The use of gravity waves---hopefully

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champmag: Master | Next Rank: 500 Posts; Posts: 234; Joined: Tue Feb 22, 2011 5:02 amFollowed by: 3 members; Thanked: 5 times

by champmag » Tue Apr 12, 2011 9:50 am

The use of gravity waves, which do not interact with matter in the way electromagnetic waves do, hopefully will enable astronomers to study the actual formation of black holes and neutron stars.
(A) in the way electromagnetic waves do, hopefully will enable
(B) in the way electromagnetic waves do, will, it is hoped, enable
(C) like electromagnetic waves, hopefully will enable
(D) like electromagnetic waves, would enable, hopefully
(E) such as electromagnetic waves do, will, it is hoped, enable

Want to clarify the use of hopefully with respect to standard english...plz help.

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Source: Beat The GMAT — Sentence Correction | Tue Apr 12, 2011 9:50 am

force5: Legendary Member; Posts: 582; Joined: Tue Mar 08, 2011 12:48 amFollowed by: 6 members; Thanked: 61 times; GMAT Score:740

by force5 » Tue Apr 12, 2011 10:03 am

C , D are out - like
E- such as ( out- not needed)

between A and B

i would prefer A because of 2 things- 1) hopefully is more concise then it is hoped. where as B used 2 fragments.

Hence A

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aspirant2011: Legendary Member; Posts: 1574; Joined: Fri Jan 28, 2011 2:52 amFollowed by: 13 members; Thanked: 88 times

by aspirant2011 » Tue Apr 12, 2011 11:00 am

B vs E ............. i would go for B.........

In case of GMAT use of "hopefully" word is almost everytime wrong.................

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atulmangal: Legendary Member; Posts: 1112; Joined: Sat Feb 26, 2011 11:16 amFollowed by: 49 members; Thanked: 77 times

by atulmangal » Tue Apr 12, 2011 11:37 am

@champmag....good question

IMO B

first:-- yes, @aspirant2011 is correct about "HOPEFULLY"...you can certainly note it down..."IT IS HOPED" is preferred...just like we say

use "CAN" instead of "have the ability"....
"because of" over "due to"....
"rather than" over "instead of"

similarly, "it is hoped" over "hopefully"

Now Op C and OP D, these options because of incorrect comparison distorts the meaning...
According to these options, "electromagnetic waves do not interact with matter" while actually the sentence means that "electromagnetic waves do not interact with matter in that same way as gravity waves do" so these two option are incorrect.

Op E, use of such as is not required..such as is generally used to include examples

B/w Op A and B...apply the learning that "it is hoped" is preferred over "hopefully"

Hence Op B

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Brian@VeritasPrep: GMAT Instructor; Posts: 1031; Joined: Thu Jul 03, 2008 1:23 pmFollowed by: 255 members; Location: Malibu, CA; Thanked: 716 times; GMAT Score:750

by Brian@VeritasPrep » Tue Apr 12, 2011 3:10 pm

Hey guys,

Just a quick add-on to the logic here. The reason that "hopefully" is wrong isn't that it's just a "bad word" - it's that it's an adverb, which modifies the verb that it's next to. Here, that would mean that "the use of gravity waves" will "hopefully enable". But because the gravity waves are inanimate, they can't "hopefully" do anything...that would require them to have hope! "It is hoped" removes that direct tie to the subject and verb, so it's then open to some human entity to have the hope, which is more more logical.

Brian Galvin
GMAT Instructor
Chief Academic Officer
Veritas Prep

Looking for GMAT practice questions? Try out the Veritas Prep Question Bank. Learn More.

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GMATMadeEasy: Legendary Member; Posts: 768; Joined: Mon Nov 30, 2009 3:46 amFollowed by: 7 members; Thanked: 21 times

by GMATMadeEasy » Thu Apr 14, 2011 2:56 am

@Brian:

The reason that "hopefully" is wrong isn't that it's just a "bad word" - it's that it's an adverb, which modifies the verb that it's next to. Here, that would mean that "the use of gravity waves" will "hopefully enable".

I agree hopefully is not bad word;however, logic of removing 'hopefully' on the ground of absence of action taker can be used this way ? If so, usage of such adverbs where an author is communicating his intent can never be used without the author being the subject.

France ,hopefully, will win the next fotball worldcup.
Here hopefully is incorrect a the above logic ?

The Nuclear reactor at Fukushima ,hopefully, will emit less radiation after a week. Is it wrong ?

I am suspecting that I am going to have some new learning today

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ankurmit: Legendary Member; Posts: 516; Joined: Mon Nov 02, 2009 6:42 amFollowed by: 1 member; Location: Mumbai; Thanked: 14 times; GMAT Score:710

by ankurmit » Thu Apr 14, 2011 3:35 am

I am confused between A and B.

A seems a better choice./Please post OA

--------
Ankur mittal

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