GMAT OG 2019 In a speech before the

[BFR]

In a speech before the Senate Banking Committee, the chairman of the Federal Reserve painted an optimistic picture of the economy, suggesting to investors the central bank in the near future is not lowering interest rates.

A. suggesting to investors the central bank in the near future is not lowering interest rates
B. suggesting to investors that the central bank would not lower interest rates in the near future
C. which suggests that to investors in the near future interest rates will not be lowered by the central bank
D. with the suggestion to investors in the near future that interest rates would not be lowered by the central bank
E. with the suggestion to investors of interest rates not being lowered in the near future by the central bank

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Hello Everyone!

If we look closely at the differences between each answer, there are a couple that pop out right away:

1. How they begin: suggesting / which suggests / with the suggestion
2. Placement of the phrase "in the future"
3. Verb tense: lower / lowered / lowering

Let's start with #1 on our list because it seems like a good place to weed out a couple answers right away. We know from the context of the sentence that the chairman is suggesting the central bank won't lower rates. However, not all of the answers make this clear. Some of them sound more like they're referring to the "picture" rather than the "chairman." Let's see how each answer holds up:

(A) suggesting to investors the central bank in the near future is not lowering interest rates --> clear that it's the chairman --> OK
(B) suggesting to investors that the central bank would not lower interest rates in the near future --> clear that it's the chairman --> OK
(C) which suggests that to investors in the near future interest rates will not be lowered by the central bank --> adding "which suggests" makes it sound like you're referring to the picture, not the chairman --> BAD
(D) with the suggestion to investors in the near future that interest rates would not be lowered by the central bank --> adding "with the suggestion" makes it sound like you're referring to the picture, not the chairman --> BAD
(E) with the suggestion to investors of interest rates not being lowered in the near future by the central bank --> adding "with the suggestion" makes it sound like you're referring to the picture, not the chairman --> BAD

This means we can eliminate answers C, D, and E because they are too vague.

Now we're left with answers A and B. Let's now look at #3 on our list: verb tense. One of these has a red flag that we should be able to spot easily:

(A) suggesting to investors the central bank in the near future is not lowering interest rates
This answer is INCORRECT because it uses the present tense "is not lowering" to talk about an possible future event!

(B) suggesting to investors that the central bank would not lower interest rates in the near future
This answer is CORRECT because it's clear who is doing the action, and it uses the correct hypothetical future tense "would not lower."


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