PostExplanation+Time taken : Promising internet initiative

[Target2009]

A small but promising internet initiative ceased its operations because, as many companies with unfinished products do, it failed to obtain the investments necessary to complete its research and development and reported expenses that amounted to a sum of $890,000 a year.

A. its operations because, as many companies with unfinished products do, it failed to obtain the investments necessary to complete its research and development and reported expenses that amounted to a sum of
B. its operations because, as many companies with unfinished products, it failed to obtain the investments necessary to complete its research and development and reported expenses that amounted to
C. its operations because, like many companies with unfinished products do, it failed to obtain the investments necessary to complete its research and development and reported expenses that amounted to
D. to operate because it failed, as many companies with unfinished products do, to obtain the investments necessary to complete its research and development and reported expenses that amounted to
E. its operations because it failed to obtain the investments necessary to complete its research and development, as many companies with unfinished products, and reported expenses that amounted to


OA: D
Source : Master GMAT
Request: Post Explanation + Time taken

[Target2009]

I Request every one to mention time taken.

[Michelle P]

My answer is B
Time taken: 1'36''

[nayanikapawar]

C maybe....?? Im very curious please post the OA.

[satishvis]

B about 1.20

[AIM GMAT]

I would vote for E . Left with C and E . But the confidence level is not very good . Took more than 1.5 mins .

[Target2009]

I took more that 2 min but got it right . I will post OA in Some time..

@ AIM : Since You are one of the most active member, how do you rate this question's difficulty level.

[atulmangal]

IMO B--time 120 secs

God this question drives me crazy initially...the modifiers..one using verb DO and one not using DO...and to me both are meaningful

Op A:-- I think amounted to a sum of is redundant and amounted to only in other choices is okay

Op C:- Like should not be followed by a verb in this case DO is the verb hence incorrect

Op D:- its better to write Its operation rather than introducing an infinite To operate

Op E:- seems like COMMA + FANBOYS error..this structure is used to connect only 2 IC while here after COMMA AND there is NO IC

[Target2009]

IMO B--time 120 secs

God this question drives me crazy initially...the modifiers..one using verb DO and one not using DO...and to me both are meaningful
Op A:-- I think amounted to a sum of is redundant and amounted to only in other choices is okay
Op C:- Like should not be followed by a verb in this case DO is the verb hence incorrect
Op D:- its better to write Its operation rather than introducing an infinite To operate
Op E:- placement of modifier is incorrect

@atul Recheck B little carefully one more time.

[aspirant2011]

I would go with E..........i took around 2 min............wats the OA?????

[AIM GMAT]

I took more that 2 min but got it right . I will post OA in Some time..

@ AIM : Since You are one of the most active member, how do you rate this question's difficulty level.

I feel that the question combines more than 2-3 concepts hence it can be rated as 650+ medium - hard level question . Whats adds to its difficulty is too much text to read , comprehend and then compare as well. I hope u guys also felt the same .

[atulmangal]

I took more that 2 min but got it right . I will post OA in Some time..

@ AIM : Since You are one of the most active member, how do you rate this question's difficulty level.

I feel that the question combines more than 2-3 concepts hence it can be rated as 650+ medium - hard level question . Whats adds to its difficulty is too much text to read , comprehend and then compare as well. I hope u guys also felt the same .

Yes i agree with you AIM, but probably this question is more difficult than the medium difficulty level..i guess...

[atulmangal]

@ target,

I rechecked the Op B but i didn't find any error may be m missing something..Though i do not like the use of too many pronouns generally that Op choice is wrong in GMAT and its there in OP B but the structure looks okay..DEPENDENT CLAUSE + MODIFIER + IC
secondly Op E next close contender probably contain one more flaw (See below)

@AIM

Don't u think Op E has an error..
COMMA + FANBOYS we use only when we connect 2 IC..but in Op E look the structure below

A small but promising internet initiative ceased its operations because it failed to obtain the investments necessary to complete its research and development, as many companies with unfinished products, and reported expenses that amounted to $890,000 a year.

In green color we have an IC and then COMMA AND followed by NON-IC clause....isn't this an error???

Please correct me if m wrong

[Target2009]

@ Atul & @ Aim : Why not D.

Only one reason given by Atul "Op D:- its better to write Its operation rather than introducing an infinite To operate ".. But that reflect preference in case atleast one other option is grammatically correct and better than D. So lets debate on Why not D.


Hope you guys don't mind that i am delaying OA. The only intention is to get most out of this question and of course from every one.

[atulmangal]

@ Atul & @ Aim : Why not D.

Only one reason given by Atul "Op D:- its better to write Its operation rather than introducing an infinite To operate ".. But that reflect preference in case atleast one other option is grammatically correct and better than D. So lets debate on Why not D.

Good Question Target

See to be very true, when we have time constraint, we look for split, and leave an option which appears completely out of league...this is the case with Op D and with Op A also...i point out the redundancy error in A but i was not much sure but Only Op A contains that thing so i confirm the redundancy...But all these points are actually illogical..these points just work well in most of the cases...

Now, coming on to the logical part...after you indicate i checked Op D again...and now i would say, this option looks good and probably the correct choice...why see

Point No 1:--> The modifier contains verb DO...as i written earlier, i find this modifier more meaningful and in case of Op D, this modifier is correct...because of the use of IT FAILED in first part..
"because it failed, as many companies with unfinished products do"....this surely make sense as modifier is relating the actions...while in case of A it doesn't make any sense...

Point No 2:--> The structure..if u cut the modifier and read the sentence, it will be

A small but promising internet initiative ceased to operate because it failed to obtain the investments necessary to complete its research and development and reported expenses that amounted to


This looks good even better than Op B

Conclusion:--> Now i may say that Op D is correct but you know in Exam probably i go with B...why as i written in the initial..Op D seems out of league in terms of structure...and secondly because i was not able to point out any severe error in B...may be the issue with B is The Modifier i guess...but in Exam it gonna be really tough under time constraint...

I hope this analysis works...please comment