 members; Thanked: 74 times

by uwhusky » Thu Jul 29, 2010 5:48 pm

This is unfortunately not an idiom related question.

You are "so" lazy! --> "You are lazy" with more emphasis.

It's like the emphasizer "do": I do like you. --> "I like you" with more emphasis.

You are so lacking, and lacking so much...

The idiom you're thinking of is:

His knowledge springs not so much from experience as from schooling.

Yep.

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this_time_i_will: Master | Next Rank: 500 Posts; Posts: 268; Joined: Wed Mar 17, 2010 2:32 am; Thanked: 17 times

by this_time_i_will » Thu Jul 29, 2010 6:07 pm

Please note that the constructs- so...as to & such...as to-are wrong.

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paes: Legendary Member; Posts: 995; Joined: Tue Apr 13, 2010 11:56 pmFollowed by: 1 member; Thanked: 31 times

by paes » Thu Jul 29, 2010 6:25 pm

this_time_i_will wrote:Please note that the constructs- so...as to & such...as to-are wrong.

'such...as' is wrong.
'so ...as' is not wrong.

see a example from OG

Often major economic shifts are so gradual as to be indistinguishable at first from ordinary fluctuations in the financial markets.

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paes: Legendary Member; Posts: 995; Joined: Tue Apr 13, 2010 11:56 pmFollowed by: 1 member; Thanked: 31 times

by paes » Thu Jul 29, 2010 6:27 pm

uwhusky wrote:This is unfortunately not an idiom related question.

You are "so" lazy! --> "You are lazy" with more emphasis.

It's like the emphasizer "do": I do like you. --> "I like you" with more emphasis.

You are so lacking, and lacking so much...

The idiom you're thinking of is:

His knowledge springs not so much from experience as from schooling.

I didn't get you fully.

'so..as' is a correct idiom.

some examples from OG:
Often major economic shifts are so gradual as to be indistinguishable at first from ordinary fluctuations in the financial markets.

The Emperor Augustus, it appears, commissioned an idealized sculptured portrait, the features of which are so unrealistic as to constitute what one scholar calls an "artificial

Last edited by paes on Thu Jul 29, 2010 8:48 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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this_time_i_will: Master | Next Rank: 500 Posts; Posts: 268; Joined: Wed Mar 17, 2010 2:32 am; Thanked: 17 times

by this_time_i_will » Thu Jul 29, 2010 6:32 pm

paes wrote:
this_time_i_will wrote:Please note that the constructs- so...as to & such...as to-are wrong.
'such...as' is wrong.
'so ...as' is not wrong.

see a example from OG

Often major economic shifts are so gradual as to be indistinguishable at first from ordinary fluctuations in the financial markets.

Please have a look at the explanation for option C in Q#37 (OG-12)

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ru2008: Senior | Next Rank: 100 Posts; Posts: 58; Joined: Tue Aug 26, 2008 9:42 am

by ru2008 » Thu Jul 29, 2010 7:25 pm

Is A the answer?

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paes: Legendary Member; Posts: 995; Joined: Tue Apr 13, 2010 11:56 pmFollowed by: 1 member; Thanked: 31 times

by paes » Thu Jul 29, 2010 8:28 pm

ru2008 wrote:Is A the answer?

OA is E.

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GMATGuruNY: GMAT Instructor; Posts: 15539; Joined: Tue May 25, 2010 12:04 pmFollowed by: 1906 members; Location: New York, NY; Thanked: 13060 times; GMAT Score:790

by GMATGuruNY » Fri Jul 30, 2010 7:11 am

paes wrote:Students in the metropolitan school district lack math skills to such a large degree as to make it difficult to absorb them into a city economy becoming ever more dependent on information-based industries.

(A) lack math skills to such a large degree as to make it difficult to absorb them into a city economy becoming
(B) lack math skills to a large enough degree that they will be difficult to absorb into a city's economy that becomes
(C) lack of math skills is so large as to be difficult to absorb them into a city's economy that becomes
(D) are lacking so much in math skills as to be difficult to absorb into a city's economy becoming
(E) are so lacking in math skills that it will be difficult to absorb them into a city economy becoming

[spoiler]Please explain D and E.
I am always confuse between the Idion 'so...as' and 'so ....that..'[/spoiler]

Quickest approach:

The economy is ever more dependent, so the verb becomes in B and C should be becoming in order to reflect that the action is continuous. Eliminate B and C.

The following idioms are correct:

so X as to Y
so X that Y

In A, such a large degree as to make is not the correct idiom; the correct idiom would be so large a degree as to make. Eliminate A.

In D, lacking so much in math skills as to be difficult is not the correct idiom; the correct idiom would be so lacking in math skills as to be difficult. Eliminate D.

The correct answer is E, which uses the idiom so X that Y: so lacking in math skills that it will be difficult.

Hope this helps!

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paes: Legendary Member; Posts: 995; Joined: Tue Apr 13, 2010 11:56 pmFollowed by: 1 member; Thanked: 31 times

by paes » Fri Jul 30, 2010 6:55 pm

Thanks Guru.
explanation is really helpful to discard D.

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paes: Legendary Member; Posts: 995; Joined: Tue Apr 13, 2010 11:56 pmFollowed by: 1 member; Thanked: 31 times

by paes » Fri Jul 30, 2010 7:01 pm

uwhusky wrote:This is unfortunately not an idiom related question.

You are "so" lazy! --> "You are lazy" with more emphasis.

It's like the emphasizer "do": I do like you. --> "I like you" with more emphasis.

You are so lacking, and lacking so much...

The idiom you're thinking of is:

His knowledge springs not so much from experience as from schooling.

Thanks uwhusky.
I understood your explanation after reading Mitch's explanation

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FightWithGMAT: Master | Next Rank: 500 Posts; Posts: 364; Joined: Tue Apr 20, 2010 5:13 amFollowed by: 3 members; Thanked: 31 times

by FightWithGMAT » Sun Aug 01, 2010 1:17 pm

GMATGuruNY wrote:
paes wrote:Students in the metropolitan school district lack math skills to such a large degree as to make it difficult to absorb them into a city economy becoming ever more dependent on information-based industries.

(A) lack math skills to such a large degree as to make it difficult to absorb them into a city economy becoming
(B) lack math skills to a large enough degree that they will be difficult to absorb into a city's economy that becomes
(C) lack of math skills is so large as to be difficult to absorb them into a city's economy that becomes
(D) are lacking so much in math skills as to be difficult to absorb into a city's economy becoming
(E) are so lacking in math skills that it will be difficult to absorb them into a city economy becoming

[spoiler]Please explain D and E.
I am always confuse between the Idion 'so...as' and 'so ....that..'[/spoiler]
Quickest approach:

The economy is ever more dependent, so the verb becomes in B and C should be becoming in order to reflect that the action is continuous. Eliminate B and C.

The following idioms are correct:

so X as to Y
so X that Y

In A, such a large degree as to make is not the correct idiom; the correct idiom would be so large a degree as to make. Eliminate A.

In D, lacking so much in math skills as to be difficult is not the correct idiom; the correct idiom would be so lacking in math skills as to be difficult. Eliminate D.

The correct answer is E, which uses the idiom so X that Y: so lacking in math skills that it will be difficult.

Hope this helps!

Why "them" is not ambiguous here??

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GMATGuruNY: GMAT Instructor; Posts: 15539; Joined: Tue May 25, 2010 12:04 pmFollowed by: 1906 members; Location: New York, NY; Thanked: 13060 times; GMAT Score:790

by GMATGuruNY » Sun Aug 01, 2010 2:28 pm

FightWithGMAT wrote:

Why "them" is not ambiguous here??

Here's E:

Students in the metropolitan school district are so lacking in math skills that it will be difficult to absorb them into a city economy becoming ever more dependent on information-based industries.

The pronoun them must be replacing a plural noun. The only options are students and skills. We know that them refers to students because:

-- Students is the subject of the sentence.

-- If them were referring to skills, the sentence would be saying that it will be difficult to absorb math skills into a city economy, and this statement makes no sense.

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inactived: Junior | Next Rank: 30 Posts; Posts: 20; Joined: Tue Sep 02, 2008 6:13 am

by inactived » Sun Nov 14, 2010 10:42 pm

paes wrote:Students in the metropolitan school district lack math skills to such a large degree as to make it difficult to absorb them into a city economy becoming ever more dependent on information-based industries.

(A) lack math skills to such a large degree as to make it difficult to absorb them into a city economy becoming
(B) lack math skills to a large enough degree that they will be difficult to absorb into a city's economy that becomes
(C) lack of math skills is so large as to be difficult to absorb them into a city's economy that becomes
(D) are lacking so much in math skills as to be difficult to absorb into a city's economy becoming
(E) are so lacking in math skills that it will be difficult to absorb them into a city economy becoming

Can anyone explain the usage or meaning difference(s) between "a city's economy" and "a city economy" in this question? Apart from other reasoning, e.g. idioms (so X that Y, so X as to Y, enough), verb, etc., can we eliminate possibly wrong answer choice by splitting 2/3 - "a city's economy" & "a city economy"?

Many thanks

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