SC 1000 #229

[Osirus@VeritasPrep]

Crises in international diplomacy do not always result from malice; for nations, like individuals, can find themselves locked into difficult positions, unable to back down.

(A) do not always result from malice; for nations, like individuals, can find
(B) do not always results from malice; nations, just as individuals, finding
(C) do not always results from malice; nations, such as individuals, can find
(D) aren't always the results of malice; nations in the same way that individuals can find
(E) aren't resulting always from malice; just like individuals who can find


The OA is A I don't think that can be right. How can you use a semi colon with a conjunction? The conjunction would make the following clause dependent.

[soumyopriyosaha]

Crises in international diplomacy do not always result from malice; for nations, like individuals, can find themselves locked into difficult positions, unable to back down.

(A) do not always result from malice; for nations, like individuals, can find
(B) do not always results from malice; nations, just as individuals, finding
(C) do not always results from malice; nations, such as individuals, can find
(D) aren't always the results of malice; nations in the same way that individuals can find
(E) aren't resulting always from malice; just like individuals who can find


The OA is A I don't think that can be right. How can you use a semi colon with a conjunction? The conjunction would make the following clause dependent.

The following link can help you with your queries:
https://www.whitesmoke.com/uses-of-the-semicolon

[Osirus@VeritasPrep]

Thanks

[Osirus@VeritasPrep]

From that site you posted

The Punctuation Rules for Linking Elements Using a Semicolon
1. When two independent clauses are relatively short and the relationship between them (contrast, addition, cause, effect etc) can be inferred without the coordinating conjunction, some writers find it more sophisticated to omit the coordinating conjunction and replace the comma with a semicolon. Not over-stressing the logical relationships and letting the reader infer them more subtly is a stylistic technique that advanced writers sometimes use. However, remember that the semicolon should be used sparingly, for any of its uses mentioned here.



"For" is a coordinating conjunction, which means that it would have to be omitted for the OA to be correct like I thought.

[prinit]

If semicolon is used in a sentence, then the two parts of the sentence should be able to stand independently.
1st part->Crises in international diplomacy do not always result from malice;
2nd part-> for nations, like individuals, can find themselves locked into difficult positions, unable to back down.
here both sentences are able to stand on their own...
in 2nd part like is comparing nations and individuals ..so A is the best pick among the given choices..hope this helps.

[Osirus@VeritasPrep]

Yeah, that makes sense. Thanks, I appreciate the response.

[becnil]

A sounded good because the others were all bad choices !! also, the link was very useful. Thanks Soumya.

[gmatpill]

Crises in international diplomacy do not always result from malice; for nations, like individuals, can find themselves locked into difficult positions, unable to back down.

(A) do not always result from malice; for nations, like individuals, can find
(B) do not always results from malice; nations, just as individuals, finding
(C) do not always results from malice; nations, such as individuals, can find
(D) aren't always the results of malice; nations in the same way that individuals can find
(E) aren't resulting always from malice; just like individuals who can find

FYI, understanding the semicolon issue is important but make sure you don't get into the habit of questioning these kinds of things on the actual exam.
On the actual exam, if you spent time asking yourself "why is there semicolon?"--you'd be wasting a lot of time.

Glance through the answer choices--all of them have semicolon. So regardless of what you think should be grammatically correct, the correct answer according to the GMAT guys does contain a semicolon. So accept that and examine other aspects of the sentence.

Here's a quick approach to maximize efficiency:

Step 1) Recognize that "crises" is plural. You can replace it in your mind with "they."
They......do not always result result---they match up. Good.

Step 2) "for nations, like individuals, can find"---looks ok. Looks like (A) might be the answer.

Step 3) Quickly glance through other choices.
With (B), "results" does not match the subject "they"---"they results" does not make sense.
Same with (C)
With (D), "They aren't always the results" ---"results" is plural. You want "result" instead. "They are the result of XYZ" is better. So (D) is out.
With (E) "They aren't resulting" sounds weird..don't even need to bother with the rest of the sentence.

Step 4) Choose answer (A) with confidence and move on.