Factory outlet stores, operated by manufacturers

[aspirant2011]

Factory outlet stores, operated by manufacturers, are usually located miles from downtown and regional shopping centers so as not directly to be competitive against department stores in the same trading area.

(A) so as not directly to be competitive against
(B) in order for them not to have direct competition with
(C) so that they do not compete directly with
(D) in order that they are not directly competitive against
(E) for the purpose of not competing directly with

[spoiler]OA: After some discussion. Please explain each answer choice.[/spoiler]

[gmat_perfect]

Factory outlet stores, operated by manufacturers, are usually located miles from downtown and regional shopping centers so as not directly to be competitive against department stores in the same trading area.

(A) so as not directly to be competitive against
(B) in order for them not to have direct competition with
(C) so that they do not compete directly with
(D) in order that they are not directly competitive against
(E) for the purpose of not competing directly with

[spoiler]OA: After some discussion. Please explain each answer choice.[/spoiler]

Answer should be C.

One may have confusion about "they". They refers to STORES for the following reasons:

1. Stores is the subject of its clause,and they is the subject of its clause--they are parallel.
2. Stores is plural, and they is plural.

C is also concise.

They cannot refer to centers because "centers" is the object of preposition. An object of preposition is very rarely an antecedent of a pronoun.

thanks.

[AIM GMAT]

IMO C too.

[bubbliiiiiiii]

Factory outlet stores, operated by manufacturers, are usually located miles from downtown and regional shopping centers so as not directly to be competitive against department stores in the same trading area.

(A) so as not directly to be competitive against
(B) in order for them not to have direct competition with
(C) so that they do not compete directly with
(D) in order that they are not directly competitive against
(E) for the purpose of not competing directly with -awkward style!

[spoiler]OA: After some discussion. Please explain each answer choice.[/spoiler]

IMO C.
OA Please

[atulmangal]

Factory outlet stores, operated by manufacturers, are usually located miles from downtown and regional shopping centers so as not directly to be competitive against department stores in the same trading area.

(A) so as not directly to be competitive against
(B) in order for them not to have direct competition with
(C) so that they do not compete directly with
(D) in order that they are not directly competitive against
(E) for the purpose of not competing directly with

[spoiler]OA: After some discussion. Please explain each answer choice.[/spoiler]

IMO E...although C can be the correct answer

firstly i remember an idiom

competition with a person
competition for a thing

here although its about things but i think competition with is require as we are talking about the competition b/w two stores..so A and D are out...use of THEM in B is incorrect..because i think as THEM is an objective case pronoun it can not refer to factory outlet stores...

OPtion C--->use of they seems logically okay but still can not go with that because it may refer to regional shopping centers also..and that gonna be incorrect.

Op E--> it doesn't looks like a correct choice but i'm not able to point out any error in E so go with E

Final word..pronoun ambiguity is the most confusing and thats why the toughest concept on GMAT..and i just hope that i will not get such questions in GMAT as still my heart says it should be C but can not go with that choice...nd for E my subconscious somewhere says something is wrong but m not able to point out

[atulmangal]

Factory outlet stores, operated by manufacturers, are usually located miles from downtown and regional shopping centers so as not directly to be competitive against department stores in the same trading area.

(A) so as not directly to be competitive against
(B) in order for them not to have direct competition with
(C) so that they do not compete directly with
(D) in order that they are not directly competitive against
(E) for the purpose of not competing directly with

[spoiler]OA: After some discussion. Please explain each answer choice.[/spoiler]

Answer should be C.

One may have confusion about "they". They refers to STORES for the following reasons:

1. Stores is the subject of its clause,and they is the subject of its clause--they are parallel.
2. Stores is plural, and they is plural.

C is also concise.

They cannot refer to centers because "centers" is the object of preposition. An object of preposition is very rarely an antecedent of a pronoun.

thanks.

@ perfect

I thought in the same way as u did but i read a post of stacy for this same question..if u wanna check then check this out
https://www.beatthegmat.com/1000-sc-q-29 ... t1251.html

She has a completely different opinion

[atulmangal]

can anyone tell what is the error in E..apart from saying that it is awkward...i think if we have a choice to select an answer b/w pronoun ambiguity and awkwardness then we pick up the ans that is awkward not with the pronoun ambiguity...

This is just my opinion...please correct me if m wrong

Thanks in advance

[aspirant2011]

Hi Atulmangal,

Thanks for posting the link, i am damn confused about the SC's like these because if i apply logic then i would have also opted for C but if i try to go by GMAT rules then I find the answer to be E as I find "they" to be real ambiguous

[atulmangal]

Hi Atulmangal,

Thanks for posting the link, i am damn confused about the SC's like these because if i apply logic then i would have also opted for C but if i try to go by GMAT rules then I find the answer to be E as I find "they" to be real ambiguous

just wanna add on
1000SC is okay for practice and revising the same concepts again and again but it has some errors so u can easily ignore its question if u find that incorrect or suspicious

[force5]

+1 for C (already explained)